That GM search was embarassing

[Hapless Bills Fan]

In my opinion this GM hire shows that if this staff fails the GM will also go.

 

It's the major reason I'm 100% on board with firing Whaley and the scouts and hiring a new GM, despite personally thinking Monos and some of the scouts were good and that overall Whaley did reasonably at improving our talent level, giving the handicap of changing coaches/schemes.

 

I'm totally done with all the arguments about what Nix/Whaley/Rex/Marrone wanted/did/were responsible for. Let's put the GM and coach in lockstep and get rid of all the divided accountability/responsibility arguments. Let McWrestler hand-pick his GM and scouts, in 3 years if his talent level isn't good enough and doesn't suit his schemes, let them both begone with no arguments equivalent to the ones about Whaley didn't give Rex the players he needed vs Rex didn't effectively use the talent he had and insisted it be torn down/rebuilt

Edited May 10, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan

[Tenhigh]

In classic Yeezus fashion, this thread will go 30 pages....you watch

Clickety click, I'm doing my part. This is grade A prime Yeezy, hot and still steaming. it should be fun watching the neubs heads explodes. No 'fense, fellas.....

[thunderingsquid]

This is how they always work. Nepotism is not against the rules.

 

This is a good time in history for nepotism.

[njbuff]

Nothing embarrassing about the search.

 

Maybe this time the Bills will actually have a HC and GM that work in tandem to end this freaking drought.

 

We will see how it goes. No need to complain about until they fail, if they fail.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Well, since you asked .... I'm pretty damn sure that we message board fans could have stumbled into a playoff team just by accident over the last 17 years ... after all, 12 of 32 teams make it every year. That's 37.5% of teams that make the playoffs in any given year! 3 out of every 8 teams. So an observer knowing absolutely nothing about the NFL but trained in probability and statistics would gather the following:

 

The odds of missing the playoffs every single year over the course of 17 years would be: (3/8) to the 17th power. That's 5.73 to the negative 8th power. That's ... impressive. We are literally in the zone of "any monkey throwing his sh!te at a draft board would build a winning team more often than the Bills have."

 

(Of course, from a probability perspective, this assumes that each year is independent of the year before, whereas in reality we know that it isn't; the suckitude accumulates, building on itself.)

 

... but seriously, I don't have any issue with handing control to McD and his minions. It's not like there's anything to lose here. This monkey's crap may just land randomly somewhere on that big board (rather than being scientifically designed to hit the worst possible personnel choices) and McD will see the playoff at some point over the next 4 years ...

I hate that bogus stat argument. Your caveat is the one thing that makes it a bogus argument, the second thing making it bogus is that each individual game is not won or lost by randomn chance.

 

So the remote possibility that the bills would have the playoff drought statistically is only valid if every single game was a coin toss- which unfortunately has not been the case.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

Nothing embarrassing about the search.

 

Maybe this time the Bills will actually have a HC and GM that work in tandem to end this freaking drought.

 

We will see how it goes. No need to complain about until they fail, if they fail.

 

....seriously NJ?....would you expect anything less?.......ink is not even dry on the contract yet.........

[SlamnSam]

What has been embarrassing was allowing Whaley to stay here long enough to be rated worse than Jerry jones as a GM. Getting rid of that clown is a classic case of addition through subtraction. The curse has now be lifted. Just in the wizard of oz when wicked witch melts, so long Whaley and hello success .

[stuvian]

This is the world we live in *Phil Collins voice*

Phil Collins won a Grammy for whiniest male vocalist of the year with that performance

Tell that to Ryan Grigson

I think I saw him in the soup line at the Sally Ann

the GM search was narrow because we limited ourselves to guys McD thought he could work with. I like the hire in that our football operations are philosophically aligned and not at war with one another. It's a huge bet on McD but one I am quite happy with. I think we are finally starting to build a functional organization for the first time since the Polian era. My level of expectation for him is somewhere in the Sean Peyton, Ron Rivera, Adam Gase, Bill O'Brien, Dan Quinn range.

 

As an aside I am curious as to whether we met the Rooney rule requirements and where the interviews were held geographically.

 

All that said, the only people at OBD who can screw this up with meddling are Russ Brandon and Jim Overdorf. If they make a power play they should be escorted off the premises faster than a gameday drunk.

Edited May 11, 2017 by stuvian

[The Frankish Reich]

I hate that bogus stat argument. Your caveat is the one thing that makes it a bogus argument, the second thing making it bogus is that each individual game is not won or lost by randomn chance.

 

So the remote possibility that the bills would have the playoff drought statistically is only valid if every single game was a coin toss- which unfortunately has not been the case.

I would like to respond, but this is so incoherent that I don't really know where to start.

 

EDIT: what the hell. I'll try. I gave an example in this thread about a team that has done absolutely everything wrong over the past 17 years - almost as if they were trying to be a perennial loser - and still they managed to make the playoffs several times. It really isn't too hard in the NFL to stumble into the playoffs at least a couple times a decade.

Edited May 11, 2017 by The Frankish Reich

[IDBillzFan]

Why always assume the worst?

 

The answer to this question is actually quite simple.

 

There is a large number of people in this world who live to utter the words "I told you so."

 

It's a lazy personality trait, to say the least, but it's in its laziest form with fans of a professional sports team. The odds of actually making an NFL team is hard enough. The odds of being successful in the NFL is even more ridiculously difficult.

 

To predict failure in the NFL, at any level, is one of the easiest things to predict. In fact, the only thing easier than predicting failure in the NFL is writing about it for a local newspaper.

 

So when you see someone who always assumes the worst for their team, at the heart is a lazy thinker.

[Scott7975]

 

I agree that if the McDermott/Beane land a very good QB they will be here for a while. But I wonder how much interest McDermott the first time head coach has in drafting and developing a QB? Coaches don't like drafting and developing QB's. They would prefer to use draft picks on players that can help them keep their job that year.

 

The Pegulas have decided to put the long term future of the Buffalo Bills in the hands of a coach trying to win now and consolidate his power. Those who assume a QB will be drafted next year might come to regret this setup.

When he first got hire in one of the interviews he was asked about QB. His response was that he understands the importance of the position. So I hope so.

[zow2]

This is not embarrassing. McDermott and Beane were getting hired by some organization...if not this year then next. It's been documented by several NFL people that the fact they know each other and share the same vision of how to build a team is a GOOD thing, not a negative.

 

I like the hires...will definitely be a change to see people with high intelligence running the show over there.

[teef]

 

The answer to this question is actually quite simple.

 

There is a large number of people in this world who live to utter the words "I told you so."

 

It's a lazy personality trait, to say the least, but it's in its laziest form with fans of a professional sports team. The odds of actually making an NFL team is hard enough. The odds of being successful in the NFL is even more ridiculously difficult.

 

To predict failure in the NFL, at any level, is one of the easiest things to predict. In fact, the only thing easier than predicting failure in the NFL is writing about it for a local newspaper.

 

So when you see someone who always assumes the worst for their team, at the heart is a lazy thinker.

this is so on point that i'm actually kind of aroused.

[blacklabel]

To me, all of this has been in the works since January. From what I've read/listened to, the Pegulas were leaning towards a change in the front office as it was but Brandon, who was Whaley's biggest ally in the building, pushed for him to stay and that's where the contract extension came from.

 

Then they keyed in on McDermott while still considering a complete FO overhaul and maybe McDermott said, "Hey, I can work with Doug if you want me to, but if you want to make a switch, I've got a guy." From everything we've read/heard, McDermott left the Pegulas extremely impressed with his vision and approach towards running a team and that probably swung them towards making a full-on change. They had seen the friction with Marrone and Whaley, and while I don't believe Ryan and Whaley had that same friction (I've read that they actually worked pretty well with each other) they just weren't satisfied with the traditional setup of "coaches coach" and "GMs pick the players." They wanted a collaborative effort and to have the HC and GM be synonymous with each other.

 

So McD & DW worked together in FA, they worked together in the draft and then that was that. Doug and his crew knew they were out but they're professionals. They aren't going to sabotage anything because they still want a chance at a job elsewhere. So they finished their work and then it was time for the change.

 

Beane was the guy all along. The other interviews were formalities. Chris Brown said on the Murph Show yesterday that the Pegulas did have a list of names they contacted about the position but at the end of the day, I think it was all pretty much set from the get-go that this was going to be the end result.

 

It's fine by me. I appreciate the job Whaley did while he was here. He had some hits and some misses but he did put together one of the more talented rosters they've had in quite a while. He did work in sync with the coaches he had despite the friction with Marrone and the defensive overhaul Rex wanted. I think Doug was in a tough spot from the start. He gets the GM job in 2013 and within less than a year, he's working under new ownership who, at the time, couldn't decide to keep things as they were or start fresh. They decided to give him a chance (I'm guessing at the behest of Russ) and things just never panned out.

 

I would expect this partnership to be around for a little while even if they don't make the playoffs in the first couple of years. This is 100% their show now (the Pegulas) and any leftovers from previous regimes are now up to SM and BB to decide what to do with.

[hondo in seattle]

I'm embarrassed that while most of my fellow Bills fans are intelligent, reasonable people, others are both opinionated and clueless at the same time.

 

I've heard nothing but good things about McD and Beane. I'm hoping for the best but as a jaded fan who's suffered years of disappointment, I always fear the worst. Rationally, I have no opinion. I just don't know enough about the attributes, talents and character traits of these two gentlemen to have a strong point of view. As a fan, my 'due diligence' consists of watching what they do in their new roles. We're just beginning that process.

 

In my job, I have to review bench plans for my business teams. One of the ratings we can give someone is "Too New to Rate." I'd give both McD and Beane the rating: "Too New to Rate."

[wilcoam]

Look I love the HC Sean hire, and I was ecstatic to see Rex released

However its hard enough to be a successful first time HC in the NFL without also being that involved in daily general managing

Ask Chip Kelly

Its not unfair to suggest maybe Sean is in a wee bit over his head?

Though I concur, he's too new to rate, lol

 

As for the GM hire, I am also ecstatic that we have moved on from DW, let's give Beane a chance

And I don't think the search was limited at all

There was only so many assistant GM's out there both willing to change teams and wiling to work in a collaborative structure

I found it amazing that the Pegs found 4 of em, lol

 

jc

[BuffaloHokie13]

Look I love the HC Sean hire, and I was ecstatic to see Rex released

However its hard enough to be a successful first time HC in the NFL without also being that involved in daily general managing

Ask Chip Kelly

Its not unfair to suggest maybe Sean is in a wee bit over his head?

Though I concur, he's too new to rate, lol

 

As for the GM hire, I am also ecstatic that we have moved on from DW, let's give Beane a chance

And I don't think the search was limited at all

There was only so many assistant GM's out there both willing to change teams and wiling to work in a collaborative structure

I found it amazing that the Pegs found 4 of em, lol

 

jc

Sean isn't going to be involved in daily general managing. That's why we hired Beane. He will provide input when needed, but his daily job is Head Coach.