MMQB: Peter King on the Bills' HC Search

[TXBILLSFAN]

How does whining about press coverage improve our win total? It doesn't. Suit yourself and believe everything that fits your narrative.

 

 

I will judge people by what they have done. Not my personal burden as a fan. You have no idea what my standards are as you are just emoting.

 

Fits my narrative ?

 

Seriously, how do you define success for a football team ?

 

I'm not whining about press coverage, I wish the Buffalo News would be tougher on this front office and it took them 10+ years to create the linkage between Brandon and the performance of this team on the field. It is LONG overdue for the media and fans to hold this organization more accountable to the product on the field. Narrative ? that's bull **** deflection. The only narrative necessary is the W-L record over the past 17 years, the lack of even ONE playoff appearance, a GM that comes across as clueless, an organization that has failed to prioritize the QB position as essential to long term success, the ridiculous marketing influence on personnel moves, i.e. signing TO, hiring Marrone and Rex

 

Once you start accepting mediocrity it will become the norm and this team will NEVER win.

[Reed83HOF]

 

Fits my narrative ?

 

Seriously, how do you define success for a football team ?

 

I'm not whining about press coverage, I wish the Buffalo News would be tougher on this front office and it took them 10+ years to create the linkage between Brandon and the performance of this team on the field. It is LONG overdue for the media and fans to hold this organization more accountable to the product on the field. Narrative ? that's bull **** deflection. The only narrative necessary is the W-L record over the past 17 years, the lack of even ONE playoff appearance, a GM that comes across as clueless, an organization that has failed to prioritize the QB position as essential to long term success, the ridiculous marketing influence on personnel moves, i.e. signing TO, hiring Marrone and Rex

 

Once you start accepting mediocrity it will become the norm and this team will NEVER win.

 

Well said!

 

Fans need to step back off the hype train and take the rose colored glasses; there are fundamental issues with this organization and they really need to be fixed...

[eball]

 

Fits my narrative ?

 

Seriously, how do you define success for a football team ?

 

I'm not whining about press coverage, I wish the Buffalo News would be tougher on this front office and it took them 10+ years to create the linkage between Brandon and the performance of this team on the field. It is LONG overdue for the media and fans to hold this organization more accountable to the product on the field. Narrative ? that's bull **** deflection. The only narrative necessary is the W-L record over the past 17 years, the lack of even ONE playoff appearance, a GM that comes across as clueless, an organization that has failed to prioritize the QB position as essential to long term success, the ridiculous marketing influence on personnel moves, i.e. signing TO, hiring Marrone and Rex

 

Once you start accepting mediocrity it will become the norm and this team will NEVER win.

 

In the 17 years since the Bills last made the playoffs, they:

 

-- traded a #1 for a QB (Bledsoe)

-- traded back into the 1st rd for a QB (Losman)

-- drafted a QB in the 3rd round (Edwards)

-- drafted a QB in the 1st round (Manuel)

-- signed Taylor as a FA

-- drafted a QB in the 4th round (Cardale)

 

They haven't failed to prioritize QB, they've simply made the wrong choices or the jury is still out (Taylor, Cardale).

 

Also, Whaley didn't come across as clueless, he came across as indignant and indifferent to the media. There's a HUGE difference.

 

Look, the organization as a whole has failed for 17 years running -- nobody is disputing that. But your diatribe is simply not accurate.

[hondo in seattle]

Here's good news, sort of. According to PFT, the Bills are not the most dysfunction club in the NFL:

 

1. 49ers: 43%
2. Browns: 32%
3. Bills 10%
4. Jets 6%
5. Rams 5%
6. Chargers 3%

 

We're only the 3rd most dysfunctional according to a PFT poll.

 

The 9ers and Brownies are way out in front right now. Though it wouldn't surprise me if some Bills fans started voting repeatedly for the Bills.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/01/03/which-nfl-franchise-is-the-most-dysfunctional/

Edited January 5, 2017 by hondo in seattle

[GG]

 

In the 17 years since the Bills last made the playoffs, they:

 

-- traded a #1 for a QB (Bledsoe) - 2004

-- traded back into the 1st rd for a QB (Losman) - 2005

-- drafted a QB in the 3rd round (Edwards) - 2007

-- drafted a QB in the 1st round (Manuel) - 2013

-- signed Taylor as a FA - 2015

-- drafted a QB in the 4th round (Cardale) - 2016

 

They haven't failed to prioritize QB, they've simply made the wrong choices or the jury is still out (Taylor, Cardale).

 

 

If it takes you 7 drafts to recognize that QB was a serious need, then you are ignoring the position.

[Reed83HOF]

Here's good news, sort of. According to PFT, the Bills are not the most dysfunction club in the NFL:

 

1. 49ers: 43%

2. Browns: 32%

3. Bills 10%

4. Jets 6%

5. Rams 5%

6. Chargers 3%

 

We're only the 3rd most dysfunctional according to a PFT poll.

 

The 9ers and Brownies are way out in front right now. Though it wouldn't surprise me if some Bills fans started voting repeatedly for the Bills.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/01/03/which-nfl-franchise-is-the-most-dysfunctional/

 

It is good to see that the Pegulas are not viewed in the same light as Jed York (fired Haubaugh) and Haslam (federal charges and has constant turnover). Peeps in the league seem to feel that they are good owners; if they chucked Whaley with Rex or kept Rex we wouldn't even be on the list....

If it takes you 7 drafts to recognize that QB was a serious need, then you are ignoring the position.

 

Taylor is only here because of Rex...

[TXBILLSFAN]

 

In the 17 years since the Bills last made the playoffs, they:

 

-- traded a #1 for a QB (Bledsoe)

-- traded back into the 1st rd for a QB (Losman)

-- drafted a QB in the 3rd round (Edwards)

-- drafted a QB in the 1st round (Manuel)

-- signed Taylor as a FA

-- drafted a QB in the 4th round (Cardale)

 

They haven't failed to prioritize QB, they've simply made the wrong choices or the jury is still out (Taylor, Cardale).

 

Also, Whaley didn't come across as clueless, he came across as indignant and indifferent to the media. There's a HUGE difference.

 

Look, the organization as a whole has failed for 17 years running -- nobody is disputing that. But your diatribe is simply not accurate.

 

 

Thanks for proving my point !

 

No franchise QB and they spent 3 1st picks over 17 years, should be 8 or 9 if you ask me.

 

Ridiculous.

[FireChan]

 

In the 17 years since the Bills last made the playoffs, they:

 

-- traded a #1 for a QB (Bledsoe)

-- traded back into the 1st rd for a QB (Losman)

-- drafted a QB in the 3rd round (Edwards)

-- drafted a QB in the 1st round (Manuel)

-- signed Taylor as a FA

-- drafted a QB in the 4th round (Cardale)

 

They haven't failed to prioritize QB, they've simply made the wrong choices or the jury is still out (Taylor, Cardale).

 

Also, Whaley didn't come across as clueless, he came across as indignant and indifferent to the media. There's a HUGE difference.

 

Look, the organization as a whole has failed for 17 years running -- nobody is disputing that. But your diatribe is simply not accurate.

17 years, drafting 4 QB's, 2 in the first round, is "prioritizing the position?"

 

We've taken 4 CB's in the first round in that amount of time.

 

We've taken 3 RB's in the first round in that amount of time.

 

Were you intending to be sarcastic?

Edited January 5, 2017 by FireChan

[dave mcbride]

If it takes you 7 drafts to recognize that QB was a serious need, then you are ignoring the position.

Good take. And it was clear early on that Losman wasn't good.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I always wonder what "around the league" really means. Carucci said the same thing in an interview and then indicated that he meant the various MEDIA outlets around the league thought the conference was bad. That's a bit weak.

 

I'm sure you can go around the league and find 7 NFL execs (that was in one report) who don't pay much mind to the Bills, casually listen to the presser and don't look under the hood and go "wow! that's bad". If you then told them the Bills org structure has had Rex reporting directly to Pegula not Whaley for 2 years, and showed them the exact wording of what Whaley said, they'd be "that guy sucks in media savvy, and he's digging himself a pit, but it could be literally true." (eg, Whaley could know that Pegula was displeased with the team's play in some games and some aspects of Rex's coaching, but not yet know it had translated into a decision to move on after 2 years vs. not happy, but give him one more season due to injuries and so forth - that's possible.)

 

I thought that conference was very bad - on both sides of the mike.

 

I think the reporters came at it with a poor attitude of behaving like, as a Batavia News reporter quipped "a pack of starving wolves dressed as reporters". Acting like it's a big surprise that Rex reports to the Pegulas and Whaley has neither hiring nor firing authority over him; making statements about press reports instead of asking actual questions "it's been reported that the decision was made a month ago, is that true?" vs "The decision to fire Rex, I’m told, was made weeks ago even though it was made official just before last game. Why was it that he wasn’t let go when that decision was made?" When the reporters make a decision to act like starving wolves and to not do their homework, it's no surprise the interviewee shuts down and shuts you out.

 

I think Whaley came at it with a poor attitude of "I'm going in front of a pack of starving wolves, F U all and it sucks I can't bring munitions to thin out the pack." He should have asked Pegula to either give an interview about the firing before the presser, or to give him a background statement on the reasons for the firing and its timing. When you have an interviewee who appears to be stonewalling and who says things that seem unbelievable given the assumptions you start out with (eg about reporting structure), the interviewers smell blood and behave accordingly, and whether or not he likes it, part of Whaley's job description is to deal with the press. He dealt with them badly.

 

So if Im to believe all this Peter King blather no decent coach will come here because all vacant NFL head coaching jobs usually come with a stacked roster gunning for its third consecutive title with a future hall of fame 5 time pro bowl 2 time super bowl mvp QB who just turned 27

 

We're supposed to believe that all of the interviewees who are interviewing with several teams are coming here because they have no other options and with the firm intention to decline any job offer.

 

nobody is blaming the local media for a 7-9 record. People are complaining that their reporting is lazy, bias and often times it seems personal

 

This. I feel the same way about some of the national media - they are generating "clicks" and talk based on secondary or tertiary sources, are not making any effort to independently verify what they hear, and they tend to just "follow fashion" and cite each other as sources. La Canfora I mean you, and the media which cites your twitter as 'source'.

[26CornerBlitz]

@NFL

Which available coaching job is the best? http://on.nfl.com/x5jiDt

(Via @CoachBillick)

 

[dave mcbride]

 

@NFL

Which available coaching job is the best? http://on.nfl.com/x5jiDt

(Via @CoachBillick)

 

 

Good breakdown. Thanks!

[dezertbill]

@SI_PeterKing

Peter King Retweeted The MMQB

 

My mailbag is up. http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/01/03/nfl-head-coach-rumors-candidates-black-monday-mailbag

 

Buffalo is going to be a tough sell. Around the league, the performance of GM Doug Whaley at his Monday press conference was not well-received, particularly the part about how he was informed by ownership that Rex Ryan was being whacked and he (Whaley) had no say in it. The reaction was, if I may translate, Who wants to work for that guy? That plus the fact that no one really knows a thing about the Howard Hughes-like Pegulas, and theres no sure quarterback of the future, and it sometimes seems like the land of mercenaries. Just know that Buffalos not going to have an easy time find a coach it loves. If I were Whaley and Pegula, Id target Tom Coughlin, and tell him hed better have a very logical successor on his staff.

 

If I may Shawshank for a moment.

 

This is an extremely obtuse view.

 

It might just be me, but it seems the media is so venomous with the Bills because they have no one from the inside giving them the 311 on what's really going on. It's like they are insulted by the tightlippedness (made that up grammar police) and are taking it out in Pegula and DW by blasting them in their pieces.

 

Weak sauce.

[jeffismagic]

 

Fits my narrative ?

 

Seriously, how do you define success for a football team ?

 

I'm not whining about press coverage, I wish the Buffalo News would be tougher on this front office and it took them 10+ years to create the linkage between Brandon and the performance of this team on the field. It is LONG overdue for the media and fans to hold this organization more accountable to the product on the field. Narrative ? that's bull **** deflection. The only narrative necessary is the W-L record over the past 17 years, the lack of even ONE playoff appearance, a GM that comes across as clueless, an organization that has failed to prioritize the QB position as essential to long term success, the ridiculous marketing influence on personnel moves, i.e. signing TO, hiring Marrone and Rex

 

Once you start accepting mediocrity it will become the norm and this team will NEVER win.

 

What does signing Terrell Owens have to do with the Pegula's? I am all about talking football and figuring out how the Bills can get better. On that I am sure we are in agreement. But you keep bringing up strange items that have nothing to do with current ownership (who bought the team two years) ago, finding a QB, and hiring the right coach.

 

As for "holding them accountable", how do you propose to do that?

[Tenhigh]

 

 

Thanks for proving my point !

 

No franchise QB and they spent 3 1st picks over 17 years, should be 8 or 9 if you ask me.

 

Ridiculous.

so a QB in the 1st round every other year makes sense to you? That sounds like the Browns to me. Certainly there can be a middle ground.

[John from Riverside]

so a QB in the 1st round every other year makes sense to you? That sounds like the Browns to me. Certainly there can be a middle ground.

You cant take that many qbs.....the jets are also doing it wrong

 

If you dont have one then you have none.....but too many chickens in the henhouse does not get enough reps for each to develop.

[FireChan]

so a QB in the 1st round every other year makes sense to you? That sounds like the Browns to me. Certainly there can be a middle ground.

 

if the Browns did that, they'd have Carson Wentz right now.

You cant take that many qbs.....the jets are also doing it wrong

 

If you dont have one then you have none.....but too many chickens in the henhouse does not get enough reps for each to develop.

The Jets aren't doing it wrong. They are doing it perfectly fine.

[jahbonas]

 

In the 17 years since the Bills last made the playoffs, they:

 

-- traded a #1 for a QB (Bledsoe)

-- traded back into the 1st rd for a QB (Losman)

-- drafted a QB in the 3rd round (Edwards)

-- drafted a QB in the 1st round (Manuel)

-- signed Taylor as a FA

-- drafted a QB in the 4th round (Cardale)

 

They haven't failed to prioritize QB, they've simply made the wrong choices or the jury is still out (Taylor, Cardale).

 

Also, Whaley didn't come across as clueless, he came across as indignant and indifferent to the media. There's a HUGE difference.

 

Look, the organization as a whole has failed for 17 years running -- nobody is disputing that. But your diatribe is simply not accurate.

Oh a killer opportunity for the franchise in the Losman draft good old Tom Donohoe didnt trade up slightly to secure Big Ben !!!!

[John from Riverside]

if the Browns did that, they'd have Carson Wentz right now.

 

The Jets aren't doing it wrong. They are doing it perfectly fine.

ok?

 

Any way to prove that because it certainly isnt being proved on the field

[dave mcbride]

Oh a killer opportunity for the franchise in the Losman draft good old Tom Donohoe didnt trade up slightly to secure Big Ben !!!!

Ya know, it is arguably the case that the Bills worst victory of this century is their week 5 victory in OT over Cincinatti in 2003. Eric Moulds, who was on fire that season, got hurt on his game-deciding big reception in OT (torn groin) and was a shell of himself the rest of the season (when he actually played). It basically completely destroyed the offense (30th in points; 30th in yards), which was doing well beforehand. If they had managed to lose that game? They would drafted 10th at worst and leaped ahead of Pitt in draft order.