JimKellyTryouts

I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. If not, all it takes is once Google search for CTE itself to see that isn't the case...

CTE can only be diagnosed postmortem..

Shawn Nelson was a steal in the 4th

Someone please remind me what recruitment (or anything else) Shawn did for us

I just wonder if we're going to get a playoff spot before his prime years are gone.

****ing five star post

Rex (Yeah, him) also called what he had an "all star coaching staff" IIRC around hot tub season. Heck, I kinda agreed with it and bought in to all the hype - GRo, Kromer, Lynn, Karl Dunbar was supposedly one of the best DL coaches in the league, Donnie stayed, etc. Is that relevant? Not really since it's a total different group of people and responsibilities, but simply adding to the theme of skepticism/wait and see

Welcome to May! Stay tuned for the June edition of "who looks good in shorts" followed by July's "best shape of my life" magazine, and August's grand illusion known as preseason! And who could forget the 'expert' fantasy football articles!?

Much obliged! And we can definitely group him and Spiller into the same category now. Recalling them dazzle as they did in college will only make me feel old.

In all likelihood, he'll ride off into the sunset with the dubious record of double digits carries for negative yards And the image of that reverse versus Miami will continue to scar us

I can't help but smile at how often he uses "we" in that interview over "they". He definitely cares about this team's well being...well if that earlier f-bomb post wasn't true lol

To call yourself an outcast by saying that EJ sucked is total hyperbole. I've recalled reading many of your posts here and there and can't recall specifics, but you're definitely on the Debbie downer side of things to say the least. EJ's rookie year was his best year in retrospect, since the others were just simply so horrible. We and Marrone had a de facto starter with a premium WR (on a side note, said "I could be wide open but if he's not feeling it, I won't get the ball") and Orton as insurance. Come next season immediately after Houston, essentially everyone wanted him out, and so it happened. I'm not really fond of people raising themselves on a pedestal in retrospect, especially for a general obvious statement that EJ sucks.

Agreed - the fantasy-football-GM analogy I recently read was pretty spot on, as we/he went all in on a paper-tiger roster on offense during Rex's first year (except the most important position, obviously). I'm still going to look back on his tenure as a rather odd situation - he was GM in title for four years, and all indications are that he never was able to have his pick of a HC during the two hiring windows. I hate thinking in hypothetical scenarios during the drought, but I can't help but think if he'd have a much better reputation and tenure with us should any of the following have happened: Hue Jackson+Jim Schwartz, actually being able to stick around with McDermott, or not forcing ourselves to draft EJ during the horrid 2013 draft. I'm glad he took the high road and the subtle jab at Rex was well done... His personality made/makes him easy to root for, and I hope he'll have the opportunity to be a top FO executive in the short term future.

Man, the new Brandon has been a fresh of breath air.

Highly regarded hirings, one after another!

I can only hope one of the Buffalo media members will ask him this, just for Beane to predictably scoff at what the non-expert conspiracy theorists have been saying for weeks without any merit.

I'm in the minority but side with the OP, regardless of 3 vs 4 interviews or this thread dedicated to bashing those that bash. This felt underwhelming and predictable, and whether or not that's a bad thing is to be determined. Youth, energy, versatility, and attention to detail are all positives in our new HC and GM and it's refreshing compared to what we've recently seen, especially with two guys pulling the rope in the same direction. With that exact reason, I'm sure many more candidates weren't swayed to interview with us due to an arranged marriage with our HC. I recall the colts having at least twice as many as us with all the 'big' names that pop up on the mundane articles, but a similar dilemma. I just couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe it's just me preferring a larger quantity to show larger initiative. Beane's second interview reported before Gutekunst's first was just odd timing and rather quickly after the Rooney rule.

I fully support our coach and it's been nothing but positive from him so far. I guess my view was the generalized concept of how a GM is there before the coach in most cases. For certain candidates, they would want to pick their own coach. That said, I'm glad we're going further and looking into more candidates. I jumped the gun thinking "second interview" all but concluded our gm search.

I can't help but feel this was an underwhelming search, obviously restricted by our HC already in place. Earlier this offseason, the colts seemingly had around three times as many interviews as us with the 'big'/recognizable names, and I just wish we had the opportunity to do that. If two guys with similar views are pulling the rope together in the same direction, then I guess I'll try to be a little optimistic, but this just brings back tougher memories of bigger names (by consensus) declining to even interview for HC with us back in 2009 (Schottenheimer and Harbaugh were a few I recall).

Remember when he tweeted Tyrod was getting ready for an "exit strategy" shortly after week 17, only for him to correct himself after a few hours when he tweeted again that Tyrod pulled him aside just to say he's not trying to leave? Also, I'm pretty sure he also said Tyrod would definitely NOT take a paycut because other sucky teams that needed Qbs like Cleveland and Chicago had ample cap space. The scout saying we're all getting fired via PFT seemed like that first source of info, IIRC. The other 3 listed are rather vague, simple predictions that were circulating for a while IMO, so I'll continue to have an unimpressed view. I'm not trying to make this post seem as combative or critical at all. I do like Vic far more than the rest of the listed TBN writers, but again, nothing too exclusive or surprising in my mind from what's listed.

It's anyone's guess if SF legitimately had offers from other teams that wanted to get him. To say for certain he'd be there at 3 is illogical.

The window to be in the driver's seat of a high pick passed as the Gailey era came to an end IMO. As of now, we have a a little too many skilled players on either side of the ball along with a coach and veterans on defense that have said they're not into that, so get ready for the CBS "in the hunt" graphics until around week 16...

Contradictory questions since I replied back to your message to begin with

I mean, that's basically what all of us here are thinking - and have been thinking for months during all of the rumors of Doug leaving.

Obviously the playoff drought continued during his tenure and the highly scrutinized moves can justify relieving him, but it's undeniable how much things improved as a whole for this organization before he was with us. It's truly as unfortunate as it is head scratching how he seemingly didn't have the primary role of bringing in any of the THREE coaches during his mere FOUR years as GM...I hate playing the what-if game, but the Rex hiring continues to have a cascading effect on setting this team back. This just opens up more questions for the vision and direction of team before and now after he's left. My gut is telling me that this is a mistake. Buffalo fans are exhausted with the mere idea of change ensuring things will become better. All that said, thank you for your contributions, Doug. You were most definitely a diligent, dedicated worker for us that has improved the general status of our team. I'm positive you will have a successful future in this league, and leaving our team and city's toxic environment is needed for the sake of your own sanity.