this whole uncapped year thing. I heard some folks talking about how no super star coach in his right mind would leave the security of the studio for an unprotected uncapped year or something like that.

Also, Brian Billick mentioned to some reporter guy that the league has become a General Manager’s league and it would be unlikely that one of these superstars would come back without assuming full control. So you see the difficulty here. Firing DJ is cleaning house from top to bottom and it’snot like they haven’t done a few things right. For example, I think we all agree they built a solid team and taken steps to shed unproductive players.

I like DJ. I want to see him move to the front office. The man has way too much football knowledge and smarts to dump.

The season is still salvageable. I’ve seen too many hot starts fall apart. I’d rather see a slow start—a fire lit under everyone’s stuff, and then they rip off a good run.

i’m really surprised how everyone here is busy declaring the bills to be the worst team in the league. i realize monday is always garbage day on this site – all the drunken fans come in and declare their dying allegiance to the bills as their hangover rages on. but did anyone really expect a winning season this year from the team? i didn’t. i’m looking at it from the lens of next year: one that has levitre, wood, nelson, byrd, and maybin with a full year of NFL-level coaching and experience under their belts. one that has bell playing in his position for a full year, players like johnson and fine with more gametime, one that has whitner and mitchell and the d-line as a whole playing MUCH better than last year.

yeah, sunday was bad. it was a waste of my time, probably. but the bills got six sacks, which was unheard of last year. reed got it in the endzone. the defense, missing major players, played surprisingly well against the pass and (for at least part of the game) against the run. the bills took some shots down the field. IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. take heart in that, if nothing else. and don’t slit your wrists, buffalo fans. it won’t be as bad once you aren’t dehydrated anymore.

Brian, all you say is rational and well-thought out. Right now, most Bills fans are incapable of rational thought, and understandably so.

But here’s my fear: Ralph has not gotten it right yet in this millennium. What makes you or I think he’ll get it right when this season is over? When I bring up Ralph’s name, a friend of mine chimes, “Ralph doesn’t even know what day it is.” There may be some truth to this. We need a thorough house-cleaning, starting at the management level. The owner has to make those calls, and our owner has demonstrated that he cannot do it competently.

No one has been able to answer this related question for me: what is keeping Ralph from selling the Bills while he is alive? If he truly is committed to keeping the team here, wouldn’t this be the only way he can assure that?

That aside, I am struggling to find a reason to trek 300 miles each way for the Browns game this weekend. I will not be renewing my tickets for next year.

sure thinks it’s time for some changes.

after 3 seasons of nothing but heartache and this year starting maybe worse who here actually thinks jauron is all of a sudden gonna start beating the better teams and coaches of the league? we are 0-8 in division games and cant even think about making the playoffs with that kind of record. sometimes i think other teams are silently laughing at jauron.hes the exact opposite of tom brady….he always finds a way to lose! the off-season chatter of how well we’re suppose to do is the most exciting part of the past 3 years!!

trent needs an offensive line and a coach. i still believe in trent..hes been accurate, and hes playing behind a terrible o.l……that said if we continue to look this bad he’ll be starting somewhere else and i believe he can still be successful

with your write up. A veteran head coach isn’t going to come to this team mid season, so the thought of turning this season around with a new coach outside of our existing staff isn’t going to happen. But to me, what the firing of Jauron would do is GUARANTEE he won’t be back next year.

I think the biggest fear Bills fans have is him going on a run or finishing the year strong, going 8-8 and coming back. But it won’t be him like you said above in your write up, it will be the players that turn this season into a positive. But could Jauron get the credit is the question ? Therefor I don’t want to take that chance, I would prefer he go NOW.

yea well our recievers in the first 3 games didnt help, they dropped alot of 3rd down balls, and t.o. dropped a few deep ones this year also. but it doesnt matter, our coach gets out coached every week. every week teams shutdown evans and owens, our best players, and every week we cant stop theres..( p. thomas, moss and welker, and r.brown ) ….thats all coaching!

First off, if Jauron does get fired, all of the aforementioned coaches are not possibilities to coach in Buffalo.
(1.) John Fox is on the hot seat and it is rumored that Bill Cowher, who lives in Raleigh, would take that job since he could still be close to his family. That is the reason he left the Steelers in the first place.
(2.) Tony Dungy is not going to coach again, but instead be involved with various ministries since he is a devout Christian.
(3.) Gruden loves his new gig.
(4.) From everything I have heard, Holmgren wants to stay retired.
(5.) I doubt Shanahan would come to Buffalo, he will have plenty of opportunities to possibly coach Dallas once Wade leaves.

• That leaves John Fox, who interviewed when Gregg Williams gave his 4-hour interview to Ralph.*******
  Bills fans – most big name coaches do not want to come to Buffalo, especially with a terrible front office like ours!

The DL play is improved under Bob Sanders. Not perfect, no. Suceptible to the run, yes. But they’re playing with fire and hustling like I haven’t seen in years.

Not the signing, not any of the “drama” that his being a member of this team brings. I’m upset at how they’re wasting waht might have been a golden opportunity this year.

Sure he missed much of the preseason because of injury. Sure he’s dropped a fair amount of footballs. But tell me this: how much would he have played if not injured and how much of it would have been with Edwards, who the team felt didn’t need the practice?

It’s like they brought Owens in with no plans for using him in a meaningful way.

Ka_Mitchell55 We have to make the necessary moves to get better. Whatever it is.

Obviously he could be talking about literally hundreds of things… but part of me wonder if the fans aren’t the only ones getting impatient.

But long-term, Bobby April is not the answer, folks, and he wouldn’t be even if he guided the Bills to an unexpectedly strong finish.

care to explain? you just dropped that there with zero follow-up supporting your opinion.

with hiring a competent GM with authority. don’t hold your breath on that happening. thoughts of finishing the season with dick because we then are going to hire a premier HC is beyond fantasy and fully delusional.

I think the time is ripe to fire Jauron. It’s year four. He’s lost 11 of his last 14 games. He’s lost his last 8 division games. I understand that coaches in college can stay if you lose every game except for the one where you beat your rival. But we’re talking not even beating division teams.

It’s not like the team is getting better. I’d argue they’re getting worse. If you’re going to fire the guy, why do it at the end of the year? MONEY you say? ugh… as a fan I really don’t want to go down that road.

I agree

Jauron isn’t going anywhere for a while. No matter how much I, and any other Bills fan, want him gone, it just won’t be done at this point. This team has been going nowhere for some time, so simply dumping him and promoting a coordinator won’t solve anything. And there is less than a zero percent chance any outside could or would come in.

It all boils down to having a GM, one that is actually a football guy and can vastly improve the personnel on this team.

I hate the hopelessness of this team. Besides the front office and coaching staff issues, there’s just not nearly enough talent on this team. There are so many holes (QB, LT, WR, DE, 2-3 LB’s, etc) that will need to be filled before next season. Unless we somehow stumble onto some major improvements at those positions, we’re going to be continuing this long string of losing.

Amen.

i just hope we do whatever we gotta do to turn the bills around, last year i thought the toronto thing wasnt a big deal. but if we keep losing, and ralph being 91, i now fear losing our team all together..

There is merit in bring in a new HC if you plan on keeping your GM (or pseudo GM). If it’s a total housecleaning then it is best to wait until the end of the season. What happens or doesn’t happen will foreshadow which way Wilson is leaning.

If Wilson wants to keep Brandon, then we could very well see a new coach by week 9 (my prediction) depending on how the Bills play. A strong coach, with good player evaluation skills would enable Brandon to focus on the business and marketing side of the FO. Overdorf, Guy and Modrak would have to acquiesce to the new HC, but otherwise could keep their responsibilities in the short term. However, I haven’t been terribly impressed with the player evaluation skills of this brain-trust so I’d hope the new HC would bring in some fresh minds. Under this scenario, the new HC could begin the rebuilding/retooling process now, by better evaluating the team and planning for next year.

Even though the ST unit has had its share of problems this year, I like Bobby April and don’t want to see him as interim coach. I’m not sold on him as a HC and I wouldn’t want to see him walk or be fired at seasons end…which is likely if he assumes a greater role.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe that we will never see a high profile coach in Buffalo, especially one that wants complete control, but there are some experienced coaches available with a proven track record.

Again, if there is only going to be a HC change at seasons end, then it’s better to do it now. If not, then it would be best for DJ to spin losses until seasons end before calling in the bouncer.

There’s been some mention of a new GM, but I’m surprised there hasn’t been more. I think it was Jason from Ohio who mentioned it at some point yesterday. But the order of hiring has to go GM and then HC. If the Bills are bringing in somebody new to run the show, then they’ve got to let him pick the next head coach and find a staff that uses his philosophy and runs his schemes.

Brian’s mention of DeCosta would be a dream come true. That draft philosophy and style of offensive and defensive football is exactly what Bills fans want (He’s a Baltimore guy). I know things didn’t work out for Ralph with the whole Donahoe thing, but I’d rather have a strong GM go out and find a coordinator with HC potential that he can work with then hire somebody like Cowher and hand over all personel stuff to him. I’m hoping for a Regier/Ruff type relationship and not one guy who coaches the team and has total power over everything.

I know Im not shocked in the slightest………

Jauron is exactly who we thought he was……

I believe Dick Jauron’s talent has regressed. (and that’s not saying much)

He is not getting the best out of the talent he has. Some could argue, he is actually making them worse.

The sooner the better, for the players sake.

He say’s “like coach always says, don’t come with questions, come with answers”. Makes me want to pull my freaking hair out! Isn’t it the coaches job to have the damn answers? if not, then what the hell is he there for? Not only does OBD manage by consensus, but it appears that Jauron coaches by consensus.

It’s like Uncle Rico is QB’ing this team.

I still stick with my points from last night, but you’re article’s points outweighed my logic.

I didn’t consider the Rooney rule.

And we need to change up front (GM) first. The advantages of hiring a HC mid-season would be outweighed by the disadvantages of hiring the HC before the GM.

 am not going to argue with you Brian, because I am convinced that Dick Jauron WILL NOT be fired until after the season. As you have mentioned and K added, it is nearly impossible to replace him mid-season. Much like it is nearly impossible to fire an offensive coordinator a week before the season, or release your starting left tackle before the first regular season game… But I digress. Suffice it to say, we are stuck with Jauron whether we like it or not.

Having said that, the question is SHOULD Jauron be let go? I will fervently support this. I have never been a “Jauron-hater” and still don’t consider myself one. But here are a couple of my points.

Bottom Line – Jauron simply has not won in Buffalo, two subpar seasons, and a current 3-11 streak is not getting it done. He also has not won against divisional opponents and has not shown the ability to beat “good” NFL teams. Furthermore, by his own admission this is the most talented team he had has in his tenure. If the most talented team he has had is capable of losing horrendously to a 0-3 team, that speaks volumes

He has been given his opportunity – Jauron has “his” players, his coordinators, and little mettling from upper management. He has made his bed and he deserves to lie in it.

Lame Duck – What does keeping Jauron around for the rest of the year accomplish? The ONLY reason I can come up with is that it saves the Bills financially. Obviously Jauron’s contract is guaranteed, so they would have to “double-up” to bring somebody else in. But let’s be honest, Jauron’s derrier is just keeping the seat warm for the next guy, whomever that may be.

Audition – Why not let a coordinator sell his wares? Let Bobby April show what he can do. It cannot be much worse than Jauron. It allows OBD to evaluate potential in a coordinator whom has shown potential. If anything, it rewards April for his hard work on Special Teams the last few years.

Motivation – Most importantly. By letting Jauron go OBD has stated, if you don’t produce you are gone. This is why Walker is no longer with the team, same goes for Schonert (although slightly different circumstances). If these guys were made to pay for their poor performance, why shouldn’t Jauron fall the same fate. If ANY of us in our jobs (other than government or union jobs – there is my jab) does not perform up to a reasonable expectation level, we get let go. Now add onto that, he has been give multiple opportunities to redeem himself, but to no avail. I really think keeping him around speaks to the fact that OBD is accepting of poor behavior. And yes, I truly mean that, if nothing else it could easily be construed as such. If anything letting him go, sends a message to the current players… Produce or else.

Fan Appeasement - OK, placating the fans does mean “something”, after all, the Bills exist because of us.

Again, I am not arguing that replacing Jauron currently is practical. Just that keeping a lame duck around doesn’t work towards solving the problem. And no, I don’t think replacing him “solves” the problem, it just shifts the paradigm a lttle. Bringing in a GM would really be the step in the right direction, I can’t argue that.

everyone keeps saying that jauron isn’t going anywhere but i couldn’t see him sticking around passed this week if they lose to cleveland.

I’m of the same belief as Brian on this – now is not the time to get rid of DJ. And I also completely agree the first thing that needs to be changed is bringing in a “football” guy to oversee, well…football.

Who would initiate this? Ralph? It would have to be. I can’t imagine this inner circle would vote to bring in someone who undermines their authority. Who would oversee the search process? No offense to Ralph, but I can’t figure that he’s in tune with some of the younger front office prospects in the league.

Would there be any sort of penalty (draft picks) for snatching a GM-like person from another organization now? I can’t recall the last time I saw something like that.

it is time! If we lose at Cleveland and Jauron is still here that is a clear indication the the upper tier does not care( I do not think they do) about anything to do with the team. That said , who in their right mind would come here except another newbie couch wanna be.