Russ Brandon finally getting flak in the national media

[TSOL]

Coughlin was a head coach...what qualifies him to be team president?

35 years in the NFL and a military background. Organizational skills, management skills, long time connections in the league. 10 years as head coach of the most major of the major market teams. A man of his experience seems quite qualified.

 

As long as he isnt coming up with any catchy slogans i bet he would do great.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

You're not paying attention. It's big news pretty much everywhere. See Jenny Vrentas' new story up on mmqb right now. There are a lot of other examples. And yes, the media is part of the "real" football world - it pays all of those salaries at the end of the day.

Wow! Please explain the part about the media pays all the salaries at the end of day.

Did you work in the media? I'm guessing the answer is yes. I always thought the media was pretentious, but maybe I can be convinced that they really are running the show.

Edited January 3, 2017 by horned dogs

[RyanC883]

They need to can Russ. And I've defended him everywhere. He sells tickets. Big deal. He clearly also sticks his nose where it does not belong (football operations). He has duped both Wilson and Pegula into letting him stay and have say over operations. Let's have a football team where the GM is the GM, not quasi-GM. And the coach is the coach. Hiring a marketing guy from another team whose sole focus is marketing.

[BillsVet]

The Pegulillibles paid $1.4 billion or so for this franchsie and we don't even have an org chart.

 

Yeah, this will end up just fine.

[platterman]

All need to be re-evaluated:Jim Monos: our Director of player personnel---has he interviewed to be a GM anywhere? Get rid of himRob Hanrahan: Director of pro personnel---same. Get rid of himKelvin Fisher: player personnel advisor. What the heck does he even do?I'm done focusing on Brandon. These guys in the player personnel departments are a bigger problem.

After all of our poor drafting, I would clean out the scouts first and cherry pick from the teams who are the leaders of the league.

[Heitz]

The Pegulillibles paid $1.4 billion or so for this franchsie and we don't even have an org chart.

 

Yeah, this will end up just fine.

 

Why would they give us an Org Chart? Hell, I own Apple stock and they didn't send me, AN OWNER, an Org Chart!

[Tenhigh]

The Pegulillibles paid $1.4 billion or so for this franchsie and we don't even have an org chart.

 

Yeah, this will end up just fine.

What is THAT supposed to mean?

 

As for the org chart, I think its pretty clear they do have one. It just may not look the way that you want it to.

[Jeff Wright's Mullet]

Thank God someone is finally shining a light on RB. Most callers on talk shows refer to him as a "marketing man" when in reality he is the President of the Organization. He hired Marrone, he promoted Whaley, he led the coaching search that led to Rex Ryan being hired as he advised Pegula. His finger prints are all over the Football side of this organization. And now he hides and sends out Whaley with his talking points one of which was to say that RB is not involved. B.S.!

 

This guy is a snake and he needs to be fired. Whaley is in over his head.

 

WAKE UP PEGULAS!

[BrooklynBills]

Coughlin was a head coach...what qualifies him to be team president?

Was team president in Jacksonville

[Never NEVER Give-up]

I doubt he has a bone to pick. He's just looking at the evidence in front of him. The press conference yesterday was big national news in the football world, and not in a good way.

 

You're right. He's just reporting on something he knows nothing about.

 

 

 

Rest of National Media: "Who's Russ Brandon?"

 

Best part, from the General Manager of the Buffalo Bills: “[H]e’s in charge of all — yeah, I don’t even know what he’s in charge of,” Whaley said. “I just know he’s in charge of a lot"

 

Whaley is looking more and more clueless with every interview. The Pegulas have to put a lockdown on Doug.

 

. . . from a business perspective for both the Bills and Sabres. Sheeesh!! Nothing like twisting what is said and projecting it into in-coherency.

 

 

 

 

The playoffs are coming up. You think anyone outside of Buffalo cares about the Bills end of the season presser other than just to have an excuse to make fun of a team they barely watch? There are literally 10 things that happened yesterday that were bigger "national news." Russ Brandon was mentioned at the presser in passing, the fact that there are now articles being written by national media insinuating he's pulling the strings behind the scenes indicates someone pointed them in Russ' direction.

 

Agreed - an easy target. Everyone's trashing the Bills thinkin/saying, "I need to say something too, so I'll lob another log on the fire even though I have no idea what I am talking about."

 

... yet the Bills were the biggest story yesterday afternoon among national reporters, if twitter is a reliable barometer (and I think it is). The Bills were definitely trending yesterday ...

As I said elsewhere, I wouldn't be shocked if Rex pushed for the firing before week 17 so he could see the Clemson game. Does anyone know if he attended?

 

First line, see my last comment above.

Clemson game - he sure did go. If he knew he was going to be fired, why not move it up a week so he can go to his kid's game. (makes sense, but only Rex knows for sure.)

 

 

Wow, amazing who gets blamed for stuff when a team goes 20 years without a QB.

 

You said it. The Pegula's have 2 yrs experience and are 2 games under .500, but the Bills have missed the playoffs for 17 years, so the Pegula's and anyone at OBD shares the blame.

 

How much experience did any NFL owner have before they bought their respective teams? Paul Allen - Seattle, Jerry Jones - Dallas, Jeff Lurie in Philly and Bob Kraft in Boston? The answer is none. They get football people to do it for them, but they are still in charge.

 

In Buffalo it's Whaley - he works with the coaches and gets them the players they want and need. Now it is fair to debate his effectiveness on this count, but on Terry Pegula firing Rex Ryan - it's his team, his decision and whether Whaley likes it or not, he goes along with it.

 

(What the BN hates is they had it in their collective minds that Whaley-Rex didn't get along, so it HAD to be true that Whaley did what he could to get Rex fired. Newsflash, Rex got Rex fired because the defense was top 10, fell to the bottom third last year and failed to improve this year. For a HC that is a defensive guru, this was unforgivable and he had to be let go.)

[Best Player Available]

Rex and his boys are not likely to stay quit. We may finally get to the bottom of who is the weak link . I say Russ he has been there the whole time. I know others have different opinions. It will be nice to get to the bottom of it

Owed 16.5M and certainly a NDA in place. The boys won't be talking.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

You're not paying attention. It's big news pretty much everywhere. See Jenny Vrentas' new story up on mmqb right now. There are a lot of other examples. And yes, the media is part of the "real" football world - it pays all of those salaries at the end of the day.

 

???

[dave mcbride]

Wow! Please explain the part about the media pays all the salaries at the end of day.

Did you work in the media? I'm guessing the answer is yes. I always thought the media was pretentious, but maybe I can be convinced that they really are running the show.

The entertainment industry -- the enormous complex of talking heads, announcers, reporters, franchise flaks, etc. etc. -- is the media. The vast majority of the league's revenue comes through television, which is by definition a highly mediated business. The media lives off of the NFL too, of course - it's a symbiotic relationship.

 

Regardless, people really should stop pretending that the Bills are in good shape. As Badol has pointed out elsewhere, this is an old team with a ton of FAs and only two benchmark young, talented stars - Watkins and Dareus. And both of them have their issues. They beat up on really bad teams this year. To be sure, everyone beats up on bad teams to an extent, but the Bills had the good fortune of beating the four worst teams in the NFL (albeit losing twice to the fifth worst, the Jets). They also played a four-fingered third string rookie in NE and an AJ Green-less Cincy team. Arizona was arguably the only quality win, and there were a lot of special teams flukes in that one. They have some good players (eg., McCoy) and their offense was rolling more often than not, but this is not a team with much upside at present.

Edited January 3, 2017 by dave mcbride

[Hapless Bills Fan]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/01/03/russ-brandon-still-looms-over-bills-football-operations/

 

Looks like someone has a major bone to pick with the Bills FO, this is like the 5th takedown job they've put up in the past couple of days at PFT. I mean yes, it's mostly all true, but it's not new news, it's just all of a sudden important for some reason.

 

 

This is actually contra-factual to the point of being bizzare.

1) different GMs around the league have different degrees of control to the point that there is no "usual" model

2) Whaley stepped forward and took responsibility for several things I actually thought he *didn't* control, such as approving the terms of contracts and developing the overall FA plan

3) It has been known for 2 years that Rex Ryan reported directly to Pegula, thus only Pegula had the authority to fire him

 

How this turns into Brandon really still has control, I have no idea. He may, he may not, but the article is so carelessly written that there's a paragraph where he says "Whaley" and clearly means "Brandon":

"The effort to create the impression that Whaley isn’t involved with football operations nevertheless continues. Whaley said Monday that Brandon won’t be involved in the coaching search, given his “expanded responsibilities” at Pegula Sports Entertainment."

 

I also love the puffery about Whaley's ignorance of all Brandon's roles. Brandon is now President of 3 different sports teams as well as Pegula Sports and Entertainment and "managing partner" of the Bills.

Why should Whaley know exactly what are Brandon's roles and responsibilities with all of those 4 organizations?

 

If they'd asked Whaley a reasonable follow-up question such as "can you explain what is Brandon's current role with the Bills is, what are his areas of responsibility?" then we'd have something.

Likewise if they'd asked Whaley how it works for him to have control over the contracts when the people writing them report up through Brandon, that would be a good question.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan

[Mr. WEO]

 

This is actually contra-factual to the point of being bizzare.

1) different GMs around the league have different degrees of control to the point that there is no "usual" model

2) Whaley stepped forward and took responsibility for several things I actually thought he *didn't* control, such as approving the terms of contracts and developing the overall FA plan

3) It has been known for 2 years that Rex Ryan reported directly to Pegula, thus only Pegula had the authority to fire him

 

How this turns into Brandon really still has control, I have no idea. He may, he may not, but the article is so carelessly written that there's a paragraph where he says "Whaley" and clearly means "Brandon":

"The effort to create the impression that Whaley isn’t involved with football operations nevertheless continues. Whaley said Monday that Brandon won’t be involved in the coaching search, given his “expanded responsibilities” at Pegula Sports Entertainment."

 

I also love the puffery about Whaley's ignorance of all Brandon's roles. ?

 

If they'd asked Whaley a reasonable follow-up question such as "can you explain what is Brandon's current role with the Bills is, what are his areas of responsibility?" then we'd have something.

.

 

 

What model has the owner firing the HC without letting his GM in on the conversation? Or at least pretending that the GM didn't know.

 

As for "bizarre facts"---how is it possible the Whaley "had no idea Rex was in any trouble"? That's a huge whopper from Whaley. As was his claim that he was surprised Rex was fired.

 

Whaley thinks you are really not that bright.

 

I will give you ore credit and say you are just being disingenuous when you say that Whaley shouldn't know ALL that Brandon does in 4 companies---clearly he was being asked Russ's role with the Bills in particular, so Whaley's answer is more very obvious BS.

[K-9]

This is actually contra-factual to the point of being bizzare.

1) different GMs around the league have different degrees of control to the point that there is no "usual" model

2) Whaley stepped forward and took responsibility for several things I actually thought he *didn't* control, such as approving the terms of contracts and developing the overall FA plan

3) It has been known for 2 years that Rex Ryan reported directly to Pegula, thus only Pegula had the authority to fire him

 

How this turns into Brandon really still has control, I have no idea. He may, he may not, but the article is so carelessly written that there's a paragraph where he says "Whaley" and clearly means "Brandon":

"The effort to create the impression that Whaley isn’t involved with football operations nevertheless continues. Whaley said Monday that Brandon won’t be involved in the coaching search, given his “expanded responsibilities” at Pegula Sports Entertainment."

 

I also love the puffery about Whaley's ignorance of all Brandon's roles. Brandon is now President of 3 different sports teams as well as Pegula Sports and Entertainment and "managing partner" of the Bills.

Why should Whaley know exactly what are Brandon's roles and responsibilities with all of those 4 organizations?

 

If they'd asked Whaley a reasonable follow-up question such as "can you explain what is Brandon's current role with the Bills is, what are his areas of responsibility?" then we'd have something.

Likewise if they'd asked Whaley how it works for him to have control over the contracts when the people writing them report up through Brandon, that would be a good question.

Five pro sports franchises when including their AHL and ECHL franchises. Gotta add Harbor Center and their record label to the myriad lines of business Brandon now administers, plus whatever new business development they are undertaking. The Bills are the tip of the iceberg for Brandon now and he is in charge of things Whaley isn't remotely privy to, nor should he be.

 

But admitting he doesn't know what all Brandon does feeds the preconceived narrative and helps support the predetermined outcome the hacks manufacture. It's lazy journalism and they really look stupid to an informed reading audience.

[Mr. WEO]

Five pro sports franchises when including their AHL and ECHL franchises. Gotta add Harbor Center and their record label to the myriad lines of business Brandon now administers, plus whatever new business development they are undertaking. The Bills are the tip of the iceberg for Brandon now and he is in charge of things Whaley isn't remotely privy to, nor should he be.

 

But admitting he doesn't know what all Brandon does feeds the preconceived narrative and helps support the predetermined outcome the hacks manufacture. It's lazy journalism and they really look stupid to an informed reading audience.

 

 

Nice try. All he had to do was answer what the article was about--what is Brandon's role on decision making on the Bills.

 

The again, Whaley, asked several times what exactly HIS job is and what HE does....he struugled to answer.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Mr. WEO

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Doug whaley doesnt know what Russ does and the reporters dont know what Whaley does.

 

That pretty much sums it up.

 

Except that the reporters have been provided information about what Whaley does (and doesn't) do for years, while Whaley has no need or mandate to know Russ's R&R with Pegula S&E, Sabres, etc.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan

[quinnearlysghost88]

FINALLY. Sometimes i read these boards and seriously wonder what type of posters are on here. How many people that are close to the organization, the news, the players/personnel family. There are dissenting voices that really beat a drum for certain things and when someone screams Russ, people come out of the woodwork.

[K-9]

Nice try. All he had to do was answer what the article was about--what is Brandon's role on decision making on the Bills.

 

The again, Whaley, asked several times what exactly HIS job is and what HE does....he struugled to answer.

He answered the question.

 

It's easy to understand how you'd be unclear given Florio's own issues with regurgitating previously regurgitated tweets from that presser.

 

Time to find another WEO WABBIT hole to drag people into.

[BillsVet]

Why would they give us an Org Chart? Hell, I own Apple stock and they didn't send me, AN OWNER, an Org Chart!

 

Pure conflation. Nice try Hondo.

 

What is THAT supposed to mean?

 

As for the org chart, I think its pretty clear they do have one. It just may not look the way that you want it to.

 

Does Doug Whaley know what it looks like? Because after yesterday's performance he seems confused with all the dotted lines and, you know, stuff. I'll bet he knows who signs his pay check.

[Mr. WEO]

He answered the question.

 

It's easy to understand how you'd be unclear given Florio's own issues with regurgitating previously regurgitated tweets from that presser.

 

Time to find another WEO WABBIT hole to drag people into.

 

 

Yeah, a real rabbit hole!

 

Look, if your married to the notion that Whaley is a great GM doing a fine job, despite the current state of the team, then you are going to see that press conference as another primo performance by the Bills GM. You aren't concerned that he can't describe what Brandon's role on the Bills is. You don't bat an eye when he claims that he didn't know Rex was in trouble and that he was surprised Rex was fired.

 

All fine. Nothing there but a bloodsucking press corps bent on asking him questions about all this and then reporting his answers.

 

Who's got their head in a hole?

Edited January 3, 2017 by Mr. WEO

[Like A Mofo]

The Bills need to flush out EVERYONE: Brandon, Overdorf, Whaley all the way down, hire a President with football experience who has complete control over decisions and can help the Pegulas make GM and HC decisions. Transparent. One voice.

 

Its amazing how much of a mess the Bills look right now. Guess money does not fix everything.

[K-9]

Yeah, a real rabbit hole!

 

Look, if your married to the notion that Whaley is a great GM doing a fine job, despite the current state of the team, then you are going to see that press conference as another primo performance by the Bills GM. You aren't concerned that he can't describe what Brandon's role on the Bills is. You don't bat an eye when he claims that he didn't know Rex was in trouble and that he was surprised Rex was fired.

 

All fine. Nothing there but a bloodsucking press corps bent on asking him questions about all this and then reporting his answers.

 

Who's got their head in a hole?

Wrap this around your brain: my criticism of the media's amateur hour at his presser is not the same as an endorsement of Whaley's abilities as a GM which are, in my opinion, a mixed bag at best.

 

Now go find someone else to engage in your particular brand of intellectual dishonesty.

[NorthBuffaloKid]

 

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!

[K-9]

The Bills need to flush out EVERYONE: Brandon, Overdorf, Whaley all the way down, hire a President with football experience who has complete control over decisions and can help the Pegulas make GM and HC decisions. Transparent. One voice.

 

Its amazing how much of a mess the Bills look right now. Guess money does not fix everything.

With the exception of Brandon who has moved into different areas of responsibility in the greater scope of PSE, don't be surprised if the Pegulas do this sooner rather than later. Although Jimmy O is highly valued for his cap expertise. Every team employs a guy like him nowadays.

[Like A Mofo]

With the exception of Brandon who has moved into different areas of responsibility in the greater scope of PSE, don't be surprised if the Pegulas do this sooner rather than later. Although Jimmy O is highly valued for his cap expertise. Every team employs a guy like him nowadays.

 

 

I do agree with you on this. One thing about Jimmy O though: He has been a constant through this drought: I think he has a hand in this too. It is time to DrainTheOneBillsDriveSwamp once and for all!

[ndirish1978]

These press conferences are pretty useless. Apart from maybe a funny anecdote we're never going to get actual information. The team is obligated to meet with the media and so we get canned answers like "we'll evaluate everything" and "we will make the best decision for this organization" or "we have to get things right." This leads to frustration by the media and in TBN's case, leads them to generate their own content through turmoil.

 

There are other teams where the HC and GM report to the owner directly - Jenny Vrentas' article confirms this. What we have here is a case where the owners don't like press scrums, but they are the people who made the actual decisions here. Of course Whaley and Lynn were left "twisting in the wind", they didn't have the information that the press wanted and they were hounded for it. Would it have been nice to have some more info on the whole process? Sure. Are we owed that information? No. Do I believe this team is dysfunctional? More likely than not. Is it possible that things are exactly what they're saying they are? Sure. It's entirely possible that the Pegulas listened to the wrong person in hiring Rex (Brandon), saw that they made a mistake and attempted to correct that mistake by letting Rex go when he asked about his future and are attempting to right the ship by letting Whaley head up the search. None of this is helped by the contentious relationship Whaley obviously has with the media. He needs to be better at managing these press conferences because they distract focus from his stated goal of improving the team.

[K-9]

I do agree with you on this. One thing about Jimmy O though: He has been a constant through this drought: I think he has a hand in this too. It is time to DrainTheOneBillsDriveSwamp once and for all!

Jimmy O was a direct hire by Mr. Wilson and was really an extension of his and Littman's presence from Detroit whose main responsibility was to ensure the organization toed the bottom line of the imposed budget constraints from Detroit. He was not a welcomed presence by the football side and was often seen as a nuisance and imposition, especially early on. His involvement in "football decisions" has always been more benign in nature and always reactive; a response to somebody else's directive.

[dave mcbride]

Jimmy O was a direct hire by Mr. Wilson and was really an extension of his and Littman's presence from Detroit whose main responsibility was to ensure the organization toed the bottom line of the imposed budget constraints from Detroit. He was not a welcomed presence by the football side and was often seen as a nuisance and imposition, especially early on. His involvement in "football decisions" has always been more benign in nature and always reactive; a response to somebody else's directive.

Getting rid of Overdorf is like kicking Radar out of the MASH hospital. He's not the problem. People latch onto him because he has always been around, but he's really just a competent accountant who follows orders.

[K-9]

Getting rid of Overdorf is like kicking Radar out of the MASH hospital. He's not the problem. People latch onto him because he has always been around, but he's really just a competent accountant who follows orders.

And one helluva capologist to boot. But yeah, he is painted by that broad brush of futility of the organization. It's like I said last week, there are good people doing good jobs in that building that we will never know about. And although we know him by name, I think Overdorf is one of them.

[Malazan]

I said it when they fired Wade Phillips. Russ Brandon has got to go and almost twenty years later, it still holds true. My sources also tell me he was the reason that Butler left and why Donahoe didn't have full control of football matters. I also suspect he had a lot to do with Marv retiring as coach.

[dave mcbride]

I said it when they fired Wade Phillips. Russ Brandon has got to go and almost twenty years later, it still holds true. My sources also tell me he was the reason that Butler left and why Donahoe didn't have full control of football matters. I also suspect he had a lot to do with Marv retiring as coach.

Marv retired because Ralph demanded that he fire Dan Henning, which he was unwilling to do. Marv was right in the end; Henning had some real success later on with the Jets. If memory serves, Ralph fixated on that Denver OT game where Quinn Early botched the double reverse and fumbled. The odd thing was is that if he had executed it properly, it would have resulted in a TD. I recall Jerry S going ballistic over that one. Marv also knew that Todd Collins stunk, and that Henning was saddled with an absolute stiff.

[Playoff Bound]

Wrap this around your brain: my criticism of the media's amateur hour at his presser is not the same as an endorsement of Whaley's abilities as a GM which are, in my opinion, a mixed bag at best.

 

Now go find someone else to engage in your particular brand of intellectual dishonesty.

The press is just doing their jobs. Its no different in other cities. There was one difference in San Francisco though in that Jed York the owner took the heat for the 49ers collapse. He was asked why he didn't fire himself. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/02/49ers-jed-york-talks-of-latest-firings/

[K-9]

I said it when they fired Wade Phillips. Russ Brandon has got to go and almost twenty years later, it still holds true. My sources also tell me he was the reason that Butler left and why Donahoe didn't have full control of football matters. I also suspect he had a lot to do with Marv retiring as coach.

Your sources are wrong. Butler and Brandon had a great working relationship with JB often in a mentor's role.

 

And Donahoe had unprecedented control; the first time Mr Wilson ever ceded such control to anyone in fact. The first time he named someone president, a title Mr Wilson always held previously.

 

And Marv retired as coach shortly after Brandon stepped into the building.

The press is just doing their jobs. Its no different in other cities. There was one difference in San Francisco though in that Jed York the owner took the heat for the 49ers collapse. He was asked why he didn't fire himself. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/02/49ers-jed-york-talks-of-latest-firings/

I understand the press is just doing their jobs. Some are just far batter at it. And I'm just a consumer engaged in product review.

Edited January 3, 2017 by K-9

[Reed83HOF]

As I said elsewhere, I wouldn't be shocked if Rex pushed for the firing before week 17 so he could see the Clemson game. Does anyone know if he attended?

 

I saw a pic of him on twitter wearing Clemson orange before the game....

[Billsguy]

 

 

 

 

Whaley is looking more and more clueless with every interview.

 

Sad, but true.

 

20 years without a QB?

Gee, I wonder if the team has a GM?

 

Whaley was a big part of the decision to draft E.J. Manuel and yet he still has a job. What? Dysfunction at OBD? Say it ain't so!

[Tenhigh]

 

Pure conflation. Nice try Hondo.

 

 

Does Doug Whaley know what it looks like? Because after yesterday's performance he seems confused with all the dotted lines and, you know, stuff. I'll bet he knows who signs his pay check.

He knows that the under the Rex Ryan era structure both the GM and the head coach report directly to the owner, which is really all that matters to him. As for how he comported himself yesterday, I can tell you from experience that It's not easy getting up in front of that many people and answering the difficult kind of questions that he did. You know, the kind where any answer you provide will be met with scorn and scoff. He did what he is paid to do, and under the circumstances, he did alright.

[ndirish1978]

I said it when they fired Wade Phillips. Russ Brandon has got to go and almost twenty years later, it still holds true. My sources also tell me he was the reason that Butler left and why Donahoe didn't have full control of football matters. I also suspect he had a lot to do with Marv retiring as coach.

 

I heard he's the reason they cancelled Firefly too early and is responsible for the formation of Nickelback

[Tenhigh]

 

I heard he's the reason they cancelled Firefly too early and is responsible for the formation of Nickelback

He also kidnapped the Lindbergh baby and bombed Pearl Harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither of which matches up to the sheer horror caused by the formation of Nickelback.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Tenhigh