Good article on Bills front office purge

[PirateHookerMD]

https://theringer.com/nfl-buffalo-bills-gm-doug-whaley-fired-sean-mcdermott-d87e027bae86-d87e027bae86

 

"Good for the Bills. They may finally have a chance to catch the Pats. Not because Whaley was bad at his job, but rather because he was picking players, not building a team. Being a GM in the NFL is not like being a fantasy football owner. There has to be an understanding of the essentials needed for a team to succeed. And when the head coach and GM don’t agree on those essentials, there is chaos, followed by losing.

As Nantz told me years ago, no one cares who the GM is; if you’re winning, they care about only the head coach and quarterback. Now all the Bills need under Uncle Sean’s direction is a QB."

Edited May 4, 2017 by PirateHookerMD

[jeffismagic]

https://theringer.com/nfl-buffalo-bills-gm-doug-whaley-fired-sean-mcdermott-d87e027bae86-d87e027bae86

 

"Good for the Bills. They may finally have a chance to catch the Pats. Not because Whaley was bad at his job, but rather because he was picking players, not building a team. Being a GM in the NFL is not like being a fantasy football owner. There has to be an understanding of the essentials needed for a team to succeed. And when the head coach and GM don’t agree on those essentials, there is chaos, followed by losing.

As Nantz told me years ago, no one cares who the GM is; if you’re winning, they care about only the head coach and quarterback. Now all the Bills need under Uncle Sean’s direction is a QB."

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

[stevewin]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

Sounds like you're not Trusting The Process

[Heitz]

Sounds like you're not Trusting The Process...

 

...about anything ever mentioned on TBD

 

 

Finished that sentence for you.

[Acantha]

https://theringer.com/nfl-buffalo-bills-gm-doug-whaley-fired-sean-mcdermott-d87e027bae86-d87e027bae86

 

"Good for the Bills. They may finally have a chance to catch the Pats. Not because Whaley was bad at his job, but rather because he was picking players, not building a team. Being a GM in the NFL is not like being a fantasy football owner. There has to be an understanding of the essentials needed for a team to succeed. And when the head coach and GM don’t agree on those essentials, there is chaos, followed by losing.

As Nantz told me years ago, no one cares who the GM is; if you’re winning, they care about only the head coach and quarterback. Now all the Bills need under Uncle Sean’s direction is a QB."

Hard to build a team when you have a different head coach and system to build for every 2 years. Like or hate Whaley, ignoring the fact that he wasn't allowed to pick his own coach and had 3 different coaches in his short time here is just wrong.

[JackKemp]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

How do you leap to a conclusion like this? What is your source? No way do I believe that the Pegulas have just blindly handed over the team to McDermott. Nobody would run their business that way, especuially people as successful as the Pegulas are in the business world.

[C.Biscuit97]

I like Lombardi but he's has a lot of misses in his career. Whaley had a top 5 defense and top 10 offense under his watch in 4 years without being able to pick a head coach.

[KellyToughII]

LOVE this Article, can we sticky this thread please?

[jeffismagic]

How do you leap to a conclusion like this? What is your source? No way do I believe that the Pegulas have just blindly handed over the team to McDermott. Nobody would run their business that way, especuially people as successful as the Pegulas are in the business world.

 

One of those places was the NFL's Personnel Development Committee, which includes former Bills GM and Hall-of-Famer Bill Polian. Polian, fellow Hall-of-Famers Ron Wolf, Tony Dungy, John Madden and other committee members submitted a list of candidates that was distributed to all of the owners of teams searching for a new coach. McDermott's name jumped out at the Pegulas and they promptly made him the first of four candidates they would interview.

It was notable that, the day before the "formal" interview that would include Whaley and former director of player personnel Jim Monos, the Pegulas invited McDermott to join them for dinner on their yacht in Boca Raton, Fla.

He had the Pegulas at "hello." He impressed them so much, that as Kim drove McDermott to the airport after the next day's six-hour session, she was already telling him to have his wife (who had been invited to Boca Raton as well, but couldn't make the trip) call her for information about housing and other essentials in Western New York.

Whaley's virtual disappearance from public view after McDermott's arrival wasn't a coincidence. It was a fulfillment of a condition of McDermott's employment.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

You had me at hello. Pegullibles strike again!

[BrooklynBills]

Agree with every word.

[CookieG]

How do you leap to a conclusion like this? What is your source? No way do I believe that the Pegulas have just blindly handed over the team to McDermott. Nobody would run their business that way, especuially people as successful as the Pegulas are in the business world.

 

A Carucci article from a few days ago.

 

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

 

If there is any truth to that article..it is actually pretty scary the way he was selected.

 

Especially considering how bad they were burned by their love at first sight routine with Rex.

[KellyToughII]

Agree with every word.

+1

[Yav]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

I would like to know how you know all this?

Were you there in the interview? If so can you tell me the first 5 questions they asked and his responses?

 

Really sounds like they conducted interviews and before and after each interview they did their homework on the person they interviewed.

McDermott was a scout and worked his way up to a coach, seems like he's got more qualifications than you're willing to acknowledge.

 

Seeing as how he worked in Philly during Reeds tenure and was part of building those great teams and then in Carolina being part of building that team seems like he's had first hand knowledge of how to build a team.

 

Maybe you need a hug or something?

[CookieG]

I like Lombardi but he's has a lot of misses in his career. Whaley had a top 5 defense and top 10 offense under his watch in 4 years without being able to pick a head coach.

 

He could have rewritten the first paragraph from talking about his "shared vision" with Belichick to just say, "I didn't have Belichick telling me who to acquire".

 

maybe that's not completely fair. Tbh, it would be tough to share a vision with BB...it changes so mcuh and so quickly..by the time you've caught up with his vision, he's moved on to the next one.

[Acantha]

 

One of those places was the NFL's Personnel Development Committee, which includes former Bills GM and Hall-of-Famer Bill Polian. Polian, fellow Hall-of-Famers Ron Wolf, Tony Dungy, John Madden and other committee members submitted a list of candidates that was distributed to all of the owners of teams searching for a new coach. McDermott's name jumped out at the Pegulas and they promptly made him the first of four candidates they would interview.

It was notable that, the day before the "formal" interview that would include Whaley and former director of player personnel Jim Monos, the Pegulas invited McDermott to join them for dinner on their yacht in Boca Raton, Fla.

He had the Pegulas at "hello." He impressed them so much, that as Kim drove McDermott to the airport after the next day's six-hour session, she was already telling him to have his wife (who had been invited to Boca Raton as well, but couldn't make the trip) call her for information about housing and other essentials in Western New York.

Whaley's virtual disappearance from public view after McDermott's arrival wasn't a coincidence. It was a fulfillment of a condition of McDermott's employment.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

You had me at hello. Pegullibles strike again!

So far, I like the McD hire as coach. Not much you can judge in the offseason, but I at least like his pedigree and what he's saying so far.

 

I do NOT, as a general rule, like the idea of a coach getting powers as a GM, and the way things sound from the outside, that's basically what we're going to get if McD has as much sway in this decision as the reports are making it out to be (who the hell knows what the truth is though).

 

I also hate the idea that this article can be correct. Biggest mistake the Pegulas made so far was hiring Rex cause he blew them away when they talked to him. How can they be so quick to repeat that mistake? They're doing things backwards. They need to hire they're best possible bet at GM and let him have the reigns. I really do hope this works out and they stumbled into a great hire with McDermott.

[C.Biscuit97]

 

He could have rewritten the first paragraph from talking about his "shared vision" with Belichick to just say, "I didn't have Belichick telling me who to acquire".

 

maybe that's not completely fair. Tbh, it would be tough to share a vision with BB...it changes so mcuh and so quickly..by the time you've caught up with his vision, he's moved on to the next one.

Agree. Lombardi says some interesting things but he is basically just a puppet of BB. He was dreadful in Cleveland.

[Thurman#1]

 

Lombardi sets up a straw man. Would your rather have your team built by a scout or a team builder?

 

But what evidence do we have that Sean McDermott has a great vision for building the Bills? None. He was a defensive coordinator running a bland scheme in Carolina. Pegulas bet the farm on a guy BEFORE they even formally interviewed him or asked him football questions!

 

 

 

It's not about what evidence we as fans have. We'll never have enough evidence of that, fans of any team at any time before that regime has started winning regularly.

 

That's a straw man, right there. Of course we don't have evidence of this. Nor will we till he either builds a good team or doesn't.

 

I like Lombardi but he's has a lot of misses in his career. Whaley had a top 5 defense and top 10 offense under his watch in 4 years without being able to pick a head coach.

 

 

2013 offense: 19th

2014 offense: 26th

2015 offense: 13th

2016 offense: 16th

 

 

 

In any case, thanks for the thought-provoking article, OP.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Thurman#1

[BrooklynBills]

Hard to build a team when you have a different head coach and system to build for every 2 years. Like or hate Whaley, ignoring the fact that he wasn't allowed to pick his own coach and had 3 different coaches in his short time here is just wrong.

But that is the whole point. The front office structure needed to change. And the reason that Whaley wasn't "allowed to pick his own coach" was because the man has not at any point(in interviews, with draft strategy, with the type of players that were brought in) established a vision for what a team of his would look like. Don't you think they have had those conversations with him? If he had a convincing answer or plan, they would have let him execute it. They did not want to fire him. They had to.

 

From Doug's own mouth has always come the idea that he is in charge of acquiring the players and the coach will coach him. And that philosophy sucks and is pretty much evident as the root of any dysfunctional issue with this team since Whaley/Marrone Year 1. It goes beyond Whaley because this mantra was regurgitated from Russ Brandon's mouth also any time he would talk about "the 53." That's why Rex and Roman appealed to them so much; because they thought that they could just feed them great players and they could plug and play them into his multi-hybrid schemes on offense and defense. It was clear from the Watkins trade, when Whaley quoted his Pittsburgh mentor Bill Nunn that if you like a guy so much you go get him despite the cost, that Whaley was in over his head as GM and that he hadn't a real clue as to build a team.

 

It's not Whaley's fault. He was a player acquisition guy in Pittsburgh but he was not in the inner circle of decision making. They brought him here and he mentored under another career scout in Buddy Nix along with Brandon and Overdorf(3 guys that have no success in the league as a top administator) and we really expected him to become a great visionary manager.

[C.Biscuit97]

 

 

 

It's not about what evidence we as fans have. We'll never have enough evidence of that, fans of any team at any time before that regime has started winning regularly.

 

That's a straw man, right there. Of course we don't have evidence of this. Nor will we till he either builds a good team or doesn't.

 

 

 

 

2013 offense: 19th

2014 offense: 26th

2015 offense: 13th

2016 offense: 16th

 

 

 

In any case, thanks for the thought-provoking article, OP.

Top 10 scoring, back to back rushing leader without a franchise qb.

[Thurman#1]

 

A Carucci article from a few days ago.

 

http://buffalonews.com/2017/05/01/vic-caruccis-bills-wake-call-new-gm-wont-change-structure/

 

If there is any truth to that article..it is actually pretty scary the way he was selected.

 

Especially considering how bad they were burned by their love at first sight routine with Rex.

 

 

 

Agreed that it is a bit scary.

 

But Rex's hire seemed to be based on his personality, and McDermott's on his insane commitment, work ethic and preparedness. This doesn't prove anything but it does give me more hope than I had early on in the Rex administration.