JohnC Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) If I recall correctly Tom Donahoe wasn't technically fired, his contract was not renewed. (If someone can clarify that issue for me I would appreciate it.) I consider Ralph Wilson to be an incompetent owner. His franchise's record is a testament to his level of competency. On the letting Donahoe walk I agree with him. Some people are so insufferable that the repercussions of their release are irrelevant. When the working environment is suffused with the paralyzing and stifling attitude of his autocratic and condescending presence then it is time to cleanse the work place. What happened in Buffalo was the same thing that happened in Pittsburgh. His arrogance and inflexible manner became so toxic to others who had to share the workplace that they rebelled. Bill Cowher wasn't the only person in the organization who wanted to kick his boorish ass, but he was one of the top staff who demanded that he be out. Ralph is not an easy person to work for. TD knew that when he accepted the job. Tom Donahoe made a fatal job mistake with his condescending attitude toward the person who was paying his salary. If the boss calls, you immediately answer the phone. You don't put him on hold or tell him that I'll get back to him when I am less busy. If you feel that the owner is a nuisance, that is tough. He is still your boss. Tom Donahoe certainly didn't do a good enough job to warrant having an attitude of being indispensable to the organization. Since his departure from western NY Tom Donahoe hasn't had a high level job with any team. There is a good reason for that. He is a nasty diick who few people want to be around on an extended basis. Edited December 12, 2013 by JohnC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLocke Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I still remember when Mularkey was hired and he forced him to hire Tom Clements as OC over ken Whisenhunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 BTW, He is back in the NFL as Donahoe is currently a consultant with the Eagles. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/24/eagles-hire-tom-donahoe-shuffle-scouting-department/ All I can think is, there was a reason the very successful Steelers org jettisoned the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezertbill Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Donahoes biggest mess up was not trading up with Houston to get Roethlisbuger in front of Pittsburgh. Everyone on ESPN was saying that was the rumor, but he thought the price was "too high". 9 years later would you rather have Big Ben or Lee Evans and Losman? Heck, I would have pulled a Ricky Williams and gave up that whole draft for Big Ben. He let Pat Williams go saying he was too old for 3 mill a year when all he did was dominate in Minnesota and make pro bowl after Pro bowl. He couldn't pick a coach to save his life and couldn't draft a stick figure. Simply put his ego was too big to admit he messed up, and instead of being cool he was arrogant, especially to fans. That's what got him chased out of Pittsburgh. It was Cowher or Donahoe. Don't think the Rooneys are regretting that one. Maybe if he had better talent evaluators for the draft it would have been different. But he didn't. And that's on him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thank you sir...IMHO best thread ever on TBD. I miss so many of the old posters on there. I wasn't on TBD back then, but OMG, that thread was hilarious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Its not ridiculous. It is logical. Alex Smith wasn't available when the Bills would have picked so that makes no sense at all. You'd rather trade future picks for some obviously dopey QB. Well good thing you're not a GM. JP LOSSman was a "never-was" he had no shot to be a viable NFL QB. It didn't take a lot to see this, no matter where he Stack ranked." Actually, Donahoe said it himself. He thought Losman was better than any QB in the next draft, so he made the trade. He was very clearly wrong in retrospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Actually, Donahoe said it himself. He thought Losman was better than any QB in the next draft, so he made the trade. He was very clearly wrong in retrospect. So to summarize if you don't know **** from shine-ola when it comes to QBs then you get **** canned from the Front Office. /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Few nits. Losman was rated higher than Schaub because he had a higher potential ceiling. That didn't work out, but Schaub is showing his exact limitations as well. Would the Bills be better off now had they drafted Schaub? I think they would have been marginally better. I also thought that Bills tried to trade with Texans to get Big Ben, but Capers was sold on Dunta Robisnon. Doesn't matter the team, at least TD knew he had to secure the QB position, but ultimately failed. I thought the Bills wanted to move in front of the Steelers by trading with Jacksonville. But JAX wanted Reggie Williams the tall WR....He lasted three seasons in the NFL...Well! I just have to assume that the Bills did not try very hard....to get Big Ben....Having said that, Big Ben was an unfinished product, but had a team that was super bowl ready on Defense and ST....It paved the way for his development quickly and into a SB winning QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) It would not surprise me one bit if the trade for Brain Dead Drew and the drafting of McGahee were both mandates from Ralph, "Get It Done". TD's HC choices were influenced by Ralph, who won't open his checkbook for them. Puddinhead Williams over McKinnie, that's on TD. Losman is on TD as well, though at least he tried to correct the situation. I still say his biggest mistake was extending Drew after the 2003 season. If Bledsoe doesn't sh## the bed against the Steelers, the Bills make the playoffs in 2004, and the last 10 years would've been radically different for the better. I think the Gregg Williams choice was all Donohoe. He had no desire in hiring a brand name coach; he wanted a coordinator. The last thing he wanted was a second power base within the organization. He had had success with that approach before (Cowher), of course. Edited December 13, 2013 by dave mcbride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 When "Whitey" was hired, I rejoiced. I now think of him as the worst GM that the Bills have ever had. He trashed the remains of our 'winning' culture by showing Bruce, Thurman, Andre the door.Cuts Steve Christie, etc.,etc.. He let Pat Williams, and ted Washington go allegedly because he 'didn't like fat guys'.We had Jake Ariens as out field goal kicker in 2001, ferchrissakes. The influence of his ineptitude,and arrogance continues to curse this team, in my opinion. Bruce, Thurman, and Andre were cut in early 2000, well before TD showed up as GM. Tom Donahoe's era, which ended almost 8 years ago, has nothing to do with the current ineptitude exhibited at OBD. Blaming him for the fortunes of the past few years is an exercise in futility, especially when the current pair of GM's, Nix and Whaley, have not equaled Donahoe's poor record from 01-05. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Actually, Donahoe said it himself. He thought Losman was better than any QB in the next draft, so he made the trade. He was very clearly wrong in retrospect. And he kept insisting that Mike Williams was a quality OL for years, and that Gregg Williams was a great coach. If there's a consistent feature about Donahoe is that he went to great lengths to justify his positions to the rest of the world, even if there was little truth to it. On a side note, I'm sure everyone remembers Levy saying without a hint of irony that Poz was the best LB in the draft. Few took him seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Grundy Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Yes Times 10! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Look back on tom donahoe's tenure (as painful as that may be). The rosters we had were decent back then. I still don't understand why we didn't win more during 2001-2005. Was tom to blame or were the coaches to blame? Seems like we made bolder picks and moves under donahoe compared to the past few years. I'm still puzzled by that period in bills history. Donahoe was more concerned with headlines then actually putting together a winning football team. One of the first things he said when he took over was that the team should have been in the playoffs the previous year...then proceeded to dismantle the team I thought his drafting was terrible actually. Taking Mike Williams a RT over Bryant McKinnie a LT was a mistake. McGahee was not a luxury they could afford to take especially since he was going to miss his rookie season. Using second round picks on Roscoe Parrish and Josh Reed was just ridiculous. He also traded up in the second round to get Ryan Denney which was just as bad He also hired Greg Williams Edited December 13, 2013 by Max997 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Its not Hindisght, its Foresight. JP LOSSman played for Tulane in Conference USA and was not a good QB. TD decided to trade multiple picks including a future 1st round pick to draft a QB that was clearly garbage in the first round. Big Ben went to Miami Ohio. In the MAC. A conference that UB is competitive in. A conference Drew Willy won. Miami Ohio has one the conference twice in 30 years. And have 3 bowl games in that time. Being at Tulane is irrelevant Its not Hindisght, its Foresight. JP LOSSman played for Tulane in Conference USA and was not a good QB. TD decided to trade multiple picks including a future 1st round pick to draft a QB that was clearly garbage in the first round. Big Ben went to Miami Ohio. In the MAC. A conference that UB is competitive in. A conference Drew Willy won. Miami Ohio has one the conference twice in 30 years. And have 3 bowl games in that time. Being at Tulane is irrelevant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Look back on tom donahoe's tenure (as painful as that may be). The rosters we had were decent back then. I still don't understand why we didn't win more during 2001-2005. Was tom to blame or were the coaches to blame? Seems like we made bolder picks and moves under donahoe compared to the past few years. I'm still puzzled by that period in bills history. Yes. He was bad. The record speaks for itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 well let's see : Gregg Williams they were 31-48 while Donahoe was here First round picks- Nate Clements, Mike Williams, Willis McGahee, Lee Evans, JP Losman Second round picks-Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Josh Reed, Ryan Denny, Chad Kelsay, Roscoe Parrish yes he sucked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Tom Donahoe started out great. His first draft was exceptional (Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Jonas Jennings). His trade for Drew Bledsoe was bold and aggressive. He was great at snatching up top free agents (Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher, Sam Adams, Troy Vincent, Lawyer Milloy). He definitely built the most talented teams we've had during this 15 year playoff drought. Unfortunately, once the core nucleus of the team was built - his drafts spiraled completely out of control. Instead of filling in missing pieces, he decided to waste selections on luxury players. We badly needed another pass rusher to complement Schobel. He takes an injured Willis McGahee. We badly needed an offensive line to protect an immobile Bledsoe. He takes (bust) Mike Williams, then completely ignores the position for 3 years. He creates a huge hole by letting Pat Williams walk in free agency, then uses our first draft pick on Roscoe Parrish. Good summary, though I can't fault the Williams pick, it was the right position, just the wrong guy. McGahee and Parish were inexcusable picks. And I believe Wilfork was a rookie during Pat's last year but instead of making that obvious replacement pick (or resigning Pat), he takes another flashy WR who turns out to be an average player. Edited December 13, 2013 by KD in CT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Northern Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Talking about the best Bills team of the last 14 years is like remarking on your least smelly turd Come on, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The thinking was draft Mckinney, he had show he knew more by drafting fat Mike even though he never played LT in college He didn't play LT at Texas because he was protecting Chris Simms' blind side, which meant he had to play RT. It wasn't like Texas had a better offensive lineman playing LT. Derrick Dockery was their next best lineman and he played right guard, before moving to RT the year after Williams was drafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Bruce, Thurman, and Andre were cut in early 2000, well before TD showed up as GM. Tom Donahoe's era, which ended almost 8 years ago, has nothing to do with the current ineptitude exhibited at OBD. Blaming him for the fortunes of the past few years is an exercise in futility, especially when the current pair of GM's, Nix and Whaley, have not equaled Donahoe's poor record from 01-05. Why are you already declaring Whaley a failure when he is in his first year of full authority? There is no doubt that there has been a continuum of ineptitude from the GM position. But making a determination on a first year GM is not only premature but it is also unfair. Is the selection of EJ a mistake? You may know the answer but I'm not willing to make any declarations about his chances for long term success based on his rookie year. I'm not saying you are right or wrong in your judgment. What I am saying is that you are not in a position to conclusively judge Whaley since he recently took over the position after last year's draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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