Rex Ryan says he was told to bench Tyrod Taylor last year

[DC Tom]

But who told him to hire his twin brother?

[K-9]

6 minutes ago, QCity said:

Everybody should know this. I love how Rex is trying to paint this as the move that got him fired. 

To be sure, there was a list of negatives for Ryan, but his defiance of Whaley’s order to sit Taylor could be considered the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

[TheFunPolice]

2 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

Anyone that doesn’t think it was Whaley is clueless.

 

No NFL team is going to take Clown Shoes on.

 

I wouldn't be so sure. Marrone quit, badmouthed everyone associated with the Bills, did a mediocre job as OL coach, and still got another shot as HC, despite never really being a real OC or having a top offense at all. Rex went 8-8, handpicked a QB that everyone outside of Buffalo seems to think is good, and is generally a jovial guy that can charm an owner into hiring him. He can say I went in there, got a QB, assembled a good staff (Lynn is a HC now) and even though I caught a couple bad breaks in year two with injuries had the team in it right to the end.

 

Then, I stood up for my QB and refused to bench him and lost my job for it... Aww shucks, by the way here's a bottle of merlot. You like merlot? Oh it's your favorite? Wow I had no idea! Ha! mine too!

[Woodman19]

See, McDermott knows that he shouldn't hitch his career as a HC on Tyrod Taylor like Rex.

[plenzmd1]

2 hours ago, aceman_16 said:

He was told to bench him last year to avoid the injury guarentee. These are two totally seperate issues. Fun non-story though!

100% . Would have been idiotic to play him 

1 hour ago, QCity said:

Everybody should know this. I love how Rex is trying to paint this as the move that got him fired. 

yep, he is the master storyteller. 

Edited November 29, 2017 by plenzmd1

[FLFan]

2 hours ago, LittleJoeCartwright said:

 

Are we maybe missing the detail of Rex being told to bench Taylor and he refused, so he was fired?  Then Lynn was told and he obeyed?

He was going to be fired at the end of the season anyway. So it happened a week early.  Not sure what the news is here.  Rex is a blowhard - check. OP trying to create a conspiracy theory - check.

[unclepete]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

Rex felt he got screwed by the Bills because he only got 2 years and his 2nd year the players they drafted for his defense were both hurt before they could even play. IF Ragland doesn't tear his ACL in camp maybe he looks like a stud in Rex's D and the whole tenor of the season is different.

 

He had the best record since Wade and was .500 here in two seasons. Hardly the trainwreck it was depicted as. Defense was bad, and the pieces they got to help fix it arrived broken, or never arrived at all.

 

Super Mario wasn't so super in Miami either. He was just straight up done.

 

Sports are funny that way though. If Seattle and Atlanta run the ball Brady isn't the unquestionable GOAT, but since they passed the ball and a DB intercepted it and a LB caused a fumble Brady is the best of all time.

I always say this. We have a strange fan base. Rex was average here and he had several challenges to overcome. I thought he should have got a 3rd year with his guys and system. 

 

 

[Fadingpain]

Yeah, I seem to recall us all knowing the details of his conversation with Pegula that led to his firing.  Rex kind of drew a line in the sand and said "I won't bench Tyrod; I told him he is my guy and I keep my word" or something like that.

 

I think it is entirely possible Pegula told McD to bench Tyrod this year, and that part of the deal was that McD always suggest it was his idea entirely, and that it would never be a blemish on McD's record with Pegula if it ended in disaster.

 

It was either that or McD has judgment that, with handset, is THAT BAD.  

 

I don't think a lot of Pegula and am willing to give McD the benefit of the doubt so for now, I'll go with the "Pegula told him to sit Tyrod" theory.

 

It doesn't really matter in the end.  We need a new QB.

 

 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

2 minutes ago, unclepete said:

I always say this. We have a strange fan base. Rex was average here and he had several challenges to overcome. I thought he should have got a 3rd year with his guys and system. 

 

 

 

....yes and the poor VICTIMIZED HC skated with 16 mil..........his BIGGEST challenge was HIMSELF and an absurd ticket sales hire by Brandon......

[jimmy10]

3 hours ago, Livinginthepast said:

Pretty obvious this was the case. Must be pretty embarrassing for Rex to admit. I would have ignored the order. He was a lame duck by that stage anyway, why not stand up for yourself and make the owners fire you then. The writing was on the wall anyway for Rex yet he caves? Makes him seem even more of a loser than I thought!

 

The hell you talking about? He did exactly the opposite of what you’re saying he did. 

[mead107]

History doesn’t matter.   Rex is gone. 

[Marty McFly]

2 minutes ago, jimmy10 said:

 

The hell you talking about? He did exactly the opposite of what you’re saying he did. 

 

People jus paint things how they wanna view them.

[jimmy10]

1 hour ago, Gavin in Va Beach said:

Taylor has that injury clause in his contract so it was the smart thing to do in benching him. Rex may have been a "players coach" but that was a stupid hill for him to die on.

 

He was dead already, he didn’t die on Tyrod in Week 17 Hill. 

[Marty McFly]

After putting the tin foil hat on....

what IF its the Pegs calling the shots at QB...

[plenzmd1]

3 minutes ago, Fadingpain said:

Yeah, I seem to recall us all knowing the details of his conversation with Pegula that led to his firing.  Rex kind of drew a line in the sand and said "I won't bench Tyrod; I told him he is my guy and I keep my word" or something like that.

 

I think it is entirely possible Pegula told McD to bench Tyrod this year, and that part of the deal was that McD always suggest it was his idea entirely, and that it would never be a blemish on McD's record with Pegula if it ended in disaster.

 

It was either that or McD has judgment that, with handset, is THAT BAD.  

 

I don't think a lot of Pegula and am willing to give McD the benefit of the doubt so for now, I'll go with the "Pegula told him to sit Tyrod" theory.

 

It doesn't really matter in the end.  We need a new QB.

 

 

If you believe Rex at his word, he was told he was getting fired before the directive to bench Tyrod came down. With the injury guarantee hanging over Tyrod, it would have been 100% irresponsible to play Tyrod in that last game. I mean Tyrod needed surgery as it was after the season. Rex just like the story of " stood by my guy, I am a players coach" .

 

And McD may be many things, but he ain't gunna be carrying water for the Pegulas on the Taylor decision. Dude has more power at OBD than even Marv had, and ain't no way he making a decision based on what the Pegulas want. They may make a suggestion but in the end it's his decision.

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, SaviorPeterman said:

But the biggest question is did this order come from the Pegulas? And if so did they also tell McD to bench Taylor for NP a few weeks ago?

 

http://buffalonews.com/2017/11/29/rex-ryan-says-he-was-told-to-bench-tyrod-taylor-last-season-which-led-to-his-firing-bills/

 

1) this is old news - it was hashed to death last year
2) the circs were very different from when Bills benched TT this year, with a winning record.

3) the Bills owed TT huge bucks if he aggravated his groin injury, which required post-season surgery as it was

 

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Rex.  And you were gonna be fired even if TT played and lit everyone's hair on fire that last game.

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Yes, because of his injury clause. Isn’t that why he got fired before the last game, because he wouldn’t do it?

 

That is what was said.  But he was gonna be fired anyway, just after the last game.  IMHO Rex asked for his "walking papers" a game early so he could watch his kid play Clemson football that weekend and has "spun" this narrative out for almost a year now to cover his "me first" priorities.

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan

[Formerly Allan in MD]

That's not the reason he was fired.  Rex simply turned out to be Rex, a coach with little judgement, sense of his personnel, minimal amount of preparation, a brother, and a sales line that could get him hired.  "Defensive genius" my backside.

[SoTier]

3 hours ago, Livinginthepast said:

Pretty obvious this was the case. Must be pretty embarrassing for Rex to admit. I would have ignored the order. He was a lame duck by that stage anyway, why not stand up for yourself and make the owners fire you then. The writing was on the wall anyway for Rex yet he caves? Makes him seem even more of a loser than I thought!

 

Except that Ryan didn't cave.  The last game he coached was the 34-31 OT loss to the Carp.  Taylor was his QB.  Manuel started the last game of the season, another loss, with Anthony Lynn as interim HC.

 

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Yes, because of his injury clause. Isn’t that why he got fired before the last game, because he wouldn’t do it?

 

More likely Taylor would get a bonus for starting all sixteen games or some other performance milestone, and the Bills didn't want to pay it.  They did that with JP Losman one year.  However different some fans think this regime is from previous ones, most of the same manure that went on previously is still going on.  My guess is somebody above the level of GM sent down the order to bench Taylor last year ... and likely did the same this year.

[unclepete]

37 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

....yes and the poor VICTIMIZED HC skated with 16 mil..........his BIGGEST challenge was HIMSELF and an absurd ticket sales hire by Brandon......

I'm not saying he deserved a lifetime contract. I'm saying if you make the hire, you commit to enough time to let him put his system. Firing him after 2 years means the front office made the mistake, not the coach.

 

If McDermott is fired after next year because we tank with a young QB it would be a bad hire as well. Give the coach 3 years to rebuild and then fire him. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Nobody's missing anything.   This was reported last year when it happened.

 

As I recall it:   Rex, Terry and Doug were having their weekly call.  Doug told Rex he wanted Taylor benched.  It's never been disclosed whether Terry made that decision.  The most credible speculation is that Whaley wanted to preserve his options under Taylor's contract, and if Taylor got injured in the last game, Whaley might have been stuck with Taylor long-term with no option to terminate his contract.   Since the Bills were out of the playoffs, Whaley didn't want to take the chance of a Taylor injury.

 

AFTER the phone call, Rex walked into Pegula's office and asked whether he would be fired after the last game.  Pegula said yes.  Rex said "then fire me now."  Pegula said okay.  

 

I think what you infer from that is that if Pegula told Rex he'd be the coach in 2017, Rex would have been okay benching Taylor.   But Rex wasn't going to bench Taylor, a guy he'd handpicked, if he was going to lose his job anyway.  

 

Then they offered the interim spot to Lynn and told him he couldn't play Taylor.   Lynn didn't have the same commitment to Taylor, and the HC spot, even for a game, was much too valuable to his career to say no.   

Rex prides himself in being a players' coach.  He stood up for Taylor.   Rex effectively DID make them fire him.  

 

That is the story.  At a guess, it was one of those "boss breaks the tie" things - Doug said "bench", Rex said "no way", Pegula heard both arguments and said "going with Whaley on this, Rex". 

The part I don't buy is that Rex fell on his sword and asked to be fired early because he disagreed with the Taylor benching so uber-vehemently.    Clemson played Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec 31 at 7 pm, and Rex was at the game.  The Bills played the Jets Jan 1.  I think Rex said, "if you're going to fire me anyway, could you fire me now?" so he could watch his kid play.  It's not unreasonable - it would be  one of the last times he'd get to see his kid in a game and it's an emotional thing for a parent, and it makes much more sense than the "so loyal I get fired for you players" narrative.