jahnyc

I bet Bates is the DC.

What I can't figure out is how this franchise has defied logic and conventional wisdom for more than 10 years. The franchise makes big decisions that are not consistent with what experts, media and the fans think. Some of these decisions border on the bizarre. This would be okay if these decisions led to some success on the field, but we know this has not been the case. How are these decisions being made? Is it RW? Other members of the front office? Things have really fallen apart with this franchise, and the decision makers seem out of touch with current realities.

Assuming the Bills are going to hire CG, I think the questions now are as follows: 1. Can he assemble a strong staff? If Nolan comes to Buffalo (over Miami), that will be a very good sign. 2. Does CG have a commitment from RW and the FO to spend as necessary on players, assistant coaches etc.? I doubt that CG had any leverage to demand anything. This is one of the reasons that we needed a high profile head coach. 3. Will he help attract free agents to Buffalo? I don't think that his hire will be viewed as a positive by potential free agents and the team will have much work to do to attract free agents (assuming they try to sign any). 4. Will the current team be excited with the hire? Probably not. Maybe some of the offensive players will view it as a positive, but I would expect that the players were hoping for a more high profile hire. 5. Will this generate excitement among the fan base? No. Initially at least, this will be a PR nightmare, particularly after all of the press about the rejections for the position. As others have suggested, Brandon will likely need to pull a TO type marketing move to generate some excitement.

I guess so. This will not go over well with the fans or the media. I wonder if he will be able to assemble a decent coaching staff or get the front office to spend money on some players.

I thought Gailey would be great as OC, but as head coach? Wonder if Nix knows him well from scouting the SEC (Gailey was at Georgia Tech). If this is true, we are getting an infusion of old guys.

It does raise all kinds of red flags that there is such a lack of interest in the Bills head coaching position. Sullivan's last point is what concerns me the most. If the team continues to lose over the next couple of years, it is inevitable that fan support will deteroriate, leading to more momentum for an eventual move out of Buffalo. I do think that if the Bills are successful on the field that it will be more difficult to move the franchise and it will put more pressure on the NFL to keep the team in Buffalo. This is why, among many other reasons, it is critical for the team to start having some success.

What hurts is when good players leave and then having to use high draft picks to replace them. The Bills would be a much stronger team if they had retained some of these players (and others playing for non-playoff teams), which would have provided the flexibility to draft the best player available regardless of position rather than always drafting to fill positions of need.

I doubt that Nix had significant involvement with the coaching searches, but who knows. I have read that he was mostly involved with college talent evaluation and not in San Diego much. Having said that, the comment was probably not fair. There are many reasons why there is a lack of interest in the head coaching job, and the way Nix is conducting the search is probably not one of them (although his hire may not have helped the level of interest). Bottom line is that I am frustrated with the direction of the team and the front office, and have been for a long time.

Nix may have good experience as a talent evaluator and scout, but he has no experience in conducting a search for a head coach, and it is showing. He has never been a GM, and for a team that needs rebuilding and some fresh air, the hiring of a 70 year old guy that RW was comforatble with was not the answer. Mabye hiring a 70 year old guy as GM would have made more sense if he had a lot of prior GM experience. The front office needed to be reinvigorated, and a new GM with an outside perspective was needed. I am hoping for the best with Nix, but it smacks of a temporary solution, similar to the Levy hire as GM. I am really not trying to be overly negative, particularly since I recognize that Nix has had success as a talent evaluator for the draft, but I don't think his hire as GM made much long term sense.

I think that the uncertainty over the ownership of the Bills after RW passes creates an overhang of anxiety that is always present, in one form or another.

I think at this point it is becoming a necessity to hire Marty. We need someone with some stature to get what he needs from RW and the front office. I also think Marty could probably put a decent group of assistant coaches together, which will become an issue soon under the current circumstances.

I am starting to realize that it does not matter who we hire. The same issues with ownership and the structure of the front office will continue, and the new head coach will not have the power to change anything.

They targeted some coordinators that were not interested in coming to Buffalo. Most coordinators would jump to interview for a HC position, regardless of location. There is a negative perception out there about the Bills, and this coaching search has exacerbated the situation. The Bills have had difficulty attracting free agents (unless they grossly overpay). Now they are having trouble attracting a head coach. This will also impact the ability of the head coach that is selected to put together a strong staff of assistant coaches. Sorry, but not making the playoffs for 10 years is a disaster in itself, but the search for a head coach by the front office has made the Bills look silly and undesirable.

Thanks, I had not seen that. It is bad when Schefter is talking about us going with Frazier "by default."

I cannot remember a head coaching search with this level of ineptitude. Can you ever remember a team being turned down for interviews by so many coordinators (and former coaches)? I don't understand why the Bills could not have determined whether Schottenheimer and Rivera were interested through back channel communications. Is Grimm going to interview? Even if he interviews, his hesitancy is troubling, and I would bet that he will not be interested because of what happened with TD and Mularkey. The Cowher thing has been a disaster, and along with Shanahan's lack of interest, has made the franchise look bad. If Brandon is such a marketing genius, why has this search been handled so poorly? The team has known for months that they will need a new head coach, why didn't they target someone that they could get? Having all of this play out in public has been terrible.

It really is not about whether they hire a head coach with prior head coaching experience or a current coordinator. What matters is the resources that are going to be made availabe and whether there is an improvement in drafting and free agent acquisitions. A top coordinator who could be an excellent head coach will not have success in a situation where the necessary resources are not present. I believe this is part of the reason why B. Schottenheimer decided not to interview with the Bills.

At this point, the only thing that makes sense is that Cowher is not interested in the head coaching position for the Bills. Out of respect for the Bills, he is not commenting. It is time to move on.

Are any of these coordinators going to be able to assemble a decent staff in Buffalo? I am starting to get very worried.

There have been reports that he does not appear to be interested in the head coaching position in Buffalo. None of us know the dynamics of his situation in Carolina, but there were reports he was interested in the Browns, and I would speculate that if ownership has told him that he can void the last year of this agreement, they may allow him to engage in informal discussions with other teams about possible openings.

Clearly, the Bills needed someone with a track record of success to turn things around (on the field and perception wise). So far, the Bills have struck out with Shanahan, Gruden and Cowher and Fox does not seem interested. This is tragic, since these are the only types of coaches who could have attracted decent assistant coaches and forced RW to agree to pay for players and assistant coaches. Now we will be stuck interviewing coordinators without real leverage or head coaching experience. We have been through this before with Williams and Mularkey. Why will it be different this time? Can any of these guys assemble a decent staff? If it is so difficult to get a head coach, will it be any easier to find decent assistant coaches? Years of people saying that RW is cheap and stuck in his ways, and with the hiring of Nix (probably the least expensive GM that could be hired) without a search outside of the organization and the likelihood of hiring a coordinator to be head coach, the Bills will once again be paying the least possible amount for their GM and head coach.

I will be very disappointed if the Bills choose Frazier as the head coach. Having said that, it is possible that a mediocre defensive coordinator can be a very good head coach. Different skills are required as a head coach, and I have taken note that there people who think Frazier has the necessary qualities to be a good head coach.

This would be the worst possible scenario, since Fox and Cowher are at this point my top choices as head coach for the Bills. If it means that Fox would go to the Browns, then I hope that the Panthers do not release him from the last year of his contract.

Clarification, Nix was the most qualified in-house candidate. There were other qualified candidates outside of the organization that were never interviewed. We will know more about whether this is real change when the new head coach is selected and if John Guy is retained or let go. If Nix, RW and Russ scan a list and the only name they all know for a head coach is Haslett (and he is the choice), then we are all screwed.

I don't think every move by the Bills has been panned over the last 10 years. Donahoe, Williams and Mularkey were considered good hires. Many commentators liked the McGahee and Williams picks. Yes, Byrd had an excellent rookie year, but the number of misses and disappointments is staggering, and the reason why this team is not competitive. Giving one example of criticism for a pick that did not turn out be legitimate is not enough to suggest that the criticism for the overall direction of the team over the last 10 years is not justified.

I don't understand the criticisms of commentators and other posters raising concerns about this hire. They seem reasonable in light of the overall circumstances, as do the many positive comments about Nix's contributions to rebuilding San Diego's roster. But this takes us to the real question. Why do the Bills deserve the benefit of the doubt at this point and why do so many posters get so defensive about the criticism of the front office/coaching moves? The Bills have not done anything right in the last 10 years, and all of the people who have criticized the various moves (Levy as GM, Jauron as HC, the Maybin, Whitner and McCargo picks) have turned out to be right. I think Nix would have been great as assistant GM and head of college scouting, but a fresh perspective from outside of the organization was clearly needed in the GM role.