The performance of Bills GM Doug Whaley at his Monday end-of-season press conference was "not well-received" around the NFL, particularly the "part about how he was informed by ownership that Rex Ryan was being whacked and he (Whaley) had no say in it," according to Peter King of THE MMQB. King: "The reaction was ... Who wants to work for that guy?" That comes in addition to the fact that "no one really knows a thing about" Bills Owners Terry and Kim Pegula (MMQB.SI.com, 1/4). ESPN's Bill Polian said, "If you're a candidate for the Bills (coaching) job, you begin to say to yourself, 'What kind of an organization am I stepping into?'” He said of Whaley, "It's a little disingenuous to say, ‘I wasn't involved in the decision.’ Terry said there were discussions, and you have to assume that Whaley was involved in those discussions" (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 1/3). In Buffalo, Nick Veronica notes Whaley "claimed he didn't have much input in hiring Ryan, didn't know he was in trouble, and then didn't have input in firing him." Veronica: "If any of that were true, what is Doug Whaley still doing here?" If anything Whaley said "holds any merit, the Bills have even more problems than we thought" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/4). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said Whaley has “no power” if he is “unaware” of why Ryan was terminated. Kornheiser: “I can’t imagine there’s a coach he can hire who will trust that Whaley has any particular power" ("PTI," ESPN, 1/3). ESPN's Bomani Jones said, "We don't know if the general manager is the general manager because apparently he doesn't know what he's doing in his job anymore” ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 1/3). CBS Sports Network’s Adam Schein: “You can't work with Doug Whaley and, truly, you can’t work for the Pegulas" ("Time To Schein," CBSSN, 1/3).
STARTING AT THE TOP: BLEACHER REPORT's Jason Cole said coaches around the NFL "have been unimpressed by the way” the Pegulas have “handled business since the team decided to fire" Ryan. The team has held two press conferences, and the Pegulas "were at neither of them." Cole: "The view by some coaches is that the Pegulas are not fully aware of how to operate a team at this point" (BLEACHERREPORT.com, 1/3). THE MMQB's Jenny Vrentas noted after Ryan's firing and Whaley’s press conference, it has "never been more obvious that the Bills ... need an organizational plan, a blueprint, of how they will seek to become a winning franchise." However, the team has "shown no indications that they have one" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/3).
PUTTING THE FUN IN DYSFUNCTION: In Buffalo, Bucky Gleason writes the Bills are "perhaps the most dysfunctional" franchise in major pro sports. They are on the "same path the Sabres took before spiraling into the abyss." The Pegulas can "avoid a repeat" by hiring a new GM, but it also "means creating a proper chain of command and defining duties." Gleason: "The owners don’t know how to run a successful professional franchise, and how could they?" They are "out of their element, which is hardly a crime." However, the "greater offense is failing to recognize as much." The Bills' problems are "not going to be resolved until the Pegulas fire Whaley and hire the right someone to hire everyone else" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/4). ESPN’s Mike Greenberg called the Bills' front office and ownership structure "as dysfunctional a situation as I can remember seeing in a while." He added, "You're not going to get any of the top level coaching candidates that have options because none of them are going to go in there right now, in a situation where they know the general manager is two minutes away from getting fired” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 1/4).
