May Day 10 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 There was a year when he was involved in the football side of the business. It didn't take him long to make an adjustment to a more suitable role as a CEO, a critical role for a successful operation. That personal recognition about himself and the adjustment in his role says a lot about him as a person. For him it wasn't about ego and power, it was about the success of the franchise. Wilson removed him and put Nix in because the fans were ready to riot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I agree here. If I am Pegula, I look to extend Whaley and his team. Brandon would require taking a closer look. Nothing personal, but his background is Marketing. Since he was elevated higher in the organization than Marketing, the Bills have not had a season where they won more than 6 games. I would have to take a hard look at that. Option could be to have Brandon move back to run Marketing and hire a True Football Man as Team President. Whole lot off CEOs with marketing or sales backgrounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 IF the wheels fall off and the Bills finish last again this season, I cant wrap my head around why any fan would want to stick with the status quo. The "big" changes 2 years ago were moving Brandon from CEO to 'super' CEO and promoting the asst GM to GM. Team is still last place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Wilson removed him and put Nix in because the fans were ready to riot. The Levy set up of a division of labor with no strongman GM was an untenable organizational structure in the pro football business. Brandon took over the postion because the owner placed him there. It was obvious not only to the owner but also to RB that he wasn't suited for the position. The CEO position is the right position for him and his talents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Wilson removed him and put Nix in because the fans were ready to riot. From what I know about it, Russ knew he was in over his head and basically fired himself as football side GM. And between Ralph and him, they brought in a real football guy, Buddy Nix, to make all football decisions. I had a lot more respect for Russ after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 who made the Evans trade when Nix alluded to others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 IF the wheels fall off and the Bills finish last again this season, I cant wrap my head around why any fan would want to stick with the status quo. The "big" changes 2 years ago were moving Brandon from CEO to 'super' CEO and promoting the asst GM to GM. Team is still last place. I guess to me it depends on why. If the Bills finish last again this year I will still want Mario Williams on the team because I don't think that he will be the reason. If they are to finish last it will most likely be poor QB play. What if EJ misses the year though and they go 6-10? Who gets blamed for that? The point being that there is no black and white at all, there are a trillion shades of gray. There is no "if this, then that" scenario. The Levy set up of a division of labor with no strongman GM was an untenable organizational structure in the pro football business. Brandon took over the postion because the owner placed him there. It was obvious not only to the owner but also to RB that he wasn't suited for the position. The CEO position is the right position for him and his talents. Agree with all of this. Neither Levy nor RB actually made the football decisions despite their titles. The decisions were made by John Guy (pro) and Tom Modrak (college). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) Agree with all of this. Neither Levy nor RB actually made the football decisions despite their titles. The decisions were made by John Guy (pro) and Tom Modrak (college). The Levy hire as an artificial GM was one of RW's most absurd hires. The honorable and proud Levy was placed in an untenable postion that only could result in failure. Levy took the position (he reallt wanted to coach) out of loyalty to the owner. With the Bills Tom Modrak remained in his position for a decade of mediocre work. In my opinion John Guy was even worse at his job. He stayed on for a decade, if not longer. When you hire mediocre people and empower them you inevitably fail. When you hire quality people and empower then you eventually succeed. For me Whaley and Brandon are high quality hires. I'm a strong believer that eventually things are going to turn in the right direction. That's why I believe that another change in regimes with a new owner will prove to be futile. The main driver for success is going to be determined by our qb play (as you noted). EJ is a work in progress. In the long run I think he will work out. In the short run the road is going to be bumpy. Edited August 15, 2014 by JohnC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 IF the wheels fall off and the Bills finish last again this season, I cant wrap my head around why any fan would want to stick with the status quo. The "big" changes 2 years ago were moving Brandon from CEO to 'super' CEO and promoting the asst GM to GM. Team is still last place. "IF" the wheels do fall off again this year I can see everyone but Whaley & Brandon getting the boot. I'm still not very enamored with this coaching staff, and all the mistakes they made last year. Should EJ fail, will that all be on him or them? Jeff Tuel really? As much as I want to see Marrone win games and keep his job. I just don't see the Buffalo Bills contending for even an AFC championship with him and Hackett at the controls. On another note I would love to see the 49ers give up on Harbough and see the Bills hire the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 who made the Evans trade when Nix alluded to others? I was told at the time from a very good source with knowledge of the situation that basically Littman and Overdorf gave Nix a list of three players with good sized contracts and told him, "One of these has to go." Nix chose Evans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) I guess to me it depends on why. If the Bills finish last again this year I will still want Mario Williams on the team because I don't think that he will be the reason. If they are to finish last it will most likely be poor QB play. What if EJ misses the year though and they go 6-10? Who gets blamed for that? The point being that there is no black and white at all, there are a trillion shades of gray. There is no "if this, then that" scenario. It would be 7 straight seasons of that. Always reasons and excuses. If EJ stinks and/or gets hurt, its on management for putting all eggs in his basket and leaving an UDFA and a practice squad QB as the backups. Toronto games. Squabbling with Byrd. Poor coaching, you name it. Trading Stevie in favor of a powder keg of personal issues (Williams). Punting on getting a legit TE. Not finding any replacement for Levitre. Its not rocket science to be competitive in the NFL. Im done with reasons and excuses and ready for this organization to look like one, instead of rooting to be "in the hunt" as long as possible, then get bitched at about how we dont want to show up for meaningless December games. Whenever we have had enough of it, my perception is everyone takes one step to the left and its branded as change. edit: I dont mean to be a negative nancy. Im hopeful for this season and like a lot of the athletes we do have. I do fear the complete devotion to EJ and protecting him from any competition may waste all this talent though. With new ownership, I dont think we can/should accept failure and make excuses any more. Edited August 15, 2014 by May Day 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) It would be 7 straight seasons of that. Always reasons and excuses. If EJ stinks and/or gets hurt, its on management for putting all eggs in his basket and leaving an UDFA and a practice squad QB as the backups. Toronto games. Squabbling with Byrd. Poor coaching, you name it. Trading Stevie in favor of a powder keg of personal issues (Williams). Punting on getting a legit TE. Its not rocket science to be competitive in the NFL. Im done with reasons and excuses and ready for this organization to look like one, instead of rooting to be "in the hunt" as long as possible, then get bitched at about how we dont want to show up for meaningless December games. Whenever we have had enough of it, my perception is everyone takes one step to the left and its branded as change. Agree with all of that (outside of the Stevie trade). It is important, however, to know who is making these decisions and who is not on board or not making them. Just a blanket statement of we have sucked for years so all of these suck is just short-sighted, IMO. Edited August 15, 2014 by Kelly the Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 if we have a good thing going why change any of it, if we don't well then ...you know what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I was told at the time from a very good source with knowledge of the situation that basically Littman and Overdorf gave Nix a list of three players with good sized contracts and told him, "One of these has to go." Nix chose Evans. Paul Hamilton told the same story on WGR a few years back. He said Overdorf gave the GM a menu of players and contracts that he had to select from. There is nothing unusual about factoring in salaries when making personnel decisions. But with Buffalo the financial environment was more restrictive and the finance people were more influential in the football operation compared to other franchises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 If you think Russ Brandon is going to get **** canned by Pegula in short order you will be sorely disappointed. if you use the Sabres as a model, he is likely going to let the current team continue until he has had time to access the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) Agree with all of that (outside of the Stevie trade). It is important, however, to know who is making these decisions and who is not on board or not making them. Just a blanket statement of we have sucked for years so all of these suck is just short-sighted, IMO. This is what I was getting at. I have no issue with accountability as long as the right people are being held accountable. The perfect example to me is Crossman. What has he done last year and in his career to warrant the job this year? IMO -nothing Edited August 15, 2014 by Kirby Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I think Brandon will be retained, but he isn't going to be casting the Bills vote at owners' meetings anymore. His power will decrease a bit, but he will probably still be a top guy in the organization. The owners do love him, but he isn't really one of their little club. The members at a fancy country club love the chefs and servers too, but there is a line between working for the club and being part of the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Paul Hamilton told the same story on WGR a few years back. He said Overdorf gave the GM a menu of players and contracts that he had to select from. There is nothing unusual about factoring in salaries when making personnel decisions. But with Buffalo the financial environment was more restrictive and the finance people were more influential in the football operation compared to other franchises. This has Littman written ALL of it. This is a microcosm of why people had issues with "ownership." It was really Littman that had been the decision maker prior to Russ gaining control in 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 If you think Russ Brandon is going to get **** canned by Pegula in short order you will be sorely disappointed. if you use the Sabres as a model, he is likely going to let the current team continue until he has had time to access the situation. Tough to say. One could easily argue that first Sabres decision horribly blew up in his face and only once he cleaned house was his team is now on the right track. IMO, we don't know what El Petulante thinks about that specific strategy from his Sabre experience and he likely goes into the Bills with an open mind. Furthermore, he probably knows he already has the team, and even if he doesn't he is already considering in his own mind what he will do. But he is not going to be in charge until Oct or Dec so no way is he going to make any decision whatsoever in the 2014 football season. And so much could happen. If EJ tanks, he has to seriously question Whaley and Marrone's judgment. If the Bills play well his opinion about a lot of folks and their jobs could change for the better. If they are erratic but show flashes, which is probably the most likely, his evaluation process becomes harder than it even is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Paul Hamilton told the same story on WGR a few years back. He said Overdorf gave the GM a menu of players and contracts that he had to select from. There is nothing unusual about factoring in salaries when making personnel decisions. But with Buffalo the financial environment was more restrictive and the finance people were more influential in the football operation compared to other franchises. Hopefully this will be a thing of the past with new ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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