Coach55 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 If this board were to exist in 1986, I think a post would go something like this... What is cheapskate Ralph thinking, he went out and got another bum as opposed to getting a real coach. Look at this guy's history - Lifetime 31-42 NFL head coach with a 9-7 best single season record Took a 12-7 Chicago Blitz USFL team and went 5-13 in his only USFL season Managed to win 2 CFL championships as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, but come on, that was the early 70's and the CFL!!! The only real college he coached at was California where his best season was 4-5-1 He coached at William and Mary and New Mexico - boy those are real powerhouses Throw in the fact he is 60 - this guy isn't a has been, he is a never was... This team is horrible. We have a rookie GM Bill Polian - figures Ralph is going to promote from within as opposed to getting someone of quality... After going 0-20 against the Dolphins in the 70's, there is no way we are going to compete with them. Marino is destined to win this division year in and year out. He's unstoppable. We are definitely going nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 If this board were to exist in 1986, I think a post would go something like this... What is cheapskate Ralph thinking, he went out and got another bum as opposed to getting a real coach. Look at this guy's history - Lifetime 31-42 NFL head coach with a 9-7 best single season record Took a 12-7 Chicago Blitz USFL team and went 5-13 in his only USFL season Managed to win 2 CFL championships as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, but come on, that was the early 70's and the CFL!!! The only real college he coached at was California where his best season was 4-5-1 He coached at William and Mary and New Mexico - boy those are real powerhouses Throw in the fact he is 60 - this guy isn't a has been, he is a never was... This team is horrible. We have a rookie GM Bill Polian - figures Ralph is going to promote from within as opposed to getting someone of quality... After going 0-20 against the Dolphins in the 70's, there is no way we are going to compete with them. Marino is destined to win this division year in and year out. He's unstoppable. We are definitely going nowhere. Yeah the guy only got to coach what...5-6 HOF'ers? Hard to screw up when you have that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach55 Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 Yeah the guy only got to coach what...5-6 HOF'ers? Hard to screw up when you have that. But who did we have? Jim Kelly - he looked great in the USFL, but the guy can't win in the NFL. We went 4-12. The NFL game is just too fast for him. Bruce Smith - the guy came into camp last year overweight and only managed to get 6.5 sacks. He can't stop the run, plus he jumps offsides constantly in clutch situations. He is going to be a bust. Look at our receiving core - Butler is 29. Chris Burkett might develop into something. This Andre Reed looked pretty good, but he's from Kutztown state - that's not even D-I. His 53 catches last year is a one-hit wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach55 Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 What about our offensive line - its a disaster. We have 2 real players - Wolford (who looks like he is going to be a monster) and Ritcher. Devlin and Jones are ancient and we have an undrafted player starting at center. Kent Hull, come on. This is the most important position on the line. We need some real help here if we want to go anywhere any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I think we are solid at kicker with Norwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 If this board were to exist in 1986, I think a post would go something like this... What is cheapskate Ralph thinking, he went out and got another bum as opposed to getting a real coach. Look at this guy's history - Lifetime 31-42 NFL head coach with a 9-7 best single season record Took a 12-7 Chicago Blitz USFL team and went 5-13 in his only USFL season Managed to win 2 CFL championships as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, but come on, that was the early 70's and the CFL!!! The only real college he coached at was California where his best season was 4-5-1 He coached at William and Mary and New Mexico - boy those are real powerhouses Throw in the fact he is 60 - this guy isn't a has been, he is a never was... This team is horrible. We have a rookie GM Bill Polian - figures Ralph is going to promote from within as opposed to getting someone of quality... After going 0-20 against the Dolphins in the 70's, there is no way we are going to compete with them. Marino is destined to win this division year in and year out. He's unstoppable. We are definitely going nowhere. I've been saying this for the past few months. TSW would have lit up and blasted the choice, just like they are hand wringing over Chan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 The most instrumental person in the organization's best years was Bill Polian. He created a dynasty and was fired by a clown owner primarily because of financial issues. The Bills would have won without Levy as the HC but not without Wild Bill as the GM. The Bills have been shackled since Polian's departure. Marv Levy got in the HOF because of the teams Polian assembled. Polian will be in the HOF after he retires on his own merits. Wherever Polian has gone his teams have been successful. Marv Levy was an utter disaster as a fictitious GM for the Bills. Installing the congenial Marv into a position he was blatantly unqualified for was another stupendous mistake by a goofy owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR Really? Like any decent coach would have had six straight Super Bowl wins with Indy? Polian always builds great offenses and small, fast defenses that fall short. He did that in Buffalo and again in Indy. If the Colts could get off the damn field on third down they would be champs this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Really? Like any decent coach would have had six straight Super Bowl wins with Indy? Polian always builds great offenses and small, fast defenses that fall short. He did that in Buffalo and again in Indy. If the Colts could get off the damn field on third down they would be champs this year. Just saying they could have won at least one more than Marv. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Just saying they could have won at least one more than Marv. PTR And I am saying that I agree with you 100%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 There are some similarities between then and now. I think Kelly made those teams happen - his no huddle, his arm strength, just like Brady and Manning make their teams - and, I believe, McNabb made the eagles, Warner the Cardinals & Rams... So, this year might compare best to the year before we got a winning QB in Kelly. I'm not writing off Edwards - I was really high on him his first two seasons, and I'm hoping last year was more coaching and confusion, rather than bad QB play. If Edwards can regain his form - and I can't forget that Bill Walsh was really high on Edwards coming out of college - then we could have very similar success in the early stages of formation here, too. I also keep in mind many of who we consider to be great QB's had similar stats their first 30 or so games as Edwards, so we can't write him off yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Yeah the guy only got to coach what...5-6 HOF'ers? Hard to screw up when you have that. Easier to become HOFs when you have a terrific coach. Marv was in charge of that, and was a major part of the reason for that team being terrific. Having said that, yeah, Marv was a great choice. Which doesn't mean Gailey is. He might be, or he might not be. We'll see. You could have said the same pessimistic things about Gregg Williams too. You would have been right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR I think that's more than a little unfair to Levy. He took a team to 4 consecutive Super Bowls, not strictly because of the talent on the roster but in large part because of how he coached that talent. Are you suggesting that those Bills teams were the most talented teams in the history of the game? Because better coaches couldn't even get their great teams (70's Steelers, 60's Packers, 70's Cowboys, 80's 49ers) to 3 consecutive Super Bowls let alone win them all. Yes, Levy was outcoached in those games - perhaps not as much on the field as he was in his game preparation. But, the blame equally falls on Polian for not addressing the defense properly throughout the glory years. Which sounds a little like the Colts of the last decade, wouldn't you agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR Exactly. I have always felt that way. Yeah I know Kelly and thurman etal love Marv, who cares? The guy flat got outcoached when he had the best team in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR Marv wasn't as good a field general as Belichick, who is probably in the top 3 or so of all time. As for the other Super Bowl losses, we simply didn't have as good a team. Our offense was absolutely fantastic. But our run defense was never anything special at all, unfortunately, particularly at NT, and it got a lot worse when Conlan left. We got unlucky in that all of the teams we played in the SB had big bad massive OLs and dominant run attacks. That was the way to beat us. If a team with a different makeup had played us, we would have won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Just saying they could have won at least one more than Marv. PTR I can agree with that. However, your initial statement wasn't about winning one Super Bowl; it was about winning multiple consecutive Super Bowls. It does beg a question that I've debated at times in the past. Is it a greater achievement to have gone to 4 consecutive Super Bowls and lost them all? Or to go to one (ala Tampa Bay) and then immediately fall back into obscurity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I think that's more than a little unfair to Levy. He took a team to 4 consecutive Super Bowls, not strictly because of the talent on the roster but in large part because of how he coached that talent. Are you suggesting that those Bills teams were the most talented teams in the history of the game? Because better coaches couldn't even get their great teams (70's Steelers, 60's Packers, 70's Cowboys, 80's 49ers) to 3 consecutive Super Bowls let alone win them all. Yes, Levy was outcoached in those games - perhaps not as much on the field as he was in his game preparation. But, the blame equally falls on Polian for not addressing the defense properly throughout the glory years. Which sounds a little like the Colts of the last decade, wouldn't you agree? I can't think of one instance where Levy gameplanned a win. In fact his game plan was just to let Kelly do what he wanted. And 95% of the time that was enough. Kelly and the team were that dominant. But when the spotlight shown brightest, Kelly's ego took over from his brain, and opposing coaches knew that. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 The most instrumental person in the organization's best years was Bill Polian. He created a dynasty and was fired by a clown owner primarily because of financial issues. The Bills would have won without Levy as the HC but not without Wild Bill as the GM. The Bills have been shackled since Polian's departure. Marv Levy got in the HOF because of the teams Polian assembled. Polian will be in the HOF after he retires on his own merits. Wherever Polian has gone his teams have been successful. Marv Levy was an utter disaster as a fictitious GM for the Bills. Installing the congenial Marv into a position he was blatantly unqualified for was another stupendous mistake by a goofy owner. Yeah, and one of the main reasons Polian will be in the HOF is that he has always been terrific at picking excellent head coaches. Including Levy. Levy was superb at creating the systems, picking excellent assistants and letting them coach, organizing everything and getting a bunch of really disparate and uncontrollable personalities to pull together. Without him, that team wouldn't have been nearly as good. Yeah, Polian was absolutely crucial. And yeah, one of his most important decisions was picking Levy. And yeah, you need a damn good GM to be good (and a damn good coach too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 It's hard to knock the guy who coached the best period in the Bills history, but I think it's pretty obvious Levy was outcoached when it mattered most. Polian built him a team for the ages. Any decent coach would have won 6 straight Super Bowl with that team. PTR Not outcoached just to loyal to Walt Corey. To loyal to everyone- hell he still wanted Jauron to stay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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