Are the Pegulas in Over Their Heads?

[RuntheDamnBall]

That may be the worst column Sullivan has ever written. He's officially become a parody of himself. I had to stop reading when he actually seemed to be lamenting Marrone's departure just because it cost the Bills a chance at Polian. Isn't the fact that Polian ran the Colts into the ground at the end of his tenure there a red flag? Isn't the fact that he only wanted to come back to Buffalo if Marrone and Orton were in place a red flag?

 

In light of this, I'd love to hear opinions on this: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/174998-request-for-bylines-on-the-tbd-articles/?do=findComment&comment=3406572

[mannc]

You do not believe that there is this perception out there that Doug Marrone is responsible for the modest success of this team, yet, you believe the Jets will hire him because there is this perception out there that Doug Marrone is responsible for the modest success of this team?

In part, yes. I believe the Jets all but committed to hiring the guy before they knew the full story. I think they got duped by Marrone's agent.

[The Wiz]

If losing Orton, Marrone, hackett and not getting pollian is blood in the water, I would hate to see what he calls it when we lose someone worth a damn.

Edited January 4, 2015 by The Wiz

[mannc]

If losing Orton, Marrone, hackett and not getting pollian is blood in the water, I would hate to see what he calls it when we lose someone worth a damn.

I agree that the Bills are better off without those people. The issue is, who's in charge and what is the plan? Whaley, has been seriously weakened by the Pollian fiasco and we can only hope that Brandon is not calling the shots. This is not a good time of the year for your organization to be surrounded by uncertainty.

[PearlHowardman]

If losing Orton, Marrone, hackett and not getting pollian is blood in the water, I would hate to see what he calls it when we lose someone worth a damn.

 

That's far too many personnel to replace in one season. Far too much experience, both winning and losing, completely lost.

 

Year three of any coaching tenure - a year where the coach can look back on the previous two years and learn from their mistakes. Gone!

 

Now the Bills have to hire a new HC, a new OC, and find a QB. It will take at least one season for these three new hires to work together.

[Doc]

Pegs obviously knew about the opt-out clause in Marrone's contract. So when he refused Marrone's request for an extension for himself and/or his assistants and the power grab over personnel, he was aware of this outcome. Therefore there was no "blind-siding." Pegs didn't care enough about Marrone to give into his demands. If he did, he would have. Period. He knew that the good parts of the team, defense and STs, had nothing to do with Marrone and are returning intact (assuming Hughes is re-signed, and he should be). The bad part, the offense, particularly OL, was supposedly Marrone's forte. That proved to be so wrong. So now he has a chance to hire a HC with proven success in the NFL (on their own and not under someone else) to improve the offense. Sounds like he knows exactly what he's doing.

 

As for Polian, I'm glad he admitted he's not up to the job before taking it and finding out the hard way. If only Marv had done the same. Sure it might look bad in the press that Polian turned them down, but the more that comes out about Marrone being a turd and no one else looking to hire Polian to run their team (he's been out of the league for 3 years now), the less it will look bad for the Bills and worse it will look for Marrone, if not Polian.

[dave mcbride]

Looks like they didn't do their due diligence on Pollian. There are plenty of others they could have turned to. Instead, they were embarrassingly and publicly left at the alter.

And why the surprise over the opt out? Marrone's contract has been in place for two years. Anyone paying attention would have known there was a real chance he would pull the golden parachute cord, or at a minimum use it as leverage. Hell, who wouldn't?

Sullivan hasn't the slightest idea of whether the Pegulas were aware of the opt out. Doesn't stop him from speculating, though. That's ok, but it's written in such a way to lead you to believe that they were probably unaware.

[Doc]

 

That's far too many personnel to replace in one season. Far too much experience, both winning and losing, completely lost.

 

Year three of any coaching tenure - a year where the coach can look back on the previous two years and learn from their mistakes. Gone!

 

Now the Bills have to hire a new HC, a new OC, and find a QB. It will take at least one season for these three new hires to work together.

"Far too much experience"? To whom are you referring? Polian, who hasn't been with the team for 20 years now? Marrone who has a 15-17 record in 2 seasons with the Bills and whose unit was the worst one on the team? Orton who retired even before Marrone and Polian walked away?

The Bills were going to have to find a new QB whether Marrone stayed and Polian joined. So nothing changed there. And finding a new OC is anything but a good thing. Hackett sucked. And Marrone was no great shakes as a HC.

[Lurker]

That's ok, but it's written in such a way to lead you to believe that they were probably unaware.

He probably thought they were in Buffalo, too.

 

I wish there was an 'ignore user' button for Sully...

[Doc]

Actually, perception means absolutely nothing whatsoever.

 

For example: the perception around the league is that Doug Marrone was some guru that took a talentless bunch of nobodies to a 9-7 record because of his coaching genius, while anyone that watched this team can tell you that isn't even remotely accurate.

 

Basically what you're saying is that because you don't know the new owner's plan it must be that they're either incompetent or that they have no plan.

 

Here's an idea: the plan is to let the GM, who managed to assemble the most talented team this town has had in over a decade, pick a new HC. Then the plan is to let that GM and coach fix the offense.

 

Do you really need Terry Pegula to announce that to you?

This sounds like all the kvetching over Ralph's failure to disclose his succession plan. Because if you don't publicly state it, there is none.

[May Day 10]

I can't disagree with any of it

[mannc]

Basically what you're saying is that because you don't know the new owner's plan it must be that they're either incompetent or that they have no plan.

 

That's not what I am saying. They might very well have a sound plan in place, but if that were the case, why would they allow Marrone and Pollian to publicly embarrass them, while at the same time undermining Whaley's authority?

 

I don't live in an NHL city anymore, so I don't follow the Sabres and I don't have an opinion about how Terry has run that franchise, but what I have seen so far with the Bills is somewhat disappointing, that's all.

[bobobonators]

Looks like they didn't do their due diligence on Pollian. There are plenty of others they could have turned to. Instead, they were embarrassingly and publicly left at the alter.

 

And why the surprise over the opt out? Marrone's contract has been in place for two years. Anyone paying attention would have known there was a real chance he would pull the golden parachute cord, or at a minimum use it as leverage. Hell, who wouldn't?

So are you saying you wanted pegula to start their HC search before Marrone even opted out. Just bc the opt out clause was there doesnt he was going to use it. Everyone was paying attention and id like to know how many people expected it like you say. It was a surprise to everyone.

[thebandit27]

This sounds like all the kvetching over Ralph's failure to disclose his succession plan. Because if you don't publicly state it, there is none.

I swear, there's no way folks think this way in "real" life; it's gotta be something about the Internet that scrambles people's brains.

[BillsFanMike]

We have a GM interviewing prospective coaching candidates. The list looks pretty good. After we hire a coach we have Free Agency and the draft, including possible trades to improve the offense. Where is the chaos?

This consultant thing is ridiculous and getting out of hand. We have a GM. Let him do his job.

+1

[Dibs]

They never should have put themselves in a position where someone like Pollian could publicly embarrass them by leaving them at the alter. Someone else should have been on board long ago,

That's a fair point......but I was responding to you bemoaning the fact that the Pegulas haven't done a press conference to spell out their plan.

[mannc]

Sullivan hasn't the slightest idea of whether the Pegulas were aware of the opt out. Doesn't stop him from speculating, though. That's ok, but it's written in such a way to lead you to believe that they were probably unaware.

I don't know if they were aware of it or not. I was responding to a previous poster who suggested that the Pegulas could never have anticipated that Marrone would leave so abruptly.

That's a fair point......but I was responding to you bemoaning the fact that the Pegulas haven't done a press conference to spell out their plan.

Don't you think that would be a good idea, under the circumstances?

[thebandit27]

That's not what I am saying. They might very well have a sound plan in place, but if that were the case, why would they allow Marrone and Pollian to publicly embarrass them, while at the same time undermining Whaley's authority?

 

I don't live in an NHL city anymore, so I don't follow the Sabres and I don't have an opinion about how Terry has run that franchise, but what I have seen so far with the Bills is somewhat disappointing, that's all.

Who is publicly embarrassed? The "name" coaching candidates are all interviewing here, the players love being here, the team Marrone is supposedly most interested in has their own media piece trashing him, etc.

 

Polian didn't want to have to preside over a coaching search, so he didn't take the job. No big deal; there are dozens of examples I FO executives doing the same in other NFL cities.

 

As to the Sabres, any NHL personnel evaluator will tell you that they have, by far, the best and deepest under-21 talent pool in their system of any team. They also have 3 first round picks in 2015. They are well positioned to be a very, very good hockey team in the next 2-3 years.

[Doc]

That's not what I am saying. They might very well have a sound plan in place, but if that were the case, why would they allow Marrone and Pollian to publicly embarrass them, while at the same time undermining Whaley's authority?

 

I don't live in an NHL city anymore, so I don't follow the Sabres and I don't have an opinion about how Terry has run that franchise, but what I have seen so far with the Bills is somewhat disappointing, that's all.

As I said above, Pegs knew there was a chance he would leave when he refused Marrone's requests. But there was no way to know that he'd bad-mouth the Bills to Polian, and I suspect that that will end up biting Marrone in the ass big-time. As for Whaley, Pegs is the owner and can do what he wants. Same goes for Brandon, whose back people seem to think Pegs went behind.

Who is publicly embarrassed? The "name" coaching candidates are all interviewing here, the players love being here, the team Marrone is supposedly most interested in has their own media piece trashing him, etc.

 

Polian didn't want to have to preside over a coaching search, so he didn't take the job. No big deal; there are dozens of examples I FO executives doing the same in other NFL cities.

 

As to the Sabres, any NHL personnel evaluator will tell you that they have, by far, the best and deepest under-21 talent pool in their system of any team. They also have 3 first round picks in 2015. They are well positioned to be a very, very good hockey team in the next 2-3 years.

ESPN is publicly embarrassing them. A la Ralph and the 2006 CBA.

 

And good point about top candidates still deciding to interview with the Bills despite this most embarrassing turn of events ever. Apparently they didn't get the memo (from ESPN).

[TC in St. Louis]

Everyone wants go pile on Sullivan, but I have not seen anyone refute his basic point--that the Pegulas appear to be behind the curve, reacting to events rather than acting like owners with a well-thought out plan. I tend to agree with this perception, although I totally disagree that the Pegulas should have done what was necessary to keep Marrone around. I am just looking for some evidence that they know how to run a football franchise and I'm not seeing it. I know Terry made a lot of money in the energy business, but that does not mean he knows how to run an NFL franchise.

 

Give it a minute to settle in. They saw Marrone and his bulldozer coming in, and they dealt with him. Whaley and his incompetent staff of scouts have somehow managed to put a great defense together, and a bunch of good, talented players are waiting for somebody to come in and show them how to become an offensive force. Clearly Marrone and his Hackett fellow were not up to the job, and had attitudes about how great they were. Any failures were on the part of the GM and/or the players. Despite Marrone's mantra of how it all falls on him, he ran out of fingers to point. Thankfully there was one left to point toward the door.

 

It ain't rocket science. Who cares what other teams think? The game is played on the field. We need a coach who will not allow his team to go to Oakland and lose. A guy who can muster up a game plan that gets more than 13 rushing yards against the 27 ranked run defense in the league. Hell, hire Denzel Washington. Somebody can get our offense on the field and get some production.