What says the Bills were below average? They had a great D and running game. Just because they didn't have an explosive passing game doesn't make them poorly staffed.


Like I said, I wish we were done with Gus but Marrone is not some kind of savior.

Not so fast.

 

He got the Bills their first winning record in a decade.  Were they not down to their 3rd QB that year, they absolutely beat the Chiefs and they make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

 

They have better offensive personnel this year.  I can only think what they may have done had Marrone stayed and kept the defensive scheme intact.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I want del rio back

At this point, its not a bad idea.

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I know he had some input on their playbook, but the OL has been a bit of a weak link on this offense. Bortles is getting sacked way too much and they OL is doing nothing for the running game. I get the allure of having a former HC on the staff, but I have to think there are far better OL coaches out there.

My thoughts exactly.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

That's irrelevant. If was an opportunity to upgrade head coach, Marrone would be pretty low on my list. Opining the fact that some other team might hire him this off season because we aren't getting rid of Bradley seems like wasted energy. If and when the team moves on from Bradley, I'd hope they'd aim a little higher. Maybe you're okay with setting a low bar?

A lot of internal buzz surrounding marrone from what his peers are saying is that he is a very good coach and any team that gets to hire him is a lucky team.


Obviously there is only one way to find out, but what he did in buffalo was impressive to me.

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Coughlin when asked if winning will be a focus: "What the hell else is there? This is nice and dandy, but winning is what all this is about."

Shouldn't we be praising someone involved with the QB or wr's? Or are we praising Marrone as he is the bigger name? The o line hasn't improved much at all.


Give Hackett and Olson the praise as far as I'm concerned for Bortles big leap.

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Shouldn't we be praising someone involved with the QB or wr's? Or are we praising Marrone as he is the bigger name? The o line hasn't improved much at all.


Give Hackett and Olson the praise as far as I'm concerned for Bortles big leap.

Last year, the team surrendered in excess of 70 sacks.

 

With one game to play, we've given up 43.

 

While sacks are not always the OLs fault, I'd say that drop is one indicia of OL improvement.

 

In saying this, I do not assert there is no room for improvement.  To the contrary, at least two positions (C and LG) could stand to be upgraded.

 

Heck, there would be improvement if somehow we could master a shotgun snap without it being a complete disaster.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I hope we don't lose Marrone and I assuming Hackett would go with him. Depending on what Jerry Sullivan does, we could potentially be losing Marrone, Hackett, and Sullivan this offseason.

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I don't think anyone expects Bradley to be able to turn this around other than the people in Everbank. Marrone will be hired by some team this year and we are going to regret it. He took a team quarterbacked by EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton with Fred Jackson at running back to a 9-7 record and just missed the playoffs. 

 

This is just silly.  I don't understand all of this irrational love for Doug Marrone all of a sudden.  Did anyone notice the O-line playing at a championship level or something?

 

Mario Williams, kyle Williams, Jery Hughes Marcel Dareus.  Those are 4 guys that would all start right now on this defense that helped make up the best pass rush in the league in this mythical season of 2014.  When they called 4 man pressures their players WON. Our players DON'T!!!  

 

 

and they had just drafted a kid named Sammy Watkins.  Maybe you've heard of him?  Stephon Gilmore would also be our #1 corner.  

 

Anyone who think that its just a matter of pressing a couple more buttons on defense is frankly delusional.  

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Last year, the team surrendered in excess of 70 sacks.

 

With one game to play, we've given up 43.

 

While sacks are not always the OLs fault, I'd say that drop is one indicia of OL improvement.

 

In saying this, I do not assert there is no room for improvement.  To the contrary, at least two positions (C and LG) could stand to be upgraded.

 

Heck, there would be improvement if somehow we could master a shotgun snap without it being a complete disaster.

 

I think Carr got sacked 21 times total when Olsen was there.   I remember hearing that one of the reasons we hired Olsen was because he was great at teaching young QBs how to get into the right protections, how to read pressure pre-snap, and how to get the ball out on time.   So isn't it entirely possible that Olsen might deserve a lot more credit for the reduction in sacks than Marrone?  

 

I'm sure Marrone is a decent coach, but there are a lot of decent coaches out there.  Marrone leaving doesn't worry me one bit.   We might lose our offensive line coach.   People act like we're losing Vince Lombardi or something. 

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1. I think as an assistant coach, Bradley is better than Marrone. Past results seems to say this. 

 

2. As a head coach I think Marrone is better than Bradley. Past results seems to say this. 

 

3. If Bradley was fired after this season, which I wanted to happen, I would NOT have instantly hired Marrone. I would have cast a wide net and tried to get the best proven head coach possible.

 

4. From the moment we hired him I've always envisioned Marrone as an excellent in-season pick if we fired Bradley before the season was out. We could let Marrone finish the season and give him the full time gig based on what he does with the remainder of the season. 

 

5. If we're lucky enough to keep Marrone for next year, which I doubt, he will be the go-to interim if Bradley doesn't start at least 2 - 2. If Marrone is gone that go-to interim will be Olsen which I'm not a huge fan of.

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# EVEN IF HE'S RELEASED

I get some the argument for letting Gud go, don't agree with it but I get it. How the hell does anyone want to argue Marrone is the solution is beyond me?

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4. From the moment we hired him I've always envisioned Marrone as an excellent in-season pick if we fired Bradley before the season was out. We could let Marrone finish the season and give him the full time gig based on what he does with the remainder of the season. 

 

 

 

I don't understand why people think an interim coach has any chance at all of doing much of anything.   It's not like all of a sudden he's going to teach these guys how to block and tackle in one week, and he's not going to make the secondary run smoothly in half a season.   Turning around a team is like turning around a battleship.   It's not like a new guy just spins the wheel like he's driving a bass boat.   Head coaching takes at least a year, maybe more.   It's not like, okay, we're going to call different plays, or I'm going to show Myers why he's missing so many extra points.   It's designing an entire system, implementing it, evaluating and hiring assistant coaches, creating a practice schedule and routine.   If you throw a guy into the head coaching job with 3 weeks left in the season, you can't tell anything about what kind of head coach he's going to be from that.   

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Replacing mediocre with average is not the answer. Marrone = JDR

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I think Carr got sacked 21 times total when Olsen was there.   I remember hearing that one of the reasons we hired Olsen was because he was great at teaching young QBs how to get into the right protections, how to read pressure pre-snap, and how to get the ball out on time.   So isn't it entirely possible that Olsen might deserve a lot more credit for the reduction in sacks than Marrone?  

 

I'm sure Marrone is a decent coach, but there are a lot of decent coaches out there.  Marrone leaving doesn't worry me one bit.   We might lose our offensive line coach.   People act like we're losing Vince Lombardi or something. 

To answer your opening question, of course it's entirely possible Olson might deserve more credit than Marrone.  But I won't say Marrone deserves NO credit, either.  I'd say there are several factors accounting for the drop in sacks.  In no particular order

 

1.  Olson-as you illustrate, getting Bortles better equipped to identify blitzes, fronts, etc., is huge

 

2.  Marrone-last season, because George Yarno had the misfortune of having a cancer diagnosis, an inexperienced OL coach in Luke Butkus took over.  I'm sure his inexperience had to play a role in the poor performance of the OL.  Marrone is more experienced.

 

3.  Better talent in the line-Parnell is an upgrade at RT.  Wiz-bad shotgun snaps and all-was an upgrade over Bowanko.  Cann played pretty decently in Linder's place...Joeckel, while inconsistent, still had the benefit of an offseason, and had his best year.

 

4.  Bortles-in addition to Olson's coaching, just having another year's experience under his belt helped.

 

5.  AR15, Hurns, and Julius Thomas-having guys that can get open and catch the ball helps a QB avoid sacks.

 

6.  Yeldon-a very good pass protector for a rookie RB.

 

7.  Playing with more leads.

 

I don't compare Marrone to Lombardi, but I think he has been a positive factor in the drop in sacks.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I am siding with FBT on this. Think what you want about how good or average Marrone is. He chose to walk away from the last situation he had.  That's unsure footing to build off of.  I'm not sure how this locker room would handle that transition.

 

Assuming we target the defensive side of the ball heavily this off-season to bring in better players..  and Babich is fired.. and of course Fowler comes back to be the monster we hope he can be..  and Myers matures and makes extra points in his sleep next year (or is replaced by a better option)..  we should be able to make a legitimate playoff run. Gus needs to either get players who can make this scheme work or allow his next DC to adjust the scheme so we can get more pressure and stop leaving gaping holes in the secondary.  

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Only a chump boos the home team!

I am siding with FBT on this. Think what you want about how good or average Marrone is. He chose to walk away from the last situation he had.  That's unsure footing to build off of.  I'm not sure how this locker room would handle that transition.

 

Assuming we target the defensive side of the ball heavily this off-season to bring in better players..  and Babich is fired.. and of course Fowler comes back to be the monster we hope he can be..  and Myers matures and makes extra points in his sleep next year (or is replaced by a better option)..  we should be able to make a legitimate playoff run. Gus needs to either get players who can make this scheme work or allow his next DC to adjust the scheme so we can get more pressure and stop leaving gaping holes in the secondary.  

Regarding the point in bold, it's not as if the Bills had no role in this whatsoever.

 

Marrone negotiated a term in his coaching contract that allowed him to leave if Ralph Wilson no longer owned the Bills. The Bills agreed to those terms. Sadly, Wilson died and Pegulla became owner.

 

The Bills had actual knowledge Marrone could depart because they negotiated those terms.  Whomever the relevant personnel were should have notified the new ownership of that clause in the contract and worked to retain him.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I know he had some input on their playbook, but the OL has been a bit of a weak link on this offense. Bortles is getting sacked way too much and they OL is doing nothing for the running game. I get the allure of having a former HC on the staff, but I have to think there are far better OL coaches out there.

1000 times this. The OL is not great. Our run game and pass protection are both subpar. I like the Hue Jackson idea but it's all a moot point.


Oh well, ill be rooting for Gus to succeed for the sake of the team but I'm not super confident. Hopefully Gus is told that he is to hire a new DC and let him control the scheme and gameplan.

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Yes, this team could be very good with just adequate coaching. Marrone is the sure way to keep what works (the offense) and jettison what doesn't (Bradley). 

 

And if you had a contract that allowed you to leave your job with 2 years salary you'd do it do. Don't pretend you wouldn't.

 

An NFL coaching position has little relevance to most of our professions. Once someone has one, they don't just give it up for money. They want to be a head coach.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

An NFL coaching position has little relevance to most of our professions. Once someone has one, they don't just give it up for money. They want to be a head coach.

I think the variable people are ignoring should be considered.


The owner that hired him and have him his contract sold the team to someone else.


If he felt the new owner and new regime would not be a good fit for him, getting out may have been the smart play.


In a certain way, leaving after the sale can be seen as quite loyal to the prior owner.


Who knows what type of conversations he had with the new owner that may have given marronne red flags for staying in buffalo

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I think the variable people are ignoring should be considered.


The owner that hired him and have him his contract sold the team to someone else.


If he felt the new owner and new regime would not be a good fit for him, getting out may have been the smart play.


In a certain way, leaving after the sale can be seen as quite loyal to the prior owner.


Who knows what type of conversations he had with the new owner that may have given marronne red flags for staying in buffalo

What about loyalty to his players? There were a good handful that were pretty upset and spoke up about him quiting on his team when they found out. The prevailing rumor as to why he opted out was because the Jets job opened up after Rex was fired and that's the job he really wanted. Whether true or not til this day Marrone still hasn't given a reason as to why he quit. I wouldn't be jumping at bringing in a guy who could decide to leave on a whim when the next perceived opportunity arises in a different market.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."