Kirby Jackson

Are they? Marrone, Russ, Whaley, REX AND ROB?!? They weren’t good. They got the right people there now. Add in their Sabres hires and fires and they’re batting average is extremely low. That’s my point. They need to get the right people and get the hell out of the way!!

Feels like only yesterday that I railed on the decision to have Kim Pegula as the President/CEO of PSE. At the time I claimed there were 100+ people in their organization more qualified. I’m just here to take a quick victory lap and accept any apologizes that people want to offer. All joking aside, this was the expected outcome. They are over their heads as owners. I believe firing Botterill was the right decision. I believe publicly supporting him and then firing him 2 months later is idiotic. The Sabres have lost credibility with hockey leaders, players and agents. That’s not a good franchise building strategy. The best owners in sports own the teams. They don’t operate them.

He doesn’t want to be here!! He didn’t even sign until yesterday!! The rest of the class was signed months ago. Cut your losses ASAP!!

I’m not so much missing it as just knowing that’s what’s coming. We are at a point that you’re on one side or the other. This entire country is divided and you sit on one side or the other. We all need to acquiesce to our audience to a certain level in the interest of self-preservation. That’s what Brees did, Dabo did, and now Gundy. It’s the same thing Trump always does (and has mastered/created). You make decisions based on what’s important to the people that put you in power. It’s going to take a lot to stop this snowball from going downhill.

He wore a shirt of a network that called BLM “a farce.” Unless you live under a rock the BLM movement is the single most important thing to black people in this country. If your livelihood depends on black people it’s probably a good idea to support what’s important to them. No one is denying that Gundy is free to believe what he wants. No one is stupid enough though to realize the potential repercussions on the recruiting trail. Ultimately, not supporting what your audience does is a great way to lose your job. It’s been happening in politics for decades. While he’s free to wear the shirt, recruits are free to go elsewhere. That gesture was career suicide.

It didn’t used to be this way, just saying...

You have to know your audience!! Lol, it’s not that complicated. It’s one of things that Trump has mastered. The reason that he’s anti-mask, law and order, open the country, etc... is because that what his audience wants. He plays to his base, his supporters and their beliefs. That’s a good business strategy for him. A college coach needs to care about systemic racism. They need to care about the challenges that black people face in this country. That’s their audience!!

I don’t believe supporting OAN is a good recruiting strategy for a NCAA football coach. These families have many options. They will steer things towards people whose values are more in line with their own. That’s what WILL happen. Absolutely not!! It would probably help his case. College coaches are in sales first and foremost. They are selling the idea that their program is the best place for the kid. Saying, “our values are aligned” is a really good sales strategy. I’ve been in sales for 15+ years. It’s WAY easier to sell someone that trusts you and believes you have their best interest at heart. That’s common sense, no?

That’s the world and climate that we are living in. People in Gundy’s shoes need to be acutely aware of it. His livelihood depends on it. Fair or not, we are all accountable to our actions and beliefs. A guy whose career depends on building trust with young black men and their families need to be hyper aware. At best, Gundy is stupid. At worst, his values aren’t aligned with those he needs. Either way it’s going to be tough for him.

Does your career revolve around building trust with black families? If it does, I’d say you’re making a pretty bad decision.

It’s different in this case though. The recruits (and families) have the OPTION to pick a program where the player will be in the best hands. They can certainly forgive him but they all want to put the player’s well-being above all else. You can send your kid to Gundy or Mack Brown. What is important to that man is important to you. That’s why this was an epically stupid decision by Gundy. He has a right to believe in whatever he wants. His career is predicated on building trust with black people. That’s not the best way to do it.

Regardless, the guy committed career suicide. It’s interesting because college athletics have a different business model than the pros. In the pros if you have ownership’s support you’ll be okay. 8In college you need the trust of the players and families as they have options. Team’s compete for these guys regularly. This will ultimately end his time at OSU. It might not be immediately but they aren’t going to have a choice. They aren’t going to be able to get the players necessary to beat OU (although he’s 2-13 against them).

Supporting a network that doesn’t believe in Black Lives Matter isn’t a good career decision for a guy whose livelihood depends on gaining the trust of black families, no? You can’t possibly think otherwise. You can shout “cancel culture” or whatever but that’s a really, really, really stupid business decision. That part isn’t up for debate.

If he can’t recruit and win he can’t keep his job. It’s really that simple. He’s going to lose talent and ultimately his job. It may not come immediately but he added a target to his back. He makes over $5M a year to recruit and win. This isn’t good for that. That was the point.

Not really context, because what I said is 100% true. He will lose talent, and potentially, a lot of it. So while that may disgust you it’s a fact.

If you don’t think parents of young black men will be offended you’re wrong. Not even naive just straight up wrong. Coaches will use this against him often. If you think that this has zero impact on recruiting I have a bridge for sale. That’s the reason that he backpedaled like Deion Sanders today. It isn’t that he saw the light. It’s that he did MASSIVE damage to his recruiting efforts.

I’m not sure if this is the place, college football or off the wall but think that the Mike Gundy story is interesting sub-plot to this. How is he going to be able to recruit top talent in this climate? He’s already put his foot in his mouth a couple of times over the last few months (which he has a habit of doing). I would think opposing coaches would be talking about this to recruits every chance they get. That will be interesting to watch unfold.

Without sounding overly homerish I’d have it less than 5%. That would be only an Allen injury followed by completely inept play from the backup. With that being said if Allen misses an extended period of time I’d expect the Bills to take a run at Cam. This team is built to win now and they aren’t going to just punt on the season. That’s why I think it’s virtually impossible for them to finish last in the division. They are incredibly deep (as deep as any team in the NFL). That should insulate them some. While they have some guys that can’t get injured (White, Edmunds, Dawkins, Oliver, Allen) they can withstand it better than most. At a minimum they win 3 division games. If they end up finding 3 more wins that probably keeps them out of last imo. I just don’t see anyway that this happens with this roster and coaching staff. They just don’t have those things that HAVE to go right or else. They’re incredibly balanced.

I’ll agree with that (although Fromm is a wild card). As we sit today the Bills should feel worse about their number 2 than anyone in the division. Brian never suggests though that Allen goes out (which would be an odd thing to predict). Just saying, it’s a tough argument to put the Bills last in the division. They are +650 to finish 4th (and that’s way low imo). If someone offered me 30:1 that the Bills would finish 4th in the division I wouldn’t touch it.

I honestly don’t have any problem with him picking the Bills last. I don’t think it’s likely but everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s just odd. He talks about how good they are in all of these areas and then picks them last. It’s just kind of strange. @JetsFan20 come get your boy...

They are actually -215 to make the playoffs according to Bovada. Basically, the guy just made some stuff up.

I’m not sure Brian understands how odds work. He says that “the odds are against Buffalo making it to the playoffs this year.” The Bills are -105 to win the division right now. Not only do the odds favor them to make the playoffs, the odds favor them to win the division.

I think that we are looking at this with extremes. Is Kaep better than some current QBs? Of course!! Nathan Peterman has a job. Every single person in the world, including Peterman, know that Kaep is better. The other side is Kaep worth the attention that follows? It’s like Tebow or Manziel in some ways. Where is the point where the juice is worth the squeeze? I argued 2 years ago that he belonged. At this point I think that his stance is way less controversial but am not sure that a guy out of the league that long is the same player? I think that he will get looks but just don’t think that someone will sign him.

I can see him getting a look or 2 but doubt he sticks on a roster. He hasn’t played in a few years and struggled then. I thought Seattle was his best opportunity when he got the workout there. A couple of years ago he absolutely belonged on a roster. I just don’t see a place that makes sense.

Golladay is the best IMO. He’s coming off a big year. Jones also could be considered the best #2 of the group. The Lions WRs are strong.