A private meeting between Bills Owners Terry and Kim Pegula and "several offensive standouts" on Friday "spurred" a suggestion to coach Rex Ryan to fire offensive coordinator Greg Roman, according to sources cited by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Sources said that the Pegulas convened the meeting to "get a tenor of what was going on and picked the brains of players on several issues, including play-calling." Ryan was "not present for these meetings." A source said that Ryan also was not "pleased when he learned of the nature of them." However, sources yesterday said that Ryan was "fine with the meetings between the owners and players." These meetings, involving key players such as QB Tyrod Taylor, are "one reason why some principals believe ownership played a role in Roman's dismissal" (NFL.com, 9/18). CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora cited sources as saying that the Pegulas are "troubled by the poor start to the season but not mulling other in-season changes." They are "loyal -- some would say to a fault -- and have not considered firing" Ryan or GM Doug Whaley, and it would "take a fairly epic collapse to initiate more firings in-season." However, "sweeping changes in the offseason are quite possible ... barring improvement." Sources said that there has been "discord between the coaching and personnel departments dating back to last season, with Roman in particular long drawing the ire of Whaley." Sources added that the "behind-the-scenes tumult and turmoil is not lost on the players" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/18).
HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? In Buffalo, Jerry Sullivan wrote "shame on" the Pegulas, Ryan, Whaley, team President Russ Brandon and anyone else who "stood by and watched" Roman get fired after Week 2. Despite what Terry Pegula "wants to believe, this is a 17-year run of dysfunction, and throwing one assistant coach in the volcano hasn't fixed things before." Sullivan: "The Bills continue to be the laughingstock of the NFL. Pegula should be embarrassed for his franchise. If he is serious about wanting to get this right, if the man has any clue, this should be only the start" (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/17). Also in Buffalo, Bucky Gleason wrote Whaley and Brandon "shouldn't be taken off the hook." Gleason: "What you’ve witnessed with the Bills is little more than history repeating itself, which happens when people don't learn from their mistakes. The Pegulas are the common denominator" (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/18).
