Ignorance

[Dan]

I think Shawn Nelson and maybe Nic Harris belong in this post.

Shawn Nelson showed a lot of promise thise year, IMO. His blocking needs to improve, yes. But, that's why I liked what Nix was saying about getting a HC and Asst. coaches that are teachers. That's been one of our biggest problems for a number of years. We get someone that shows a lot of potential, yet within 3 years they're all but out of the league.

 

Compare the number of young players that that have improved versus those that have not over the last 4 years and it's astounding. One of the more telling comments all year was after Byrd has 2 interception each of the last 2 or 3 games, and Fewell (I believe was asked about it) said, "we're trying to not tell him to do anything because we donb't want to mess him up". Or something to that effect. Wow. So here's a coach with a great young talent, and the approach is to just leave him to his own devices because the coaches might screw him up.

 

That pretty much says it all, IMO, about why our team has sucked for so many years. Get a good coaching staff in here and there's no telling the talent we couldl already have on the roster.

[John Cocktosten]

NIX WAS THE ASSITANT GM under him the chargers drafted

 

tomlinson

sproles

brees

manning/rivers

jackson

floyd

gates

mcniel

dielman

hardwick

clary

castillo

olshansky

cesarie

merriman

phillips

wilhem

cooper

cromartie

jammer

weddle

 

 

I THINK NIX IS QUALIFIED

So your saying he was on board with every pick or that all of these guys were his recommendations? There are a ton of scouts that argue for "their guy" but it only matters what AJ wanted.

[DELLAPELLE JOHN]

He was the assitant gm, he did all the leg work, and aj took his advice. this is all well known...............

[John Cocktosten]

He was the assitant gm, he did all the leg work, and aj took his advice. this is all well known...............

Yeah, a control freak like AJ Smith is going to put his future in the hands of his assistant. Are you a scout for the Chargers or something? If not a link would be nice.

[billsfan89]

I think the only real issue I have with the Nix hire is that they didn't try to get someone from another organization or at least outside of this organization. To me Nix is the best guy that the Bills had already in their organization BUT was he the best guy we could have gotten? I don't know if we could have gotten a better guy because we didn't try to get a better guy.

 

I like but do not love the Nix hire. He is the best guy already in the organization. BUT I think that the organization should have done some more due diligence in interviewing other consolidates even if they had to wait to Monday to do so. I don't think the Bills organization is going to use the extra 5-8 days they got by hiring Nix yesterday anyway.

[Jerry Jabber]

But all the "Fans" on this site who dont know anything at all about football post how Ralph is cheap, Nix sucks, yadda yadda yadda. Truth be told, 99% of the people on this board probably couldnt name the GM on 5 other teams, let alone a candidate they would have liked to come here. And dont start posting names, because we all know you just googled it. You just need something to whine about, like always, and wouldnt know a good GM ever. Nix has all the credentials and a VERY VERY good track record, But of course, Ralph is cheap, and the bills suck.

 

Nix is great hire, one of the major problems w/ the bills as of late has bee the draft, nix is here for 1 year and has a pro bowler already. Maybin needs to move to OLB which he will next year, then we can say hes a bust. Wood and Levitre looked good for rookies as well. I joined this board not too long ago thinking most people on here would know a thing or 2 about football, which some do. But anyone who says the Nix hire wasd a bad one, is seriously just either A.) a total and complete moron, or B.) Just trying to illicit a response. While I hope its B, its become obvious to me its likely A.

 

So to all the "Ralph is cheap" and "Nix sucks" people out there, truth be told you obviously dont know a thing about Football, and like I said earlier, couldnt name the GM on 5 teams and wouldnt know a quality candidate if it sat in your lap.

 

I agree. Some people are acting like Modrak or Guy got the GM job. And with people complaining about hiring within, this is Nix's first year back with the team, it's not like he's been here as long as Modrak or Guy. So far, Byrd, Wood, Levitre and Nelson look like solid draft picks. Only time will tell about Maybin. So far in the interviews with the press, Nix has hit on all the major problems: A QB with a strong arm to throw in Buffalo weather, Big-nasty linemen, strength & conditioning, a good coach & good coordinators, having a coach that can lite a fire under players butts when they're playing like crap. If Nix can transform Buffalo like he, Butler, A.J. Smith did with the Chargers, then we'll have a great team again for years.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Best move Buddy can make is boot Guy and Modrak to the curb

[Rico]

I agree. Some people are acting like Modrak or Guy got the GM job. And with people complaining about hiring within, this is Nix's first year back with the team, it's not like he's been here as long as Modrak or Guy. So far, Byrd, Wood, Levitre and Nelson look like solid draft picks. Only time will tell about Maybin. So far in the interviews with the press, Nix has hit on all the major problems: A QB with a strong arm to throw in Buffalo weather, Big-nasty linemen, strength & conditioning, a good coach & good coordinators, having a coach that can lite a fire under players butts when they're playing like crap. If Nix can transform Buffalo like he, Butler, A.J. Smith did with the Chargers, then we'll have a great team again for years.

Had they announced a Nix hiring and a Modrak + Guy firing yesterday, things would be more positive.

[DarthICE]

I have to agree I just can't believe Maybin had Nix's vote for that pick. All signs point to a bigger, tougher team being built here in Buffalo.

[thewildrabbit]

The simple truth is... nobody really knows if this guy will work out or not.

 

Is he a great hire? Why don't we see who he hires as his head coach, who he allows as coordinators and who he drafts.

 

All it will take is 4 months and the entire world will know whether or not he was a great hire.

 

FWIW, Isn't this the exact same way Bill Polian got his start as GM for the Buffalo Bills?

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. Who really shives a git if the guy is 70 yrs old as long as he does a great job while in Buffalo.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Yeah, a control freak like AJ Smith is going to put his future in the hands of his assistant. Are you a scout for the Chargers or something? If not a link would be nice.

 

I think JD makes a reasonable statement. Your asking for a link as proof of his statement doesn't seem so reasonable.

 

Nix and Smith have had a long association. They came to SD together with Butler. They worked together for nearly 15 years.

 

However much a control freak AJ Smith might be, by all accounts the position of a GM is a huge job and necessarily entails trust in, and delegation of responsibility to others.

 

You can't possibly think AJ Smith personally scouted and broke down film of every player in every draft?

[Deadstroke]

Finally, some sanity

 

Levitre, Wood, and Byrd are promising young players to build from.

 

Maybin ... time will tell ... few DEs have a major impact in their first few years like linebackers. He's a project as many people have acknowledged and we have so little data upon which to form a definitive assessment. He hardly played. And who knows what the future holds if he was to move to the outside LB position.

 

 

Only our stupid coaches would continue to play a 235 lb guy at DE.....HE'S A LB!!!!!!!!

[John Cocktosten]

You can't possibly think AJ Smith personally scouted and broke down film of every player in every draft?

And you and JD can't possibly think that Nix is responsible for that entire list of players. It's a synergistic effort by the entire scouting deparment and front office. But AJ Smith had the final say and you can bet that Nix wasn't the only guy in his ear on draft day.

[MRW]

And you and JD can't possibly think that Nix is responsible for that entire list of players. It's a synergistic effort by the entire scouting deparment and front office. But AJ Smith had the final say and you can bet that Nix wasn't the only guy in his ear on draft day.

But the same argument could be used to shoot down the credentials of any candidate short of Ron Wolf or Floyd Reese. Just the fact that Nix has been a key player in a successful organization like the Chargers is a major plus for him. The kind of proof you seem to be demanding just isn't going to be there for about any possible hire you could name.

[Sisyphean Bills]

I agree. Some people are acting like Modrak or Guy got the GM job. And with people complaining about hiring within, this is Nix's first year back with the team, it's not like he's been here as long as Modrak or Guy.

Think about it this way. If Nix had said "No, I'm not interested," the Bills process would have led to either Modrak or Guy being named GM.

[John Cocktosten]

He was the assitant gm, he did all the leg work, and aj took his advice. this is all well known...............

MRW,

I was responding to this post. So many posters on this board come here and just make sh*t up. I asked for a link to support what is probably DellaJohns "theory".

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Peter Principle (never done it before).

 

Do you know what the Peter Principle is? I think maybe you don't. As a refresher:

 

"In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence."

 

If the Peter Principle applied in this case, Nix would have been a GM years ago. The fact he wasn't seems to indicate he knows what he's doing.

[Tasmo]

Reasons why Nix is possibly a great hire: A proven association with organizations who have consistently excelled at identifying and bringing in talent. Furthermore, he has been a person of high responsibility in those organizations.

 

Love the Nix man baby. Old dogs are my thing. My grandfather was in a wheelchair, but that didn't mean he couldn't still run the farm. Its really just a matter of getting the right team together to make sh*t happen and plant the seeds if you know what I mean. This guy is no BS and as others have pointed out, knows the glaring problems and plans on fixing them. Trust in the old dogs.

[flmike]

He didn't really bash them, but he said they weren't meant to play in buffalo. The undersized linemen who are built for speed aren't good for buffalo because of the weather conditions. They are good for an indoor team like Indy. That is a short summary of what he said.

 

 

Absolutely right. I just hope they never build a dome in Buffalo. I hate watching games in domes.

[rockpile]

I joined this board not too long ago thinking most people on here would know a thing or 2 about football, which some do.

 

First off ive been coming to this site for years, just never posted...But Even if i hadnt, TBD is not the end all plethora of football knowledge champ...2nd, I highly doubt you just named all those "off the top of your head" more like "Wikipedia"...If you did then u fall into the 1% or less than can argue for or against the Nix hire.

 

Which is it? I know you just registered recently, but if you have been coming here for years, you would know many (most?) of the fans here are not football experts. I do not claim to be an expert, just a long time fan.

 

Try to be less insulting, "champ", and pay more attention to grammar, punctuation and spelling, before expecting me to accept you as a 99 percentile football expert. OK?