When Was Doug Whaley Really Fired in 2017?

[BuffaloRush]

As draft day approaches, it makes me wonder what really went on at Two Bills Drive at this time – specifically with the firing of Doug Whaley and the hiring of Brandon Beane at GM and the role of Sean McDermott in one or both of the moves.  

 

If you recall Sean McDermott was named HC on January 11, 2017. At the time Whaley was coming off a horrendous end-of-the-year press conference and a disappointing year.  While Rex Ryan was fired, Whaley was considered “safe” by many in the media.  But while he remained GM in title, despite the fact that he hardly made any public comments under the “one voice” mantra that McDermott preached.  At the combine in March of 2017, McDermott talked quite a bit about working with Doug and his staff

Whaley was fired after the draft on April 30, 2017, and we all know the reasons for the timing of firing your GM after the draft.

 

But my question is - when did Terry really make the decision to fire Doug Whaley and to hire Brandon Beane?

 

And did McDermott have a significant role in either of those moves?    

 

Did Terry plan to fire Whaley before the coaching search?  Or did Terry make the decision when he hired McDermott?  Was McDermott given a private assurance that Doug would be on his way out after the draft?  I always thought it was odd how McDermott when asked about Whaley, McDermott said “I am comfortable with the situation.”  It seemed conspicuously brief as to suggest there was something in the works and that’s what makes me think.

 

Was the plan to originally have a marriage between Sean and Doug (as it was with Rex Ryan), until McDermott gained enough power/cache in the building to advocate going in a new direction?

Was Doug completely blindsided by the move?  Or was he fired before the draft, but agreed to stay employed to help with the draft? (Polian was actually fired nearly one full year before he actually left)

 

And then there is Brandon Beane – was he the unofficial successor from the start?  Given the connection to McDermott, sas this something that was informally agreed to in-private, well-before April 2017.  I do remember people linking Beane to McDermott shortly after he was hired.  Was the interview process legit?  Or was Beane really the candidate the entire time?

 

I know there’s a lot of really knowledgeable people in TBD.  I also know Bills fans love good conspiracy theories – so what happened between Doug Whaley getting fired and Brandon Beane replacing him?  Share your best guesses below: 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by BuffaloRush

[msw2112]

If my memory serves me correctly, it seemed to be common knowledge that Whaley was gone after the draft.  I don't recall if Beane's name was also being thrown around at that time, but I suspect that he had been identified behind the scenes as a serious candidate prior to the Whaley dismissal.

[BillsFan4]

4 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

If my memory serves me correctly, it seemed to be common knowledge that Whaley was gone after the draft.  I don't recall if Beane's name was also being thrown around at that time, but I suspect that he had been identified behind the scenes as a serious candidate prior to the Whaley dismissal.

There was a report (or a tweet - same difference these days, right? lol) almost right after McDermott was hired that the Bills were looking to hire someone from Carolina's front office. Lots of speculation that person was Beane. 

 

I think the Bills may have denied the report at the time, but we all know how that ended up turning out...

[KDIGGZ]

Whaley lost his job the day he traded 2x firsts for Sammy Watkins 

[BuffaloRush]

3 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

There was a report (or a tweet - same difference these days, right? lol) almost right after McDermott was hired that the Bills were looking to hire someone from Carolina's front office. Lots of speculation that person was Beane. 

 

I think the Bills may have denied the report at the time, but we all know how that ended up turning out...

 

So you believe that this decision was informally made at the time McDermott was hired.  So McD knew that Whaley was out and Beane would likely be in?

1 minute ago, kdiggz said:

Whaley lost his job the day he traded 2x firsts for Sammy Watkins 

 

In hindsight, yes.  But Terry still signed him to an extension.  The official decision came sometime in late 2016 or early 2017, we don’t really know when

[Jay_Fixit]

McDermott was hired, and after dealing with Whaley for a few months, went to Pegula and said “It's almost as if this guy has no business training at all"

 

Like Kramer when he worked at Brandt/Leland.

 

The rest is history. 

[nucci]

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Oops!  See the video.

Edited March 1, 2018 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[billieve420]

26 minutes ago, kdiggz said:

Whaley lost his job the day he traded 2x firsts for Sammy Watkins 

 

I think he lost his job when he had that terrible press conference where he threw his owners under the bus.

[Fadingpain]

31 minutes ago, kdiggz said:

Whaley lost his job the day he traded 2x firsts for Sammy Watkins 

That was half of it.

The other half was when he looked into EJ's eyes and saw a winner, then proceeded to double down on him as the next franchise QB of the Bills.

 

Those 2 mistakes should cost anyone their job; I said so for a long time back when Whaley was still the GM.  It eventually caught up to him.

 

Whaley is straight up too dumb to be a GM in football; he was over his head. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

Was he ever really "in charge" of anything? 

 

The one time he did something on his own was when he went rogue on Jackson. That's pretty much his legacy in my eyes.

[Rico]

6 minutes ago, billieve420 said:

 

I think he lost his job when he had that terrible press conference where he threw his owners under the bus.

Exactly. He was on borrowed time after the Marrone fights, but that was the last straw.

[BillsFan4]

27 minutes ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

So you believe that this decision was informally made at the time McDermott was hired.  So McD knew that Whaley was out and Beane would likely be in?

 

In hindsight, yes.  But Terry still signed him to an extension.  The official decision came sometime in late 2016 or early 2017, we don’t really know when

 

I honestly don't know. I just remember reading a report shortly after McDermott was hired saying that they planned to bring in someone from the Carolina front office. 

I don't remember the report saying anything about firing Whaley, just that they were supposed to be bringing in someone from Carolina. 

 

Maybe someone can post the tweet/report? I quickly looked for it but couldn't find it. I'll post it if I find it. 

 

Just looking back in hindsight though, it does appear to me the plan was in place to move on from Whaley shortly after McDermott was hired. 

 

[buffalostu2]

28 minutes ago, Fadingpain said:

That was half of it.

The other half was when he looked into EJ's eyes and saw a winner, then proceeded to double down on him as the next franchise QB of the Bills.

 

Those 2 mistakes should cost anyone their job; I said so for a long time back when Whaley was still the GM.  It eventually caught up to him.

 

Whaley is straight up too dumb to be a GM in football; he was over his head. 

I believe that was Buddy Nix's desperation parting move trying to leave the organization on the rise.  I don't think you can pin that on Doug especially when he has been heard saying that his biggest mistake was not going out and getting a franchise QB.

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, buffalostu2 said:

I believe that was Buddy Nix's desperation parting move trying to leave the organization on the rise.  I don't think you can pin that on Doug especially when he has been heard saying that his biggest mistake was not going out and getting a franchise QB.

 

This was more of what happened.

 

Buddy said FOR YEARS he wasn't leaving before finding us a QB... Then the 2013 draft rolls around...

 

just released fitz, no QB, and Buddy did what he promised ... drafted a QB and stepped down soon after 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

After THAT pressconference 

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

As draft day approaches, it makes me wonder what really went on at Two Bills Drive at this time – specifically with the firing of Doug Whaley and the hiring of Brandon Beane at GM and the role of Sean McDermott in one or both of the moves.  (...)

If you recall Sean McDermott was named HC on January 11, 2017. At the time Whaley was coming off a horrendous end-of-the-year press conference and a disappointing year.  While Rex Ryan was fired, Whaley was considered “safe” by many in the media.  But while he remained GM in title, despite the fact that he hardly made any public comments under the “one voice” mantra that McDermott preached.  At the combine in March of 2017, McDermott talked quite a bit about working with Doug and his staff

Whaley was fired after the draft on April 30, 2017, and we all know the reasons for the timing of firing your GM after the draft.

 

But my question is - when did Terry really make the decision to fire Doug Whaley and to hire Brandon Beane?

And did McDermott have a significant role in either of those moves?    

 

Did Terry plan to fire Whaley before the coaching search?  Or did Terry make the decision when he hired McDermott?  Was McDermott given a private assurance that Doug would be on his way out after the draft?  I always thought it was odd how McDermott when asked about Whaley, McDermott said “I am comfortable with the situation.”  It seemed conspicuously brief as to suggest there was something in the works and that’s what makes me think.

 

It was clear that Whaley was a "dead man walking" at last year's NFL meeting before the draft.  He was reported to be playing with his daughter on the lawn while coaches and other GMs had already left for various pro days etc.

 

IMHO, McDermott was the Pegulas first choice, not Whaley's, and one of McDermott's conditions was bringing in his own GM.  I think that's exactly what "I am comfortable with the situation... the Pegulas have made sure that I'm comfortable with the situation and I appreciate that" means.

[Kirby Jackson]

May 1, 2017

[JohnC]

12 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

This was more of what happened.

 

Buddy said FOR YEARS he wasn't leaving before finding us a QB... Then the 2013 draft rolls around...

 

just released fitz, no QB, and Buddy did what he promised ... drafted a QB and stepped down soon after 

When the owner interviewed McDermott for the HCing job the wrestling coach was ready to lay out his plans not only how a roster should be built but also how an organization should be structured. The owner was impressed at how in detail his blueprint was to enliven the owner's moribund franchise. Whaley had his own template. The template that the wrestling coach offered was not only much different but it was much more thoughtful and comprehensive. McDermott's approach to assembling a roster was more coherent and thematic compared to a more patchwork approach that Whaley practiced. Included in the candidate's roster building approach was the importance of properly structuring the cap. With McDermott there is a priority in balancing out the cap. Whaley had a tendency to look at contracts for players on an individual level. While McDermott saw a greater importance at taking a more strategic view at how it affected the roster in general and how it affected future decisions and options. 

 

Once the owner hired McDermott there was no way that Whaley was going to be kept. There were two world visions that couldn't be reconciled. The decision to fire the former GM was inevitable once the owner made the decision to hire the wrestling coach. And once the hire was made Whaley knew what his fate was. 

[CuddyDark]

1 hour ago, Jay_Fixit said:

McDermott was hired, and after dealing with Whaley for a few months, went to Pegula and said “It's almost as if this guy has no business training at all"

 

Like Kramer when he worked at Brandt/Leland.

 

The rest is history. 

Terry is on record saying Whaley couldn't handle business meetings and would make Terry schedule appointments to talk about the team. Terry is on record saying this is why he wanted Whaley out. That he thought it was this way, in football in general, but it wasn't this way with McDermott and he could just show up and talk football with McDermott, whenever he wanted. I believe Terry said that was a big turning point for him.