Excerpt from Polian's book: Insight about Bills management style?

[Rivermont Mike]

We all think, as does Polian (and Pegula), that the purpose of a professional sports franchise is to win championships. Littman thought it was to make money for his boss. How many times were the Bills a player or two from being a contender, and instead we got somebody cheap. More importantly, and this is vastly underappreciated, the Bills have NOT shelled out like other teams for coaches. Not just HCs but all through the staff. There is no salary cap on the coaching staff, and most teams try to get the best staff they can. Sometimes the Bills have good coordinators and assistants, but usually there's one good coordinator and one guy willing to work for cheap to get started on his career. Not that present day circumstances should be any guide.

 

From my perspective, there are a lot of good bean counters out there, and darned few football geniuses. The Bills' product was football, and in a truly professional organization that should have been the priority. If Littman and Polian clashed, find another bean counter.

 

So Wilson died and left a fortune and very generous estate, giving back to the city a lot of the money fans paid for tickets over the years. Wonderful. A little less back now and a Lombardi trophy or two at OBD would be a good deal in the eyes of most of us.

I agree with you. If you're managing an NFL team (which is *always* a good investment) as part of a extensive portfolio of businesses and your objective is to maximize profit, then favoring Littman makes sense. That was Wilson's approach. If your NFL team is a predominant part of the your holdings, then hiring football people and beancounters who can strike a balance makes sense. We will find out where the Pegulas stand over the next few years.

[Hplarrm]

I do often wonder if RWs personal relationships with his NFL partners had anything to do with his entry into the HOF being delayed longer than this viewer thought he was gonna get in.

 

The handshake deal he made with Jimbo to reward him financially in his"next" contract, when the salary cap both restricted the Bills from paying an above market rate contract to Kelly and banned such handshake deals was a pretty direct violation of the cap rules.

 

Bad relationships not only with Polian but eventually with Butler (who was cheesed he not only left the Bills high and dry but took AJ Smith with him, with Wade Smith (whom he lost a grievance battle with), the hiring, firing, and sad career of Greg Williams (what did RW see in hiring this bountygate moral monster), the personal battles with Mularkey (he walked away from millions rather than stay with a dysfunctional Bills ship),the failed second chance given to f TD and then firing him.

 

Certainly almost ay individual case alone can be at least blamed on both parties. However, taken as a whole, one thing all these blow-ups have in common s RWS

 

Like all human beings his public record merits some kudos and some censure.

[JohnC]

Littmann must have been quite a hot-shot financial guy in the late 80s/early 90s to warrant being kept over a GM who got this team to the playoffs from 1988-1991 when RW made the decision to fire Polian (in the summer of '92). I recognize both were strong personalities and this is in the past, but I find it indicative of a problem RW always had. The Bills over the years seemingly always shaded too much to the financial side of the house than to football, to the point that financial people were given supervision over football people. Polian was good enough in personnel to overcome that, but when he left Butler only somewhat maintained the football side of the house. Successive GMs however were not good enough as the NFL became more competitive and we have what's looking like 15 years of no playoffs. To me, that says something was catastrophically wrong with senior management. And Littmann was the tallest hog in the trough there.

 

I don't think anyone's arguing the Bills should have been losing money to ensure on-field success. But the Bills were operating behind the times and Littmann was part of that, though successful at squeezing more money (with Brandon's help) in these final years of RW's ownership. And no one was going to tell RW they needed more money to win, least of all someone like Brandon who won promotions making this franchise more profitable as the team stunk on field.

 

Polian's departure was the moment this franchise started a long slow-ride into irrelevance. We didn't know it at the time, but the Bills haven't recovered from his firing. Fact is, if Littmann had been sent packing we wouldn't even know it on-field. And I find it noteworthy that Littmann was only in his mid to late 30s when he got the team treasurer job. At that time, Polian was a proven NFL GM with more than 5 years of playoff teams behind him. There may not be a lot of top financial types out there, but there are fewer outstanding NFL GM's (even in 92-93). Hopefully the Bills can find one and get this team on track more than 20 years after "Trader Bill" was unceremoniously let go.

 

The owner is not a fool. No one is hoodwinking him. The structure of the organization is the structure that he wanted, and he got. The Bills primarily were a profit center for him, There were a few separate decades where the Bills were dismal. That didn't bother the owner enough to act with urgency to alter the way the franchise functioned. .

 

Go back and review the people involved with the business side of the operation. It was very stable with few staffing changes. Go back and review the people involved in the football side of the business. It was a constant churning of staff. Every few years there would be a sequence of firings and then the mediocre replacements would repeat the same cycle of departures as their predecessors did.

 

While the football operation was unstable and chaotic the business side of the operation strictly adhered to the business model. Many people want to harshly criticize Littman. He was doing what the owner wanted. Littman didn't care about football. He did care about cash/flow matters and profit margins. On those business points Littman ran a tight ship and was very unyielding. If you don't believe that then ask Polian about how the stubborn and volatile Irishman lost the contest with the person who held the calculator.

 

I'm very confident that you are very aware that the business side of the operation not only dominated but ruled the football operation. For most franchises the business and football side of the operation are more separate with a less harsh conflict between the two entities. Finances are always a consideration when making football decisions within the organization. But for the Bills it was tilted too much to the bean counters to the extent that it made it very challenging for the team to be competitive.

 

Ralph Wilson is no fool. His business and financial advisors are top of the line.Just look at how much was squeezed out of this historically losing franchise. Look at the impressive way the his advisors structured his estate and then executed the will without a hitch. It was quite impressive. But even with the financial restrictions that this franchise was subjected to the nemisis for this franchire was that the owner made the football hires. He was wretched at it. His inability to hire quallity people to make football decisions sunk this franchise more than the spending limitations. On the few occasions when he got it right, Chuck Knox and Polian, it worked out well for him. It's not surprising that both departed after doing outstanding jobs.

 

.

Edited November 22, 2014 by JohnC

[FireChan]

For years I thought I was the only one who remembered the names of the villians, I've been blasting Jeff Littman and Walt Coleman here for years. Or maybe no one else dared type their names. Whatever the cause it's good to see more people aware of the damage that Littman did to the organization.

 

We all think, as does Polian (and Pegula), that the purpose of a professional sports franchise is to win championships. Littman thought it was to make money for his boss. How many times were the Bills a player or two from being a contender, and instead we got somebody cheap. More importantly, and this is vastly underappreciated, the Bills have NOT shelled out like other teams for coaches. Not just HCs but all through the staff. There is no salary cap on the coaching staff, and most teams try to get the best staff they can. Sometimes the Bills have good coordinators and assistants, but usually there's one good coordinator and one guy willing to work for cheap to get started on his career. Not that present day circumstances should be any guide.

 

From my perspective, there are a lot of good bean counters out there, and darned few football geniuses. The Bills' product was football, and in a truly professional organization that should have been the priority. If Littman and Polian clashed, find another bean counter.

 

So Wilson died and left a fortune and very generous estate, giving back to the city a lot of the money fans paid for tickets over the years. Wonderful. A little less back now and a Lombardi trophy or two at OBD would be a good deal in the eyes of most of us.

 

Really?

[mannc]

For years I thought I was the only one who remembered the names of the villians, I've been blasting Jeff Littman and Walt Coleman here for years. Or maybe no one else dared type their names. Whatever the cause it's good to see more people aware of the damage that Littman did to the organization.

 

We all think, as does Polian (and Pegula), that the purpose of a professional sports franchise is to win championships. Littman thought it was to make money for his boss. How many times were the Bills a player or two from being a contender, and instead we got somebody cheap. More importantly, and this is vastly underappreciated, the Bills have NOT shelled out like other teams for coaches. Not just HCs but all through the staff. There is no salary cap on the coaching staff, and most teams try to get the best staff they can. Sometimes the Bills have good coordinators and assistants, but usually there's one good coordinator and one guy willing to work for cheap to get started on his career. Not that present day circumstances should be any guide.

 

From my perspective, there are a lot of good bean counters out there, and darned few football geniuses. The Bills' product was football, and in a truly professional organization that should have been the priority. If Littman and Polian clashed, find another bean counter.

 

So Wilson died and left a fortune and very generous estate, giving back to the city a lot of the money fans paid for tickets over the years. Wonderful. A little less back now and a Lombardi trophy or two at OBD would be a good deal in the eyes of most of us.

I agree with everything except your last sentence, which I think is based on a false dichotomy. If the reports from Polian and numerous others over the years are correct, Littman and company were making football decisions based on short-term financial considerations. The implication in the last sentence of your post is that if Ralph had been a little looser with the purse-strings, the team would have won more games, but that the value of the enterprise would have suffered. I disagree with that last part. Spending more money to hire the best coaches, GMs, and other personnel might cost more in the short run, but if it leads to winning more games and creating a sustainable winning culture around your franchise, then the overall financial health (and value) of the franchise can only improve. Owning an NFL franchise for the past 30-50 years has been like owning a license to print money because the league's popularity has gone through the roof. Even the most incompetent businessperson in the world could not have helped making truck-loads of money if he had owned an NFL franchise for the last three decades. The fact that the Bills recently sold for $1.4 billion does not validate Littman's methods, nor does it prove that Littman was a "good bean counter". It just proves that even the least valuable NFL franchises are worth a sh**-ton of money nowadays, for all the reasons we are familiar with, starting with, but by no means ending with, the staggering television contracts. Edited November 23, 2014 by mannc

[clearwater cadet]

Sorry guys never cared for ralph and still don't as an owner. Never knew him as a person, so I have no comment.

[Manther]

I agree with everything except your last sentence, which I think is based on a false dichotomy. If the reports from Polian and numerous others over the years are correct, Littman and company were making football decisions based on short-term financial considerations. The implication in the last sentence of your post is that if Ralph had been a little looser with the purse-strings, the team would have won more games, but that the value of the enterprise would have suffered. I disagree with that last part. Spending more money to hire the best coaches, GMs, and other personnel might cost more in the short run, but if it leads to winning more games and creating a sustainable winning culture around your franchise, then the overall financial health (and value) of the franchise can only improve. Owning an NFL franchise for the past 30-50 years has been like owning a license to print money because the league's popularity has gone through the roof. Even the most incompetent businessperson in the world could not have helped making truck-loads of money if he had owned an NFL franchise for the last three decades. The fact that the Bills recently sold for $1.4 billion does not validate Littman's methods, nor does it prove that Littman was a "good bean counter". It just proves that even the least valuable NFL franchises are worth a sh**-ton of money nowadays, for all the reasons we are familiar with, starting with, but by no means ending with, the staggering television contracts.

Totally agree!

[Utah John]

After reading mannc's comments about the long-term value of the club, I have to agree with him. Spending more to make the team more successful would have created more value in the long run.

 

So Littman's more of a villain than I thought, with no redeeming value at all, and it's a shame Ralph gave Littman so much power.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Utah John

[GG]

I may have to take back a lot of the bad things I have said about Kay Stephenson. Thank you Kay for standing up for changing the organization.

 

 

 

 

[DJasper Probincrux III]

Really?

Quick questions before I anwswer. In the grand scheme of a 1.4 billion dollar football team, how much more money would it have taken to win given a salary cap? How much more would the franchise be worth if it had been a consistent winner over that time?

 

Yeah I'd be ok if RW's estate was 200M lighter and we had some hardware, A, because I think winning would have done the city's collective psyche more good than 200M filtered through a charity to the needs they see fit to fund and, B, because I'm pretty confident he'd have made up the difference along the way.

 

FWIW, most charities aren't in the business of spending down their endowments. They invest them and spend the proceeds of those investments so RWs estate sort of gave 700M to Detroit and Buffalo but it's not like it's coming all at once, or likely even in big chunks. An annual outlay of 35-50M is much more likely, including overhead. If the estate has been 200M lighter (random numbers I grant) the commensurate annual reduction in charitable outlay (based on a 5% annual return) would have been about 10M/year.

 

So, if you're asking me if a Super Bowl or two would be worth 10M less annually I'd go with yes.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I love how Jim Ringo was giving Polian a hard time when he first got hired. Today people would take that as being "disrespected" but Bill new that he was being challenged to see if he could step up to the plate and he did quite admirably.

 

Sorry guys never cared for ralph and still don't as an owner. Never knew him as a person, so I have no comment.

 

you just did

 

The story of the conflict between Polian and Littman is well known. The situation between Polian and Littman was untenable. As much as Polian found it difficult to tolerate Littman, Littman found it intolerable to tolerate Polian. Littman made it clear to the owner that either he or Polian had to go. The owner chose his trusted business advisor over the football man.

 

What I find very fascinating is Littman. He rarely if ever took a public role with the franchise. He was a behind the scenes operator. He had to be a very tough person with very strong convictions to stand up to the volatile Polian. Their conflicts were continuous because he wasn't going to back down and acccept being treated other than in a professional manner.

 

It's apparent that Littman wasn't much interested in the competitive football side of the business. He had a business model that worked well for the owner. He dutifully kept the franchise functioning within the confines of that business model. He wasn't very much interested in the wins and losses. But when it came down to the cash flow and costs he was a ferocious fighter who enforced the rules. In the end no one should be surprised that when it came down to Littman or Polian the owner selected Littman.

 

Which is why we are in the condition we are in.

[Hplarrm]

Ralph was not a fool as a businessman I agree with you there. The proof is in the pudding as he built a construction based business into a 100s of million $ entity and he turned a $20,odd thousand investment in the Bills into an asset his estate sold for $1.4 billion. If someone proves he was a fool as a businessman then his estate should make thousands more by holding classes on how to be a fool.

 

Yet that being said, he was a fool or just simply bad as a sportsman or judge of football players. He miscalculated badly in making a handshake agreement to reward Kelly with a big contract next time he resigned. While no one really can predict injury I was pretty surprised the Bills did not move a yea before they overreached for TC t replace he clearly in decline Jimbo.

 

Ralph had the final say as signed the checks and he not only showed bad football judgment in mismanaging finding new QB after Kelly but misfired on QB choices he was clearly driving on players like RJ and probably Hobert.

 

Add to this a series of failed relationships managing key employees like Polian, Butler. Wade, TD, Malarkey etc and Ralph was great business man and a fool as a sportsman.

[Corp000085]

Ralph was not a fool as a businessman I agree with you there. The proof is in the pudding as he built a construction based business into a 100s of million $ entity and he turned a $20,odd thousand investment in the Bills into an asset his estate sold for $1.4 billion. If someone proves he was a fool as a businessman then his estate should make thousands more by holding classes on how to be a fool.

 

Yet that being said, he was a fool or just simply bad as a sportsman or judge of football players. He miscalculated badly in making a handshake agreement to reward Kelly with a big contract next time he resigned. While no one really can predict injury I was pretty surprised the Bills did not move a yea before they overreached for TC t replace he clearly in decline Jimbo.

 

Ralph had the final say as signed the checks and he not only showed bad football judgment in mismanaging finding new QB after Kelly but misfired on QB choices he was clearly driving on players like RJ and probably Hobert.

 

Add to this a series of failed relationships managing key employees like Polian, Butler. Wade, TD, Malarkey etc and Ralph was great business man and a fool as a sportsman.

 

This I disagree with. Ralph was a football fan, and there's not really much of a dispute there. He just put his money over trophies. It was his team and he prioritized profit and wins like he wanted. As a fan, I disagree with the 2nd rate football operations, but as a 3rd generation die hard fan, I appreciate more making my son into a 4th generation fan. As a fan, that's a priority for me. Yeah, I'd have liked to make a deal with the devil and get at least Super Bowl XXV and XXVIII, but...

 

I'm watching football tomorrow night due to Ralph Wilson's business model. He was a fan though. A losing record does not make him a fool though. He knew what he was doing.

[GG]

Ralph was not a fool as a businessman I agree with you there. The proof is in the pudding as he built a construction based business into a 100s of million $ entity and he turned a $20,odd thousand investment in the Bills into an asset his estate sold for $1.4 billion. If someone proves he was a fool as a businessman then his estate should make thousands more by holding classes on how to be a fool.

 

 

I think Wilson's business acumen in growing the Bills into a $1.4 billion franchise are greatly exaggerated. He benefited greatly from the work of others who raised the value of the tv contracts, and he got a nice boost thanks to the shale gas revolution.

[chris heff]

Doesn't the fact that Ralph choose an accountant over a football man say it all?

[JohnC]

This I disagree with. Ralph was a football fan, and there's not really much of a dispute there. He just put his money over trophies. It was his team and he prioritized profit and wins like he wanted. As a fan, I disagree with the 2nd rate football operations, but as a 3rd generation die hard fan, I appreciate more making my son into a 4th generation fan. As a fan, that's a priority for me. Yeah, I'd have liked to make a deal with the devil and get at least Super Bowl XXV and XXVIII, but...

 

I'm watching football tomorrow night due to Ralph Wilson's business model. He was a fan though. A losing record does not make him a fool though. He knew what he was doing.

 

Ralph Wilson made the major football hires. He hired Levy as a GM, had Brandon take over the football side of the operation and then hired a befuddled Nix. He hired top shelf talent for his businesses and got excellent results. He hired ill-equipped front office staff to make multi-million dollar decisions and got the expected disasterous results.. From a football standpoint he didn't know what he was doing. His decisions, especially regarding staffing, were very odd. The results were very predictable.

 

Many people are very critical of Brandon. I'm not one of them. I believe that he more than anyone else changed this antiquated organization into a more modern operation that over time will become a serious franchise again. On this staff hire you have to give Ralph Wilson credit for empowering the right person to act on his behalf.

[K-9]

Bill Polian has a bit of a selective memory.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Kelly the Dog]

I think Wilson's business acumen in growing the Bills into a $1.4 billion franchise are greatly exaggerated. He benefited greatly from the work of others who raised the value of the tv contracts, and he got a nice boost thanks to the shale gas revolution.

That is true but he was one of the most important players in the original merger. I think he was the first person to start negotiations with the NFL. Him and Rosenbllom. There was also a great story IIRC about him being in Europe when the final negotiations were going on and they called him and he told them not to take the deal, the NFL would budge more, and they followed his lead and didn't budge and got a better deal.

[GG]

 

That is true but he was one of the most important players in the original merger. I think he was the first person to start negotiations with the NFL. Him and Rosenbllom. There was also a great story IIRC about him being in Europe when the final negotiations were going on and they called him and he told them not to take the deal, the NFL would budge more, and they followed his lead and didn't budge and got a better deal.

 

I'm not going to deny the work that he did early on in the league to get it going and helping Raiders and Patsies along the way. But that isn't what got his estate a $1.4 billion tag.

[Kelly the Dog]

I'm not going to deny the work that he did early on in the league to get it going and helping Raiders and Patsies along the way. But that isn't what got his estate a $1.4 billion tag.

Absolutely it did. If he didn't loan Al Davis money or get the merger going, the AFL could have folded, or not merged, or not got the deal they did so his team's worth was drastically affected. The AFL was fairly successful but it wasn't a sure thing, especially if teams like the Raiders folded.