Jeff Wright's Mullet Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Russ Brandon always seems to get credit as being a "marketing genius" and is rarely held accountable for the lack of this teams success over the past 10 plus years even though his decisions have greatly impacted the franchise. While he deserves credit for bringing Training Camp to St. John Fisher, the Toronto series may have made Ralph money but ultimately it was a colossal failure. Russ was directly involved with the hiring of Doug Marrone and the promotion of Doug Whaley. Unexplicably, Marrone a 1st time NFL head coach was given a $4 million dollar out clause in his contract. I would argue Marrone's decision to leave was less about the money but more about who at One Bills Drive had the power (Brandon & Whaley). His decision seems to be justified. His boot licking ways have gained him more power at One Bills Drive and now with the Sabres. When will he ever be held accountable for the mess that is the Buffalo Bills? You can say he's great at selling tickets but I would argue its easy to sell hope when you change your head coach and QB every 2-3 years. Now that the heat is on Whaley and Rex I would hope Russ Brandon draws more criticism and is finally held accountable for yet another disastrous season. Terry and Kim please wise up and when you fire Whaley please include Russ Brandon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 So he's not good at selling tickets because selling tickets is easy when your so bad that you have to fire everyone all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick the Greek Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Record number of season ticket holders this year? I say the guy is doing a great job. He's a snake oil salesman, but people are buying. Disclaimer: I've never liked the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Russ Brandon always seems to get credit as being a "marketing genius" and is rarely held accountable for the lack of this teams success over the past 10 plus years even though his decisions have greatly impacted the franchise. While he deserves credit for bringing Training Camp to St. John Fisher, the Toronto series may have made Ralph money but ultimately it was a colossal failure. Russ was directly involved with the hiring of Doug Marrone and the promotion of Doug Whaley. Unexplicably, Marrone a 1st time NFL head coach was given a $4 million dollar out clause in his contract. I would argue Marrone's decision to leave was less about the money but more about who at One Bills Drive had the power (Brandon & Whaley). His decision seems to be justified. His boot licking ways have gained him more power at One Bills Drive and now with the Sabres. When will he ever be held accountable for the mess that is the Buffalo Bills? You can say he's great at selling tickets but I would argue its easy to sell hope when you change your head coach and QB every 2-3 years. Now that the heat is on Whaley and Rex I would hope Russ Brandon draws more criticism and is finally held accountable for yet another disastrous season. Terry and Kim please wise up and when you fire Whaley please include Russ Brandon. Let me see if I get this right: The team hired a new head coach, spent a bunch of money on players, had a ridiculous number of injuries, and then lost a road game where they were down their starting QB, top 2 WRs, #2 RB, 2 OLmen, and only other speed WR (note that they lost their backup RT during the game), so we should...fire the marketing guy? Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I think Russ has already been held accountable. He is not involved in football decisions. Next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 The Bills, a team that has not even had a whiff of the playoffs for a decade and a half and counting, sold over 60,000 season tickets this season. T.O, Rex, both in my opinion were done for one reason, to get a Bills fanbase that is starving for a reason, ANY reason, to Billieve and snap up tickets and merchandise. And it worked. That my friend, is marketing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkAF43 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Let me see if I get this right: The team hired a new head coach, spent a bunch of money on players, had a ridiculous number of injuries, and then lost a road game where they were down their starting QB, top 2 WRs, #2 RB, 2 OLmen, and only other speed WR (note that they lost their backup RT during the game), so we should...fire the marketing guy? Nice. Couldn't have been said any better. /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I think Russ has already been held accountable. He is not involved in football decisions. Next. How many times do we have to prove that this isn't true? He's literally in the war room on the phone talking to GMs on draft day. It's possible that with the sabres job his role now is to just manage and report back to the Pegulas daily, but I'm willing to wager that his access to major football discussions doesn't count him out. It's very difficult to have a power shift and take away someone's role when there's no one to supervise him. My guess is Brandon is constantly discussing with Whaley and I would prefer he not have a say whatsoever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 When will my season ticket rep be held responsible? He sold me these crappy seats for a crappy team and he was there when they drafted EJ. I blame him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 How many times do we have to prove that this isn't true? He's literally in the war room on the phone talking to GMs on draft day. It's possible that with the sabres job his role now is to just manage and report back to the Pegulas daily, but I'm willing to wager that his access to major football discussions doesn't count him out. It's very difficult to have a power shift and take away someone's role when there's no one to supervise him. My guess is Brandon is constantly discussing with Whaley and I would prefer he not have a say whatsoever Whaley asked him to work the phones during the draft because he has relationships with other teams around the league. He's not making football decisions...period. That has been Whaley's job since Brandon took over the team from Ralph in January of 2013...of this, I am 100% certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Whaley asked him to work the phones during the draft because he has relationships with other teams around the league. He's not making football decisions...period. That has been Whaley's job since Brandon took over the team from Ralph in January of 2013...of this, I am 100% certain. agreed that negotiating within someone elses parameters is hardly "making football decisions" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriveFor1Outta5 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) It's hard for me to like this guy as he reminds me of a shady used car salesman. Marketing and football personal decisions are two worlds that can be at odds with each other. Many times the moves that build winning franchises don't excite the fans. On the other hand flashy moves for skill position players always ignite the fan base. We've had plenty of those sort of moves since Brandon has been in town. I often worry that he has a lot to do with it. I'm fine with Brandon being around solely for marketing. However, my concern is that he still has too much input on personal. If this is true as many of you have stated, I'm very concerned. In this case he definitely needs to be held accountable. Edited October 26, 2015 by DriveFor1Outta5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) I was hoping that when Pegula took over we would see a full cleanse of the front office for the most part. I thought bringing in a well experienced football exec ("czar" as many made reference to) was much needed. Apparently Polian was slated to take the job and someone was "bad mouthing" him. However you feel on Polian taking over, that should not sit right. So all the bluster happened. I loved the Ryan hire, loved the FA acquisitions and the hype.... but it seems to have staled out and it looks like we have taken a few steps back. The Bills were in a spot where they would give teams like the Bengals and Pats trouble at home... and win games like the one vs the Giants. They werent competitive in any of those games despite a few late rushes. Defense is awful now if you take into account money invested and quality of player in the defense. Its wrecked. This situation really reminds me of the 2011-12 Sabres. The Sabres needed change, Pegula took over, the team went on a run at the end of the year and qualified for the playoffs. A lot of money poured in, hype, etc without any of the real needed changes and the team fell flat on their face with no solution until the gradual cleansing of the front office. Now Brandon... I dont believe he is going anywhere. He has been installed as president of both the Sabres and the Bills.... recently. This organization still does not have a rudder. All the leaks last season undermining Marrone, Whaley, etc... then this year you have someone leaking out that Manuel is playing to compete for the permanent starting spot, Whaley is "rogue", etc. The whole Cassel thing and Freddie thing kind of blowing up in their faces. Things like forgetting batteries for the in-game communications system. I want someone at the top who can build a winning football program. Edited October 26, 2015 by May Day 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobu Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 See the last quote in my signature. BTW Crack kills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wright's Mullet Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Let me see if I get this right: The team hired a new head coach, spent a bunch of money on players, had a ridiculous number of injuries, and then lost a road game where they were down their starting QB, top 2 WRs, #2 RB, 2 OLmen, and only other speed WR (note that they lost their backup RT during the game), so we should...fire the marketing guy? Nice. Russ Brandon is not just "the marketing guy." He is the Managing Partner and President of the Organization. In the Front Office Hierarchy his name appears right below the names of the Owners and above the name of the General Manager. He was C.E.O. under the previous owner. He has been directly involved in the hiring of our previous 3 Head Coach's and 2 General Managers but yet I'm to believe he is not responsible for the current state of the organization? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Russ Brandon is not just "the marketing guy." He is the Managing Partner and President of the Organization. In the Front Office Hierarchy his name appears right below the names of the Owners and above the name of the General Manager. He was C.E.O. under the previous owner. He has been directly involved in the hiring of our previous 3 Head Coach's and 2 General Managers but yet I'm to believe he is not responsible for the current state of the organization? He is the President of the Team and runs the business side of the organization. Thinking he has any control over football operations at this point--or at any point since January of 2013, is simply incorrect by nearly every account available. Going after Brandon for the state of the on-field product is nothing more than a misdirected witch hunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridge Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) He is the President of the Team and runs the business side of the organization. Thinking he has any control over football operations at this point--or at any point since January of 2013, is simply incorrect by nearly every account available. Going after Brandon for the state of the on-field product is nothing more than a misdirected witch hunt. How naive are you? What do you think he's doing here? or here? Edited October 26, 2015 by fridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Let me see if I get this right: The team hired a new head coach, spent a bunch of money on players, had a ridiculous number of injuries, and then lost a road game where they were down their starting QB, top 2 WRs, #2 RB, 2 OLmen, and only other speed WR (note that they lost their backup RT during the game), so we should...fire the marketing guy? Nice. Can we stop repeating/pretending that Harvin is really any better than Woods? And it's not like "their starting QB" was Aaron Rodgers that they were without... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) How naive are you? What do you think he's doing here? Wait, is that picture supposed to "prove" that he's making football decisions? ^ This is a picture of Peter McLaughlin in Seattle's draft room. According to the Seahawks official site: "Peter McLoughlin is responsible for all financial and business operations, sales and marketing, sponsorship, and administration of the Seahawks." http://www.seahawks.com/galleries/2015/05/02/inside-seahawksdraft-vmac-draft-room#253681 http://www.seahawks.com/team/staff This is beyond normal. I will say it again: this thread is a misguided witch hunt. Can we stop repeating/pretending that Harvin is really any better than Woods? And it's not like "their starting QB" was Aaron Rodgers that they were without... On both statements: sure...let's just ignore performance on the field for this team, this season. Edited October 26, 2015 by thebandit27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) Can we stop repeating/pretending that Harvin is really any better than Woods? And it's not like "their starting QB" was Aaron Rodgers that they were without... its weird, last week when sammy upset everyone i heard rumblings that percy was our real #1 and now that theres been tweets from reporters about his injury he is our #3. Edited October 26, 2015 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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