Rob Ryan joining Bills staff

[CodeMonkey]

 

Isn't that what happened in '15? He ran a hybrid of his system and Schwartz's system and it failed. You don't want him to acknowledge the obvious?

He actually is doing this. He just doesn't buy what Rex is selling is all.

 

I hear more excuses in his "merge" comments.

That's what Rex is best at, talking around his failures and making ownership and the fan base forgive/ignore said failures for at least a few seasons.

Edited January 11, 2016 by CodeMonkey

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I just heard Rex on Mike and Mike and one thing he said made a lot of sense. He said that this year they tried to make the defense a combination of what the Bills had been last year and the defense he was bringing in. When you do anything half way, it is sure to be a disaster. While I was not a huge fan of the Rex hire, if you are going to go Ryan, push your chips to the middle and go Ryan all the way....and see what happens.

 

In other words, he tried to fit his scheme to the players as he said he would, and he failed to do so?

[bobobonators]

Reading these message boards leads one to believe the Bills were 12-4 last season and Rex turned them into a 4-12 team this year.

 

I get why some people don't like Rex; he's an easy target.

[FireChan]

 

Because he probably honestly believed that he had the players in house that could execute the hybrid system he was employing. In the end, his bluster and overconfidence blinded him to the basic managerial failure of managing change. I'm guessing he had no idea he'd have a near mutiny on his hands.

That makes him a moron.

[jms62]

Not sure why the snark? He's not the coordinator, that was why I wondered why it would matter to season ticket sales.

Thought it was a pre-req that all responses on this site had to be snarky. Saw a guy get banned today for saying Pegulas should be fired so I guess I should tread lightly around these parts. Mods somewhat quick triggered after the weekend.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

 

Did you miss the posts that said everything was constant except for Schwartz being replaced by Ryan?

 

I guess I was more focused on the news reports of Rex saying stuff to the effect of "with the players we have, frankly #4 on D is rather disappointing" and "people talk about my scheme...I'm not a scheme guy, I fit my scheme to the players".

 

If Rex needed something he didn't have on D, he needed to make that clear to Whaley and put it on the FA/draft shopping list. It's still on him, unless he did and he didn't get it...but that went absolutely un-noticed in a building where everything the cat does seems to leak out?

[eball]

Or he's making excuses.

 

 

Either way...2016 here we come!!!

 

Any explanation for failure is always going to come off as an excuse unless one simply says, "I suck." I certainly don't think Rex "sucks" as a defensive coach, so you have to start looking at why things happened the way they did. His explanation makes some sense, and he realized too late that this was the wrong approach.

 

Eyes are wide open going into 2016. He'll have to prove himself all over again.

[DDD]

Since Rex got his own Bills truck will Rob get his own custom Bills Walmart fat scooter?

The Greater Buffalo Food and Beverage Association approves this hire.

[The Big Cat]

I was concerned that Rex lost some of his fastball after he got lap band.

 

Now that we have a carbon copy of pre-lap band Rex on the sideline, we've got our Fat Rex. This defense will surely turn around.

[GG]

That makes him a moron.

 

I'm giving him a pass for the first season. Like everyone else he was overconfident about the D based on last year's stats. But how much of the underperformance was due to an ill fitting scheme vs a poisonous player? Would he have more courage to bench Mario if Kyle didn't get hurt?

[Sisyphean Bills]

 

I guess I was more focused on the news reports of Rex saying stuff to the effect of "with the players we have, frankly #4 on D is rather disappointing" and "people talk about my scheme...I'm not a scheme guy, I fit my scheme to the players".

 

If Rex needed something he didn't have on D, he needed to make that clear to Whaley and put it on the FA/draft shopping list. It's still on him, unless he did and he didn't get it...but that went absolutely un-noticed in a building where everything the cat does seems to leak out?

 

Well, do you believe the talk that the Bills defensive players couldn't figure out the scheme? Even though Pettine ran a similar scheme just two years earlier? And didn't Hughes say they didn't bother putting the work in during the off-season?

 

I don't know, but when I see plays where guys are simply standing around and watching the offense execute that tells me the players share some of the blame. Like they say, a bad plan executed perfectly is way better than a perfect plan executed badly.

 

Edit: The corollary is bad execution trumps all. The plan may have been perfect or pure crap, but if people don't do their jobs and hold up their end, the whole thing falls apart regardless.

[Watching since 1964]

I was concerned that Rex lost some of his fastball after he got lap band.

 

Now that we have a carbon copy of pre-lap band Rex on the sideline, we've got our Fat Rex. This defense will surely turn around.

lol

 

Helps me get over channel flipping and seeing him spewing forth on Mike & Mike. It was just too soon after hearing he hired Fat Rex.

 

[FireChan]

 

I'm giving him a pass for the first season. Like everyone else he was overconfident about the D based on last year's stats. But how much of the underperformance was due to an ill fitting scheme vs a poisonous player? Would he have more courage to bench Mario if Kyle didn't get hurt?

The bolded shouldn't be a question.

[JohnC]

Reading these message boards leads one to believe the Bills were 12-4 last season and Rex turned them into a 4-12 team this year.

 

I get why some people don't like Rex; he's an easy target.

Very few people believed that this was a 12-4 team coming into the season. The majority of sober fans had the reasonable expectation that this team could have been a 10-6 or even an 11-5 team. With a schedule that turned out to be even more favorable than expected because of the weakness of the AFC South and the NFC East the team was in a good position to meet the realistic expectations.

 

The team didn't meet most of our expectations because of the Rex effect. What does that mean? Whatever team he is involved with is going to be known more for the noise and distractions rather for the actual accomplishments on the field. That's what happens with a bull shiiiit showman. Maturity, intelligence and stability have never been associated with a Rex coached team.

 

As far as I am concerned he can hire or fire any staff member he wants. It's his staff. He should then be held accountable for how his team performs. No more excuses.

[The Big Cat]

My take, because I know FireChan cares:

 

This is a win/lose/win for the Bills:

 

Win: it works

 

Lose: it doesn't work

 

Win: if it doesn't work, we blow the whole !@#$ing thing up and try again

 

This is a win/lose for Rex:

 

Win: it works

 

Lose: it doesn't work, and he can kickstart his broadcast career

 

Rest assured, nobody gambling more in this scenario than Rex.

 

This is a Lose/Lose/Win/Lose for Rob Ryan

 

Lose: this must be a castrating moment for him. They're twins for Christ's sake. They began their career together on the same plane, went their separate ways, his twin had more success and now Rob's forced to work for him. This is undoubtedly the best audition he'll have for his next job which I'm certain is why Rex castra--gave it to him accordingly.

 

Lose: if this doesn't work, he's effectively done.

 

Win: if it works, he'll get offers again

 

Lose; if he gets offers again, it's because his twin had to swoop in and save him.

 

Face it, this is not about the Bills or their fans. This is about the Ryan brothers, and this move will make or break them. They have everything riding on it, much more so than the Bills and their fans do.

[keepthefaith]

Is there any chance this guy gets a haircut, takes a shower and buys some new clothes? If you're gonna look like a schlump you had better be able to coach your ass off.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Reading these message boards leads one to believe the Bills were 12-4 last season and Rex turned them into a 4-12 team this year.

 

I get why some people don't like Rex; he's an easy target.

 

How do you get that?

 

Most people think the offense improved. Statistically, the offense did improve - from 18th to 12th on PPG, from 26th to 13th on YPG, improved TOP. Only category in which we're worse is penalties, and I think that's because nfl.com considers ST on kickoffs and punts to be offense, receiving kickoffs and punts to be defense

 

Most people think the defense laid an egg. Statistically, the defense did lay an egg - from 4th in the league on both PPG and YPG to 15th on PPG and 19th on YPG. A stout 3rd down percentage is mid-30s, and we devolved from 33% 3rd down conversion allowed to 40%.

 

Typically, if a team is top-10 on either O or D and top-half on the other, they manage to win enough to be playoff bound. So the general thinking is, if the D devolved slightly from, say, 4th to 10th, that much improvement on O should still get us into the playoffs.

 

Rex took a top-4 D and let it devolve into the bottom of the league. Moreover, the eyeball test says his teams appeared undisciplined and underprepared at times. That gets the "U" word - "unacceptable"

 

Expecting 12-4 record or achieving a 4-12 record does not come into it. Though some would make the case that as long as we're going to playoffs, we might better be 4-12 'cuz we'd draft higher.

[GG]

The bolded shouldn't be a question.

 

Of course it shouldn't be. But we'll never know. Again, would Mario also be benched if Dolphins didn't snag Coples?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

 

Any explanation for failure is always going to come off as an excuse unless one simply says, "I suck." I certainly don't think Rex "sucks" as a defensive coach, so you have to start looking at why things happened the way they did. His explanation makes some sense, and he realized too late that this was the wrong approach.

 

Eyes are wide open going into 2016. He'll have to prove himself all over again.

 

Why don't you think Rex sucks as a defensive coach? Real question. I'd like to feel well.......Hopeful......about the 2016 Bills.

 

While historically his D's have been good most of the time on the YPG statistic, they are a much more mixed bag on the PPG statistic and I can't necessarily correlate that to turnovers (poor Takeaway/Giveaway ratio).

[bobobonators]

Very few people believed that this was a 12-4 team coming into the season. The majority of sober fans had the reasonable expectation that this team could have been a 10-6 or even an 11-5 team. With a schedule that turned out to be even more favorable than expected because of the weakness of the AFC South and the NFC East the team was in a good position to meet the realistic expectations.

 

The team didn't meet most of our expectations because of the Rex effect. What does that mean? Whatever team he is involved with is going to be known more for the noise and distractions rather for the actual accomplishments on the field. That's what happens with a bull shiiiit showman. Maturity, intelligence and stability have never been associated with a Rex coached team.

 

As far as I am concerned he can hire or fire any staff member he wants. It's his staff. He should then be held accountable for how his team performs. No more excuses.

 

Don't necessarily disagree with the excuses part.

 

To counter your Rex effect point: prior to being bills HC, he was only HC for one team (not plural - one team). Did he or did he not have success with that team?

 

First year with Bills he goes 8-8 - a rather disappointing season due in large part to the expectations by the majority of fans and the coach himself. Lets see how next season goes before we burn down the city.