1billsfan

They're probably looking for a head coach who will coach to his players strengths. I think the "play not to lose" attitude is officially gone. Yes they want to win games, that is the prime objective, but they don't want to have a another coach that is afraid of losing. Which brings me to EJ Manuel. The reason they are probably vetting head coaching candidates on Manuel is because they want to know what they would do with him in an offense if he were the only viable starting QB option. There are clear "right" and "wrong" answers they are looking for in the interview. Will you do what Marrone did and make Manuel a short pass don't take any risks QB? Or will you be aggressive and attack a defense using Manuel's athleticism giving much more freedom to throw the ball deep, run draws, roll outs, scrambles, audibles? I see the Bills wanting EJ Manuel to become a mix of a little bit of Cam Newton's running plays with Andrew Luck/Eli Manning's passing down the field, trust your WR (and accept he will throw 15-17 interceptions) style. Manuel was never given "the keys" to a real NFL offense. No one knows how EJ he'll do, but the fact that the Bills want to interview Pep Hamilton tells you that they are going to change the offense drastically and they want to see their first round QB given an offensive game plan that coincides with a QB who was selected in the first round. We all know the Bills will have someone waiting in the wings if he fails be that a FA, or a 2nd or 3rd round daft pick.

I think that after what happened with Doug Marrone, the Bills should be VERY wary about hiring a head coach wishing he were elsewhere or having this his second or third choice of head coaching jobs. If I were interviewing him, he had better do a great convincing job me or no way do I hire him for a team that just went through a head coach that didn't want to be here and quit. The Bills would be MUCH better off with promoting Schwartz.

While he may not be my first choice, I think that if he were to bring in a seasoned OC like Marc Trestman that they would right the ship on the offensive side of the ball and Schwartz could guide him on HC duties if he were to become an assistant HC. Reich is very competitive and he might actually be more fiery as a head coach than most of us think he would be. Having said that, I would be good with Shanahan, Schwartz or Rex Ryan. With Reich, you get a guy who you know isn't wishing he were somewhere else and I think the players would welcome a guy who they would trust was "all in" with the Buffalo Bills.

Quinn is the real deal as a head coach IMO. Though if he'd rather go to the Jets (he's from NJ) then he was never a good fit for the Bills anyways. My remaining favorites are Reich, Shanahan, Schwartz and Rex Ryan.

He seems to check all of the boxes...very successful OC for the Giants, his offense turned their 1st rd WR into a superstar, Giants went from 28th to 13th in points scored on offense, learned from two very successful HC in McCarthy and Coughlin, survived the pressure of NYC area when things started out badly for them. McAdoo's offense with ODB saved that whole staff. That was an amazing feat since they were all wrote off as goners about week 12. Why isn't he a candidate for the Bills who have Sammy Watkins stuck in mothballs on offense? Shouldn't he be on this list before some of these guys they are interviewing?

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Andy Dalton turns to mush whenever there is pressure bigger than a regular season game. I'd much rather have Mark Sanchez, who actually plays good enough to win road playoff games.

I think this is above our pay grade...LOL Maybe if Marrone is hired by the Jets, the local beat reporters can investigate this whole thing. Especially if the Bills do nothing and don't file charges on the Jets. The second domino to fall will be Marrone getting hired by the Jets. After that, we shall see what the Bills do. If they don't file charges then I will wonder why.

I think that Marrone's extension was "leaked" from the Bills organization because they needed to establish that they wanted to keep Marrone long term. Why? Because when they file the tampering charges on the Jets (if Marrone is hired), and if they win the case, they would be in line to get the Jets 6th overall pick in the next draft. Marrone's camp leaking the story is crazy because of the ramifications of tampering. Why would they highlight the Bills wanting him to stay?

Will I hate the decision to go with Shanahan? No, I will buy into what you are saying here. But I just think that being a head coach is such a grueling and demanding job that when you've been through a very long career already with all the battle scars like Shanahan has, I'm not sure that the drive and passion would be the same as it would with a young coordinator like Quinn, Reich or Hamilton. I think there's a reason why no NFL head coach has ever won a Superbowl with two different teams. The NFL is all about heart, drive and passion and I think that when a head coach wins a Superbowl or two with a team, that the heart and drive are never the same as it is with the old team. I think Shanahan would get us to the playoffs, but I think a first ever head coach or perhaps even Schwartz would get the Bills a Superbowl win.

You can NOT base your decision on who the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills will be based on Jim Schwartz's reaction. This team hasn't made the playoffs in forever. Jim Schwartz had his shot at being a HC and should be very thankful he's in a great position being the DC of the best defense in the NFL. If he gets upset that a guy like Dan Quinn or another DC in the league is getting the Bills head coaching job and he's not getting it then he can leave. A monkey could coach our defense to a top 5 next year. It's time this team act like the Steelers and Ravens franchises and pick the best candidate, not who the obvious and most convenient replacement would be to go with.

I've come to the conclusion that this team should not pick a celebrity head coach like Mike Shanahan. I think that young players would resent having a head coach whose a very famous NFL persona yet doesn't have any results from the recent modern era. They could care less about 1998. I think today's young players are about what's cool what's hip what's fun and what's trending. While Pete Carroll and him are about the same age, Pete Carroll is still hip and acts young. He talks and sounds like a person in their 20s. Carroll is the exception IMO. The Bills really should hire young, up and coming coordinator like Dan Quinn, Hamilton, Reich (not that young but he seems much younger than Shanahan) or Bevell. This team needs a head coach that they will go on a long playoff ride with for about 10 years and that's not celebrity head coach Mike Shanahan.

I was big on Bevell, but I've cooled recently. I think that Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch are two players that are just natural freaks of nature. I don't know that Bevell has that much to do with the success of that offense, or that he'd know what to do with much more ordinary talent at QB or RB. I'm much bigger on the Bills hiring Seahawks DC Dan Quinn. I know he's a defensive coordinator, but the guy is so impressive when I watch his press conferences. I think you pick the best head coach and go from there as far as who the OC will be. One thing that's great about Quinn is that he knows you must adapt your systems to the players you have and not the other way around... http://mmqb.si.com/2014/08/06/dan-quinn-seattle-seahawks/ “One of the things I’ve learned from Coach [Pete] Carroll is how to use our featured players,” Quinn says. “There’s a tendency to say, oh, he doesn’t fit the system. Coach Carroll is more like, what does he have that’s special?” If we're going offense then it's either Reich or I'm starting to like Pep Hamilton more and more. Pep attacks a defense with deep throws and that's what I want the Bills to do. Having said that, I think Quinn is going to be a great head coach and that's what I want first and foremost. Then trust in his plan for the offense.

Dec 27th... http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/27/league-has-no-comment-on-report-of-casserly-contacting-jets-candidates/ http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2014/12/jets_contacted_rex_ryans_agent_about_rex_ryans_replacement_per_report.html Sooner or later something will come to the forefront. It sounds like too many people know what Casserly was doing and the abruptness of Marrone departure is a screening red flag on this issue. Not only was there possible tampering, it actually might end up with the Jets being successful (????) with their tampering by getting the Bills head coach. If he becomes their head coach and the Bills can prove tampering then the Jets would probably have to give the Bills the 6th overall pick. It would be that big of a deal IMO.

Really???? You STILL trust Doug Marrone's opinions on anything related to football????...LOL Idiot head coach Doug Marrone thinking EJ Manuel wasn't answer is the very reason Bills fans should have great faith that he's the answer at QB because Doug Marrone is a dumb man. I can't believe there are still Bills fans backing up Marrone. Unreal, he's a joke and he had NO CLUE what to do with an NFL offense, with Watkins, with Manuel, with Spiller and on and on and on. He was a fraud, a phony. I suggest you really think it over before backing up any of Doug Marrone's decisions.

I'm sure Quinn would keep Schwartz in place, if he wanted to change out Schwartz that then I wouldn't want Quinn. So going off that, I think being a head coach has a lot to do with personality, authenticity and likability. There's no fakeness to this guy, he comes across as real and as someone players would love to play and win for. I also think that Quinn would provide the Bills organization an identity of being a young, tough team that is going to be good for a long time. As for offense, you have to trust the best head coaching candidate (which Quinn is IMO) to bring in the right guy on offense. He's being interviewed by almost every team with a HC opening, so he isn't a dumb man. As a franchise, you don't base your head coaching decision on which side of the ball they come from (the most successful franchises don't do this), you pick the best head coaching candidate because he will be the face and the identity of your team.

I'm really shocked that the vote is 37-5 between Bevell and Quinn...LOL Bevell is a west coast "cool" guy like Pete Carrol while Dan Quinn is an east coast "real" guy like Bill Cowher. Do yourselves a favor and watch a few press conferences by these guys and tell me which one is a good fit for the Bills head coaching job. IMO it's not even close, Quinn looks and sounds just like a young Bill Cowher. Hiring based on which side of the ball the guy is from is a recipe for failure. Only stupid teams would do this. The Steelers had Whisenhunt there to take over for Cowher but went with Thomlin because they knew he was the better head coach. He would continue to instill that toughness identity. I think that's the difference between Bevell and Quinn, one guy will give the Bills a west coast "cool" makeover while the other guy will give the Bills a no nonsense east coast "tough" identity. Also, fans on the Seahawks message boards can't stand Bevell (go look them up and take the time to read them) and are hoping someone hires him. They can't stand that Russell Wilson has to constantly bail Bevell's play calls out all the time with his legs or that Beast Mode bails him out by running over 5 guys who would takle the normal human behind the line of scrimmage. Seahawks fans know that once Lynch leaves, Carroll will have to fire Bevell and get a much better OC in there. We don't need the west coast "cool" guy, we're a defensive team and we need the east coast "tough" guy. I'm sure Dan has a very good plan in place for his OC and it will be 100 times better than Marrone's plan.

What's ironic is that Marrone sees himself as the next Parcells or Coughlin, yet those are two coaches implored their young QBs (Simms and Manning) to throw the ball down the field and take chances. Throwing interceptions is a right of passage for most young QBs that eventually become franchise QBs. Parcells yelled at Simms one time for checking it down. He told Simms if he didn't throw two interceptions that day that he'd bench him because he wasn't trying hard enough. As for Coughlin, he's always trusted Manning even though he's always thrown a lot of interceptions. To become a franchise QB, you have to prove a consistent ability to complete passes down the field or you will never amount to anything. In almost every game you must challenge the defense with deep passes. Marrone gave Manuel the worst coaching he could receive by telling him to check it down all the time because you never ever want to throw interceptions. In this offense, Manuel was never given a real opportunity to show he's a franchise QB. Now we will truly start to see what we have in EJ Manuel.

Also lends credence to EJ Manuel not being the bust many here think that he is. Tom Brady would suck if his OC called for the ball up the middle twice in a row and then called for a swing pass to the RB on third and six on almost every series of downs. So glad we will finally see what Manuel can do in a real NFL offense.

EJ Manuel is a better QB than Nick Foles. That's right. The gap is very close, but as the years go by that gap will be a grand canyon. Nick Foles is a statue and a turnover machine. The only reason he had success last year was due to Kelly's play churning system being so new in the NFL. If Manuel were an Eagle this year he would have been the starter and be in the top 10 of most QB statistics. EJ Manuel played slightly better than Foles did this year and Manuel had the anchor of the worst offensive system in the league to deal with while Foles had Chip Kelly's QB friendly system. I know many here will flame away at me for saying all this, but the facts are the facts. The 2014 stats don't lie. EJ Manuel is only going to get better and better and one day become a long term solid starter while Nick Foles will always be an unathletic statue and forever a backup QB in the NFL. There's no way Foles is Kelly's starting QB next year. BTW, if Marrone thinks Manuel is a horrible QB then I'm 100% sure Manuel is a franchise QB. Because that man is an idiot of epic proportions.

I was listening to a lot of WFAN this week and it was so funny hearing the hosts talking about feedback they were getting from Bills fans. That their Bills fans friends were very eager for the Jets to hire Marrone. That Marrone opting out and going to the Jets was fantastic news to them...LOL You knew that they were slowly coming to the realization they were being fed some serious bs through national and some local NFL media outlets. Unfortunately the PR damage is probably done and the Jets will end up looking elsewhere and not hire Marrone. I so wanted the Jets hiring him to happen. I wonder if there are any Marrone supporters here who feel completely duped by this total phony. I couldn't stand him and I took every opportunity to unload on him. I am so happy that Marrone is no longer the head coach of the Bills. We Bills fans are very lucky he's gone.

Orton's 2014 last eight starts - Bad, Bad, Great, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad BTW, EJ was 2-2 and Orton was given a retirement win by the New England in his final game. Orton's real 2014 win-loss record should have been 6-6. I know I'm in the minority, but IMO Manuel would not have had that 1-6 stretch of good to bad games that Orton did. Regardless of debating between the two QBs, the common denominator was Marrone and Hackett couldn't make it work with a young QB or a well seasoned veteran QB.

The last remaining question (excuse?) regarding EJ Manuel's progressively worse play was Marrone and Hackett's horrible horrible stinkbomb of an offense. So at least with a very good OC coming in (hoping that's the plan) who knows what he's doing, we can get that final question (excuse?) answered once and for all this year. If Manuel doesn't take this blessing of occurrences and make the best of it with greatly improved play then it's truly over for him here.

I think that it would serve Manuel very well if his next OC and he would embrace using him as an extra "RB" on QB draws that the defense doesn't account for, especially in the red zone. If they have success and start spying on Manuel then that opens up huge holes for our skill players to do some damage. This really is Manuel's make or break year. I hope the next OC is the key missing ingredient in getting Manuel on track to becoming a long term franchise QB for the Bills. No matter what QB competition they bring in as a fee agent.

Isn't Cam Newton's style of QBing an obvious blue print for possible success for EJ Manuel? I know that Manuel simply does not have that quick twitch and decision-making that Cam possesses and he's slower and with less speed on his passes. But I think Manuel comes close enough in all those areas to maybe one day become a poor mans version of Newton. When I watch Carolina games I watch Cam and think about the possibilities of a light switch turning on for Manuel and him reaching a level close enough to what Cam does for the Panthers.

Both Tom Coughlin and Pete Carroll were head coaches way back in 1998 and they've won two of the last three Superbowls...LOL No I'm not saying he's as good, just pointing it out. Although I am intrigued by the possibility of Shanahan becoming the Bills head coach. It's a huge upgrade offensively with regards to Marrone/Hackett. That is a fact. Here's a fun fact, back in 1998 there were three divisions in each conference.