Good article on Bills front office purge

[dpberr]

I'm intrigued the Pegulas have made money conducting business this way.

 

They appear to get emotionally invested in people quickly and it's not something you traditionally see from business owners.

[dubs]

I used to be the biggest homer on this board and try to defend everything the Bills did. But honestly, what other NFL franchise would give this much power to a 1st time head coach?

 

It's a good point. I am not saying a guarantee it's going to work. But there is also no guarantee it's NOT going to work.

 

The most important things for a franchise to be successful, IMHO, is:

 

1) Put good people in place in important positions (Coach, GM, etc..)

2) Ensure those people are coordinated, working in tandem, and have the same vision

3) Get good players

 

I think that gets teams most of the way there. I think with McD, there is a chance we are starting to get number 1 right. Maybe not, but maybe we are. I think they are trying to find a GM that will complete number 1 AND number 2. That's going to lead to getting good players though the draft, retention, and FA.

 

Gonna take some time and might not work and I understand the concern with a relatively neophyte in there. But it could work as well, especially if McD is what the Pegulas think he is.

[dave mcbride]

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

That is just untrue. The Browns developed into a really good team but fell apart because of the move, which was probably the most controversial and acrimonious team move since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. I distinctly recall how ugly it was. The Browns were really good in 1994 (11-5), crushing the Pats in a playoff game and leading the league in least points allowed.

[Dr. Who]

I used to be the biggest homer on this board and try to defend everything the Bills did. But honestly, what other NFL franchise would give this much power to a 1st time head coach?

 

Yeah, just using yards in a vacuum is a silly way to judge success. Kyle Orton was known as a qb that could move the ball between the 20s but struggles to get it in the endzone. If you can't score tds, who cares how many yards you had?

 

Additionally, stats like 3rd down % and red zone % are very important as well.

Agree with all these points. I hope McD is successful, but on what basis has he acquired all this power? He has yet to coach a single down as a head coach.

[BADOLBILZ]

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.

 

 

They hired him as HC........gave him autonomy over personnel..........and are hiring his hand-picked choice for GM.

 

Bear in mind he has fielded a lot of "meh" defenses as a coordinator and never won a title.

 

We aren't talking about the type of track record that is normally given this much power.

 

If the term "blindly" offends you, that's different than being incorrect..... figuratively it sounds pretty accurate.

[WhoTom]

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

 

So was Belichick.

[C.Biscuit97]

That is just untrue. The Browns developed into a really good team but fell apart because of the move, which was probably the most controversial and acrimonious team move since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. I distinctly recall how ugly it was. The Browns were really good in 1994 (11-5), crushing the Pats in a playoff game and leading the league in least points allowed.

He's been a GM once in his career and that was a couple of years ago in Cleveland. His draft in Cleveland was awful.

 

Again, I think he's a smart guy but I also think he is just saying stuff that other smart guys have told him. Very interesting nonetheless.

[Buffalo Boy]

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.

Yep

[Rico]

Great article, thanks.

 

In this day and age where fantasy football is the rage, i think this article does help to explain why some of the less-savvy posters would think Lil Doug was a good GM. No doubt he was in WAY over his head, but if he had been here a decade earlier, he would've been a big upgrade over John friggin' Guy.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Rico

[dave mcbride]

He's been a GM once in his career and that was a couple of years ago in Cleveland. His draft in Cleveland was awful.

 

Again, I think he's a smart guy but I also think he is just saying stuff that other smart guys have told him. Very interesting nonetheless.

That was a horrible situation - one that preceded and continued after he left. The fish rots from the head, and in the case of Cleveland, it is Haslam.

 

He was pretty high up in Cleveland in the early 1990s and also with the Raiders in the late 1990s/early 200s. IIRC, he was involved in bringing in Gannon, who was most definitely not an Al Davis prototype.

[C.Biscuit97]

 

It's a good point. I am not saying a guarantee it's going to work. But there is also no guarantee it's NOT going to work.

 

The most important things for a franchise to be successful, IMHO, is:

 

1) Put good people in place in important positions (Coach, GM, etc..)

2) Ensure those people are coordinated, working in tandem, and have the same vision

3) Get good players

 

I think that gets teams most of the way there. I think with McD, there is a chance we are starting to get number 1 right. Maybe not, but maybe we are. I think they are trying to find a GM that will complete number 1 AND number 2. That's going to lead to getting good players though the draft, retention, and FA.

 

Gonna take some time and might not work and I understand the concern with a relatively neophyte in there. But it could work as well, especially if McD is what the Pegulas think he is.

You make solid points and trust me, I want for you to be right. But it does seem like the Pegulas don't know how to run a NFL team. They basically Gave no power to their GM. They hire a guy as a first time coach, who was a D.C. For a defensive coach.

 

SM seems like a really smart guy. But this seems like the exact opposite way to build a team. Is our puppet GM going to have control over the roster? Can he fire the coach?

That was a horrible situation - one that preceded and continued after he left. The fish rots from the head, and in the case of Cleveland, it is Haslam.

 

He was pretty high up in Cleveland in the early 1990s and also with the Raiders in the late 1990s/early 200s. IIRC, he was involved in bringing in Gannon, who was most definitely not an Al Davis prototype.

I don't disagree with you. But the one time he was a GM, he literally had one of the drafts you could imagine.

[dubs]

You make solid points and trust me, I want for you to be right. But it does seem like the Pegulas don't know how to run a NFL team. They basically Gave no power to their GM. They hire a guy as a first time coach, who was a D.C. For a defensive coach.

 

SM seems like a really smart guy. But this seems like the exact opposite way to build a team. Is our puppet GM going to have control over the roster? Can he fire the coach?

 

I don't disagree with you. But the one time he was a GM, he literally had one of the drafts you could imagine.

 

I know, it does seem weird. here's kind of what I think happened from a timeline standpoint (again, could TOTALLY be wrong here, but just a hunch based on how things have transpired).

 

Pegs got to the end of last season and said, Rex is a disaster. He gave way too much power to Rob and the defense was horrible. He's go to go. So they fired him. They considered firing Whaley and Co as well, but knew that it was a tough time to hire a new front office with FAs and the draft coming up, so rather than scramble to clean house and potentially make a rash decision, they kept DW and decided to look for a new coach. When they hired McD, they did it with the notion that they loved what he brought to the table (obviously mostly intangibles) and decided at that moment his vision was going to be the vision going forward. Whaley was a dead man walking. But they also decided that the next GM would have to not just coexist with McD, but be a true partner. Meaning they are going to share the vision and ultimately credit or blame depending on how the next few years go.

 

So in the end, I think the timing seems funny, but at the end of the day the new GM and SMcD will be a package deal and it will either work out or it won't.

 

Again, not guarantees this works or that things played out this way, but just one humble man's opinion.

[DrDawkinstein]

I used to be the biggest homer on this board and try to defend everything the Bills did. But honestly, what other NFL franchise would give this much power to a 1st time head coach?

 

 

You and me both, brother.

[C.Biscuit97]

 

I know, it does seem weird. here's kind of what I think happened from a timeline standpoint (again, could TOTALLY be wrong here, but just a hunch based on how things have transpired).

 

Pegs got to the end of last season and said, Rex is a disaster. He gave way too much power to Rob and the defense was horrible. He's go to go. So they fired him. They considered firing Whaley and Co as well, but knew that it was a tough time to hire a new front office with FAs and the draft coming up, so rather than scramble to clean house and potentially make a rash decision, they kept DW and decided to look for a new coach. When they hired McD, they did it with the notion that they loved what he brought to the table (obviously mostly intangibles) and decided at that moment his vision was going to be the vision going forward. Whaley was a dead man walking. But they also decided that the next GM would have to not just coexist with McD, but be a true partner. Meaning they are going to share the vision and ultimately credit or blame depending on how the next few years go.

 

So in the end, I think the timing seems funny, but at the end of the day the new GM and SMcD will be a package deal and it will either work out or it won't.

 

Again, not guarantees this works or that things played out this way, but just one humble man's opinion.

I respect this opinion a lot. I like SM but I worry they may be putting him a position to fail. It's way too hard to coach and worry about personnel. It killed Chip Kelly.

 

You and me both, brother.

I never thought guys like you and me would be doubters haha. Once Promo starts questioning decisions, all hope is gone.

[GG]

You make solid points and trust me, I want for you to be right. But it does seem like the Pegulas don't know how to run a NFL team. They basically Gave no power to their GM. They hire a guy as a first time coach, who was a D.C. For a defensive coach.

 

SM seems like a really smart guy. But this seems like the exact opposite way to build a team. Is our puppet GM going to have control over the roster? Can he fire the coach?

 

I don't disagree with you. But the one time he was a GM, he literally had one of the drafts you could imagine.

 

But things are coming more clear in retrospect, especially the Marrone quitting fiasco. Pegulas didn't come into the ownership blindly. They had a lot of input from Polian, Todd France, etc on the outsiders' views of Bills management. Marrone's known quibbles with Whaley, and Polian's refusal to come back to the Bills didn't help Whaley's case in Pegula's eyes. Obviously, Pegula should have made the GM move at that time, instead of thinking that Whaley would grow on him.

 

in the end, Whaley proved to be what his critics said he was - a good personnel man, but a middling GM.

[oldmanfan]

You make solid points and trust me, I want for you to be right. But it does seem like the Pegulas don't know how to run a NFL team. They basically Gave no power to their GM. They hire a guy as a first time coach, who was a D.C. For a defensive coach.

 

SM seems like a really smart guy. But this seems like the exact opposite way to build a team. Is our puppet GM going to have control over the roster? Can he fire the coach?

 

I don't disagree with you. But the one time he was a GM, he literally had one of the drafts you could imagine.

The majority of HCs in the league were coordinators before taking their HC spot.

[QCity]

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

 

"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."

It feels like I've been saying this for the past 3 years. Now that he's gone and the rose-colored glasses are off, maybe fans will look at the GM role a little differently.

[BillsVet]

Great article, thanks.

 

In this day and age where fantasy football is the rage, i think this article does help to explain why some of the less-savvy posters would think Lil Doug was a good GM. No doubt he was in WAY over his head, but if he had been here a decade earlier, he would've been a big upgrade over John friggin' Guy.

 

Selected a QB with his first rounder in 2013. Traded up to take the then ranked top WR in 2014. Traded for McCoy (at RR's urging) in 2015. Signed Clay the same year.

 

Nix and Whaley seemed like scouts miscast in management roles. That there wasn't alignment between coaching and the front office isn't hard to see, but it's a subject that goes too deep in the weeds for many. But if you're looking for improvement, that relationship needs to be there. And it hasn't been since Polian and Marv were working together.

[wiskibreth]

I don't think what people are understanding is that McDermott isn't being given overriding power, or making a power grab. He's simply doing the things he needs to do to keep the ball rolling. I give him tons of credit for making it known to the Pegula's that he and Doug clearly aren't on the same page, they don't share football philosophies, and by in large, they can't build a TEAM together. The Pegula's like his vision more and here we are.

 

I think it's a little ironic that Doug probably "picked" McDermott for the HC candidate, like he would have "picked" a player, only to have it bite him in the behind because he didn't do his complete homework to know if they shared the same philosophies on building a football team.

 

I think when all the dust settles, we'll end up with two guys with equal "power" reporting to the Pegula's in complete partnership. -which is what they've wanted all along, but didn't know how to get there. McDermott turned on some lights. I think this part of the article speaks the lowdest to me, and where the Pegula's want to be:

 

"In football, a successful partnership between the head coach and GM starts with a philosophical connection. I was a more effective personnel man working for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick; we share the same vision for what it takes to win in the NFL. When I wasn’t with Bill, I was horrible working with … I’ll leave out the name, as it pains me to even remember. The cohesiveness between coach and GM is vital to an organization. Pete Carroll found it with John Schneider in Seattle, Ted Thompson found it with Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, and the Steelers have always had it with whoever is their GM — in this case, Kevin Colbert — and their head coach, Mike Tomlin."

Edited May 4, 2017 by wiskibreth

[boyst]

Between the "structure" Great Leader Pegula has setup, and the constant turnover in coaching staff, Whaley never had a chance.

 

We might be ok since it looks like McD is getting all the power and will hire his own GM, but...

 

1. That's ass-backwards

2. Great Leader Pegula said in his presser that he is sticking with the flat structure so the HC and GM will continue to report directly to him.

 

If #2 stays true, we'll continue with this lack of accountability and bickering that has plagued the FO over the last 4 years.

exactly.

 

At the end of the day coaches and GMs are mid level management on this level. It gets nothing done.

[Magox]

I just get the feeling that we finally have a vision moving forward. I don't just say this because of the article, it's just the sense that I get with the sort of decisions that we are making.

 

I feel good about McD

[YoloinOhio]

Just had a chance to read the article -- it made a lot of sense to me based on what I thought happened. McD didn't intend to push Whaley out the door unless he found it necessary after working with him ... and he realized after doing so that he didn't share the same team building vision. Pegula hadn't seen Whaley's team building succeed, regardless of the different factors that go into that, and the most important thing in building a successful team is cohesiveness between HC and GM. I think they are following the Falcons model --

http://www.myajc.com/sports/football/the-forced-marriage-quinn-and-dimitroff-blissful-union/cVvUForahqNls1QeuOXa9K/

[dubs]

I respect this opinion a lot. I like SM but I worry they may be putting him a position to fail. It's way too hard to coach and worry about personnel. It killed Chip Kelly.

 

I never thought guys like you and me would be doubters haha. Once Promo starts questioning decisions, all hope is gone.

 

Yeah, I agree as well. But I am hopeful that this is more of a "all hands on deck" situation in which once the GM comes on board, SMcD goes back to focusing on coaching duties.

[oldmanfan]

Interesting article. I will say I've never been that impressed with Lombardi, did a pretty bad job in Cleveland and I think he writes this kind of stuff just to keep his name out there as some sort of expert. But the underlying theme of a scout vs.GM is intriguing.

 

Much is being made of the Pegulas giving too much power to a new HC. But there's a couple things to consider. One is that the model works in places like Atlanta and Seattle. Whether McD is that caliber of HC remains an open question of course. But second, while I used to think you need to get the GM and have him pick his HC, that model may be antiquated. What is the most important thing is to have a GM and HC in complete synchrony over what kind of team to have and how to put that together. In that regard, McD will be sure to have a GM come n that he has that synchrony with, that he completely trusts with personnel, scouting, cap issues, etc. And regardless him coming first vs. the GM, that is what you need for sustained success.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I don't think what people are understanding is that McDermott isn't being given overriding power, or making a power grab. He's simply doing the things he needs to do to keep the ball rolling. I give him tons of credit for making it known to the Pegula's that he and Doug clearly aren't on the same page, they don't share football philosophies, and by in large, they can't build a TEAM together. The Pegula's like his vision more and here we are.

 

I think it's a little ironic that Doug probably "picked" McDermott for the HC candidate, like he would have "picked" a player, only to have it bite him in the behind because he didn't do his complete homework to know if they shared the same philosophies on building a football team.

 

I think when all the dust settles, we'll end up with two guys with equal "power" reporting to the Pegula's in complete partnership. -which is what they've wanted all along, but didn't know how to get there. McDermott turned on some lights. I think this part of the article speaks the lowdest to me, and where the Pegula's want to be:

 

"In football, a successful partnership between the head coach and GM starts with a philosophical connection. I was a more effective personnel man working for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick; we share the same vision for what it takes to win in the NFL. When I wasn’t with Bill, I was horrible working with … I’ll leave out the name, as it pains me to even remember. The cohesiveness between coach and GM is vital to an organization. Pete Carroll found it with John Schneider in Seattle, Ted Thompson found it with Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, and the Steelers have always had it with whoever is their GM — in this case, Kevin Colbert — and their head coach, Mike Tomlin."

Excellent! Great point that needed to be said.

Interesting article. I will say I've never been that impressed with Lombardi, did a pretty bad job in Cleveland and I think he writes this kind of stuff just to keep his name out there as some sort of expert. But the underlying theme of a scout vs.GM is intriguing.

 

Much is being made of the Pegulas giving too much power to a new HC. But there's a couple things to consider. One is that the model works in places like Atlanta and Seattle. Whether McD is that caliber of HC remains an open question of course. But second, while I used to think you need to get the GM and have him pick his HC, that model may be antiquated. What is the most important thing is to have a GM and HC in complete synchrony over what kind of team to have and how to put that together. In that regard, McD will be sure to have a GM come n that he has that synchrony with, that he completely trusts with personnel, scouting, cap issues, etc. And regardless him coming first vs. the GM, that is what you need for sustained success.

Great post!

Most power is taken and not given has been my experience in the business world. If Sean McD took power then it is to his credit.

Edited May 4, 2017 by horned dogs

[Hapless Bills Fan]

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.

 

Yes. Moreover, any credible assessment of the players Whaley drafted, must take into account that Whaley has had to try to build 3 teams for 3 head coaches with different offensive and defensive schemes.

I don't get the "drafting players, not building a team" line.

[iinii]

+1

Make that plus 2.

[oldmanfan]

 

Yes. Moreover, any credible assessment of the players Whaley drafted, must take into account that Whaley has had to try to build 3 teams for 3 head coaches with different offensive and defensive schemes.

I don't get the "drafting players, not building a team" line.

I understand where he's coming from there. Look at the Pats. Belichick has a definite type of player he needs to play the way he wants his team to play. So when drafting you need to have that paramount in your scouting, etc. sometimes a player with lesser apparent talent is the guy you want to draft because he's a better fit for what you want to achieve.

[BillsFan4]

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.[/size]

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."

I thought that was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Just had a chance to read the article -- it made a lot of sense to me based on what I thought happened. McD didn't intend to push Whaley out the door unless he found it necessary after working with him ... and he realized after doing so that he didn't share the same team building vision. Pegula hadn't seen Whaley's team building succeed, regardless of the different factors that go into that, and the most important thing in building a successful team is cohesiveness between HC and GM. I think they are following the Falcons model --

http://www.myajc.com/sports/football/the-forced-marriage-quinn-and-dimitroff-blissful-union/cVvUForahqNls1QeuOXa9K/

 

I could be wrong but I had the impression that the seeds of Whaley's firing were laid back in November, and they were just waiting until after the draft to proceed *shrug*

 

I don't think one has to create narratives about it being "necessary" to push Whaley out the door or about "scouting not building a team". My personal thing is that the GM and coach usually come and go as a set. Give whichever one you hire first the partner he wants, and Ix Nay any down-the-road excuses.

[Buftex]

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.

Exactly...the 2016 draft was all to support the Rex Ryans' vision...terrible coach, should have never been hired in the first place...but to just keep flipping coaches every two years is just bad. There was no coherent plan, because the GM, the one consistent, was hamstrung by coaches he didn't hire.

 

Fingers crossed they got it right this time, but it is hard not to have some doubts...

[Coach Tuesday]

"Whaley was all about scouting players; McDermott is about building a team. Scouts don’t always know how to build teams. They know only how to pick players. And a scout focused primarily on scouting players can succeed only in a fantasy draft."

Not to sound like BADOL - but this is what I have been saying about Whaley for YEARS...

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I understand where he's coming from there. Look at the Pats. Belichick has a definite type of player he needs to play the way he wants his team to play. So when drafting you need to have that paramount in your scouting, etc. sometimes a player with lesser apparent talent is the guy you want to draft because he's a better fit for what you want to achieve.

 

Except that the fingermarks of that have been all over the draft choices made - big hulking behemoth OL like Kouandjio, Cyrus Richardson when Marrone was here and that's what he wanted, DB like Russ Cockrell when Schwartz was here and that's what he wanted. Now Ryan is here and Cockrell doesn't fit, let him go play for playoff contender Pittsburgh, bring in smaller OL like Miller, a NT type, different profile of LB. The problem hasn't been that Whaley hasn't tried to bring in players that fit what the coach is trying to achieve; the problem is that Whaley has had to switch gears on what that is, every 2 years.

 

Something else. It's a mistake to characterize Belichick as having a "type" of player he needs. The only type of player Belichick needs is someone who will unswervingly "do your job" and do what is asked of them day in day out.

This can be seen by the way his D and his O both evolve to maximize the talent of the players they have. Example: look at 2011 when Brady had Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Branch as targets and passed for >5200 yds.

Now look at 2013, Hernandez in the pokey, Gronkowski in the trainer's room only starts 6 games, Amendola is not proving the Welker replacement they'd hoped for, Edelman does step up. Brady passes for 1000 less yards, they make up the difference with the rushing game, and the SOBs still win.

 

Bear this in mind, because if McWrestler truly needs a "type" of player to win we're not going forward much. I go with Wade Phillips who said if you can't fit good players and use them to good effect in your scheme, maybe you should look at whether your scheme is a problem.

[CommonCents]

"Whaley was all about scouting players; McDermott is about building a team. Scouts dont always know how to build teams. They know only how to pick players. And a scout focused primarily on scouting players can succeed only in a fantasy draft."

Not to sound like BADOL - but this is what I have been saying about Whaley for YEARS...

Haha that's exactly what I was saying! If we are patting our own backs, I'm down with it.

[oldmanfan]

 

Except that the fingermarks of that have been all over the draft choices made - big hulking behemoth OL like Kouandjio, Cyrus Richardson when Marrone was here and that's what he wanted, DB like Russ Cockrell when Schwartz was here and that's what he wanted. Now Ryan is here and Cockrell doesn't fit, let him go play for playoff contender Pittsburgh, bring in smaller OL like Miller, a NT type, different profile of LB. The problem hasn't been that Whaley hasn't tried to bring in players that fit what the coach is trying to achieve; the problem is that Whaley has had to switch gears on what that is, every 2 years.

 

Something else. It's a mistake to characterize Belichick as having a "type" of player he needs. The only type of player Belichick needs is someone who will unswervingly "do your job" and do what is asked of them day in day out.

This can be seen by the way his D and his O both evolve to maximize the talent of the players they have. Example: look at 2011 when Brady had Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Branch as targets and passed for >5200 yds.

Now look at 2013, Hernandez in the pokey, Gronkowski in the trainer's room only starts 6 games, Amendola is not proving the Welker replacement they'd hoped for, Edelman does step up. Brady passes for 1000 less yards, they make up the difference with the rushing game, and the SOBs still win.

 

Bear this in mind, because if McWrestler truly needs a "type" of player to win we're not going forward much. I go with Wade Phillips who said if you can't fit good players and use them to good effect in your scheme, maybe you should look at whether your scheme is a problem.

 

 

That's what I meant when referring to Belichick, and wasn't clear enough. Belichick wants a certain type of mentality would have been a better way of describing what I meant. You see hints of that in McD with the past draft. Rather than take the LB out of Bama, they chose the DB out of LSU with a solid four year record, valedictorian, good citizen, etc.

 

I have no idea how McD will do in the league as a HC. Look around the league and the vast majority of HCs are guys that were coordinators who then got their shot as HC. Some work out , some don't. I will say I like the approach thus far, and I am sure whomever comes in as GM will have a tightly shared visions of how to build a winning team and organization.

 

As for Whaley, I have commented before that he reminds me of the old company man of business back in the day. Do what the boss wants, don't make trouble, keep your head down and do your job. I wonder if Doug ever truly thought his job as GM was to articulate what he saw as a successful winning model that he'd fight for. Or did he view his job as the company man who does the bosses' bidding or HC in this case) and just get what the HC of the day wanted. I don't suppose we'll ever know, but I am sad it ended the way it did and I hoe he winds up running the personnel department for another team, because it may be a better fit for him.

[mbossman2]

Effective leaders operate under something called VSEM (Vision, Strategy, Execution, Metrics/Measurement). I am willing to bet that McDermott's pitch and interview hit on 3 or these (Metrics/Measurement are pretty self explanatory in a production environment) and those resonated with the Pegulas which is why they snapped him up.

[Gordio]

Effective leaders operate under something called VSEM (Vision, Strategy, Execution, Metrics/Measurement). I am willing to bet that McDermott's pitch and interview hit on 3 or these (Metrics/Measurement are pretty self explanatory in a production environment) and those resonated with the Pegulas which is why they snapped him up.

 

 

Yeah I am waiting to reserve judgment on this one. Pegs track record isn't the best & it is a great leap of faith to Mcd this kind of power when quite frankly he hasn't proven sh*t in this league except for the fact that he really can't be trusted if reports are true that he went to Pegs to get Whaley replaced. We will see if it works out, I doubt it will. My guess is 3 years from now we will be talking about a new regime that is in place.

[Shaw66]

Just discovered this duplicate thread, and this is one that seems to have legs, so I'll repost what I just said in the other thread.

 

I love hearing from the people who have been there. Now, I'm not sure how he knows the things he says and he knows, and in fact I suspect he can't prove much of what he says actually happened. I think he's speculating. But he's speculating from a perspective the rest of us don't have. He's been there and seen these dynamics up front and personal. So he's inclined to know even though he wasn't in the rooms at OBD.

Very interesting commentary, and believable. Thanks for posting.

[Guest NeckBeard]

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."

 

The last point is the worst. The team needs a QB, of course, but it's not like it's pristine otherwise. With passable QB play last year, what happened? 7-9. That's what.

[Kemp2Warlick]

Tyler Dunne‏Verified account @TyDunne 29m29 minutes ago

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