I reckon the “firing the coach thing” didn’t rally the troops to circle the wagons and get the win?
Hmmm. This leaves me perplexed.
Now what Mr. Wilson?
In my own tiny opinion I believe that Ralph Wilson not only fired the wrong guy, he missed a few people. This misfire exposes some other major glaring flaws within the team’s infrastructure.
Basic statement #1: You are only as good as the players that you acquire through the draft and free agency.
Basic statement #2: Proper coaching and a solid organized game plan is essential to at the very least being competitive in the NFL.
The Bills are so far behind the curve they make the Cleveland Browns look like Super Bowl Champions. In case you didn’t know, Cleveland beat Buffalo in week 5 by the score of 6 to 3. I’m not kidding with the score. 9 points all game. This wasn’t a defensive battle type of game. This has been referred to by some as, “The Game No One Wanted To Win”. I think of that game as the game that set the NFL back 20 years. Regardless of how it is remembered, it might be time for the Buffalo Bills to get back to basics.
It’s always odd when you look at the inner workings of a football team and see how they become accustomed to not only doing business, but how they are structured.
For instance… let’s take the current general manager Russ Brandon. Russ, while involved in sports isn’t what you would call a “football general manager”. Let’s look over Russ’ resume shall we…
Russ Brandon’s Resume
Class of 1989, St. John Fisher College
- Four-year letter winner as a wide receiver.
- .367 batting average on the baseball team.
- Inducted into the Fisher Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Work Experience
Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A team – Started as a intern and by the time he left in 1993 he was the co-general manager along with Dan Mason, who is currently is still the Red Wings’ GM.
New York Yankees – Was apart of the Sports Advertising Network division.
Florida Marlins – Start at the spring training facility, then the Director of Corporate Sales in Miami two years later.
Buffalo Bills – Nov. 1, 1997 – Executive Director of Business Development and Marketing.
13 months later – promoted to the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. In 1999, as part of a way to expand the Bills’ market area, Brandon helped bring the Bills training camp from SUNY Fredonia to his Alma mater St. John Fisher College.
Jan. 12, 2007, after spending two years as the Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Brandon was named the new Bills COO (Chief Operating Officer) and took control over both business and football operations. That’s quite a jump for anyone in any business.
Here is what you are telling me when I see this resume. A marketing/sales guy is now involved in the draft, free agency, and everything in-between???
This is a catastrophic error on the part of Ralph Wilson. This team has been in disarray for a decade. There hasn’t been any improvement on this team, no team chemistry and poor decisions made at every level.
Firing the coach wasn’t the issue. It might have been one of the issues. A very minor issue compared to the inner workings of the Buffalo Bills front office. Your structure of management and choice of people might be the issue. This goes beyond “time to clean the house”. You need to set off a nuke and start again.
Don’t waste your time finding the “big name coach”. The “big name coach” in the current management structure is doomed to fail.
