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Mike Lombardi's take on this trainwreck of a hiring


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If he wins football games, you don't need "buzz". The guy comes highly recommended from the majority of this board's savior (Bill Cowher), and Scott Pioli thinks he is a HC material as well. The last thing this franchise needs is a move to create "buzz".

 

I agree which is why I included that last point. Lombardi thinks that Gailey is more "manager" than "leader." I've heard those concerns elsewhere and they're terrifying. Sounds like someone who makes for a perfect coordinator but is not HC material. Maybe he'll prove us wrong, I don't know. But he'd better generate wins, because buzz alone won't cut it this time.

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I'm just surprised no one has attacked Lombardi for his opinion. I mean, anytime someone says something negative about the Bills, they're destroyed by the faithful homers of TBD.

 

For the record, Lombardi once worked for the 49ers during the Walsh years. And BW told him there are really only a few teams in it to win it each season. Unfortunately, former league executives like Lombardi understands better than others that the Bills are going in the opposite direction. They've quit and the only way out is to have luck as RW puts it.

 

Raiderish is the new adjective to describe the Bills. Or perhaps the Raiders are really Billish.

Clearly, you are correct. Which is why we never should have considered Bill Cowher for our HC. He is obvious a bad evaluator of coaches, and his questionable decision making should scare any team from hiring him.

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I agree. In Lombardi's attempt to rip this choice, he stupidly gave me more reason to like it. Sorry but i trust Pioli's opinion alot more than Lombardi's. Can't sell it? Who gives a rat's arse.

 

Mr. Smithers gives a rat's arse. He's the guy who has to sell this move to the people who are going to wonder why they should continue supporting the team. They've probably got a wildcard up their sleeves, a la TO, but really there's no way they can't hide who they really are.

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Good piece by Lombardi. He gets how this franchise operates. I'm surprised at the moderate level of support this hire is getting on this board, frankly. It reminds of late 2005/early 2006 -- supporters of Marv were enthusiastic about the Jauron hire (me included; I was more naive then), while many of the people willing to cast a more jaundiced eye thought it wouldn't pan out. Now, three years later, the roster is probably worse (we have no receivers outside of Evans), the front office is more dysfunctional, and the owner is even more bunkered. I'm not particularly optimistic.

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He's exactly right. The Bills have operated their franchise like a used car dealership for about 20 years. They depend on generating "buzz" not wins. If fan interest wanes they're screwed - they have no margin for error in that market. Irrelevance = death. Which is not to say that he thinks the hiring will lead to wins - clearly he doesn't.

 

 

 

At lest part of his argument is that Pioli ws going to hire him but felt he couldn't sell him to the fans and media? Is that fact or speculation? And, he proceeded to hire a guy who fired his OC just before the season started as well, and brought his team to a 4-12 record. yeah, that worked well.

 

 

You're right about fan interest, and fans will be interested if Nix/Gailey wins. If not, nothing.

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Mr. Smithers gives a rat's arse. He's the guy who has to sell this move to the people who are going to wonder why they should continue supporting the team. They've probably got a wildcard up their sleeves, a la TO, but really there's no way they can't hide who they really are.

Smithers has the easiest job in the world. Buffalo is city that supports it's teams no matter what and TBD is just an example of that unconditional love. It may be loyal to a fault but it can't be denied. Do you really think that OBD will have trouble selling this team? I sure as hell don't. How many stupid "Dear John" letters do we have to see on this site? Always posted by a fan that returns that following day and then the next. Very few Bills fans are going anywhere.

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Interesting article, he has some points.

 

I think it all comes down to who he hires as his assistants, it really will depend on who Gailey hires as his OC- DC- Lines coaches et al.

 

My biggest concern if this team is to succeed in any regard is to hire the best strength and conditioning coach they can find. The team can't even begin to win games with 22 players in IR.

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Good piece by Lombardi. He gets how this franchise operates. I'm surprised at the moderate level of support this hire is getting on this board, frankly. It reminds of late 2005/early 2006 -- supporters of Marv were enthusiastic about the Jauron hire (me included; I was more naive then), while many of the people willing to cast a more jaundiced eye thought it wouldn't pan out. Now, three years later, the roster is probably worse (we have no receivers outside of Evans), the front office is more dysfunctional, and the owner is even more bunkered. I'm not particularly optimistic.

 

 

yo dave...one of the issues in your post relates to Marv as a GM. Marv as a coach is a HOF'er, Marv as GM not so much.

 

I think you have to look deeper into the structure. Will Nix be a good to above-average-great GM? If so, talent improves. The question isn't whether or not Gailey is a good head coach, the question is whether or not Nix & Gailey can be an effective combination and lead the team back to respectability and beyond.

 

I honestly don't have an opinion on the front office being "more dysfunctional" than before. Nix-Gailey could turn out to be an exceptional front office combination. Or, not. The hard part as a Bills fan is to recognize that whatever else happened over the past 50 years, Nix and Gailey had absolutely nothing to do with it. Give them a chance.

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Huh? Is Lombardi high? This is a bad hire because the Bills can't sell it?? Never mindthat Pioli and Cowher think he was HC material. It's not good marketing? What a load of crap!

 

PTR

 

 

Read past the first part and get to the discussion of Gailey's former teams (no gtech BCS games, no playoff wins for 'boys) and his analysis of how we ended up here (league-wide knowledge that RW is a meddler, his impending death = uncertainty for team) you'll see why people agree. Perhaps the best point he makes is that the organization has been and continues to invite irrelevance ---becoming the Raiders of the East) by fearing change, fresh blood, outside opinions, and decentralized control. Seems spot on to me.

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Some folks don't blow through the five stages of grief as fast as you do. If you want to accept it, go ahead. I certainly understand why fans, myself included, refuse to go all in again.

Well, we really don't have too many other choices, so right now I'm thinking more of hoping that this works out as opposed to "going all in". I've stopped doing that for years now, which makes it all the easier, oh that and along with :wallbash:

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Wow, methinks Mike Lombardi needs to take a few English lessons.

 

Certainly, former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher’s ringing endorsement of Gailey will carry some clout, but will it all of western New York rest easy?

 

Recently, my fundamental problem with the Bills organizational is that they hate change

 

 

do you really like the OC's he recommended that the bills should have talked to,MARTZ are you kidding me WTF.

 

the only thing i liked about anything he said is hiring frazier as their HC and Gailey as his OC then we would have a great defense and leader in Frazier and a great OC.

 

however as usual the bills always do things backwards.

 

what is most important to me is seeing who he hires as his assistants!

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I'm just surprised no one has attacked Lombardi for his opinion. I mean, anytime someone says something negative about the Bills, they're destroyed by the faithful homers of TBD. For the record, Lombardi once worked for the 49ers during the Walsh years. And BW told him there are really only a few teams in it to win it each season. Unfortunately, former league executives like Lombardi understands better than others that the Bills are going in the opposite direction. They've quit and the only way out is to have luck as RW puts it.

 

Raiderish is the new adjective to describe the Bills. Or perhaps the Raiders are really Billish.

Let me try...

 

 

I'm just surprised no one has praised Lombardi for his opinion. I mean, anytime someone says something positive about the Bills, they're destroyed by the faithful negative nancies of TBD.

 

Man, that was fun :wallbash:

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yo dave...one of the issues in your post relates to Marv as a GM. Marv as a coach is a HOF'er, Marv as GM not so much.

 

I think you have to look deeper into the structure. Will Nix be a good to above-average-great GM? If so, talent improves. The question isn't whether or not Gailey is a good head coach, the question is whether or not Nix & Gailey can be an effective combination and lead the team back to respectability and beyond.

 

I honestly don't have an opinion on the front office being "more dysfunctional" than before. Nix-Gailey could turn out to be an exceptional front office combination. Or, not. The hard part as a Bills fan is to recognize that whatever else happened over the past 50 years, Nix and Gailey had absolutely nothing to do with it. Give them a chance.

Good point. I'm thinking about the upcoming year more than 2-3 years down the road. For 2010, I don't see much light: a weak receiving corps, no LT, a RB about to run out of town, and no credible QB. They may draft some good players, but I don't think they'll do much this year.

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Lombardi's logic is a bit skewed. He argues that the Bills should go back to the blueprint that made them successful in the eighties, not promote from within (Polian?) or bring in a coach that has only moderately successful credentials (Levy?). Is he familiar at all with the Bills of the eighties?

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Interesting article, he has some points.

 

I think it all comes down to who he hires as his assistants, it really will depend on who Gailey hires as his OC- DC- Lines coaches et al.

 

My biggest concern if this team is to succeed in any regard is to hire the best strength and conditioning coach they can find. The team can't even begin to win games with 22 players in IR.

 

 

Going from the team with the highest amount of players on the IR to a team with the lowest equals four wins! Even without a QB, this team could win ten games.

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