Fewell May Make Bills Transition Less Painful

By Ch2 Sports Director Ed Kilgore

Heading into this season there was a kind of "unofficial" over/under for how long Dick Jauron would avoid a pink slip as the Bills' head coach, and many Bills fans had him gone by mid-season.  My personal thought on that was that it wouldn't really matter in terms of what we see on the field;  the team is what it is by now, so it was my assumption Jauron would finish the season and THEN the regrouping and reorganization would commence.

Well,  wrong on that one, Ed.  I'll admit it.  A big part of it, is that owner Ralph C. Wilson became just as sick of seeing his team spinning its wheels as the fans.  He's already read this book, and he knows how it ends.

Hey, it was great to see interim coach Perry Fewell show some excitement on the sidelines as the Bills fought hard in an 18-15 loss at Jacksonville, and practicing in pads a couple times during the week did get the desired result of a physical game by the Bills against one of the NFL's most physical teams.

Still, there are some things that can't be fixed in a week, or even the next six games.  The Bills had TWO touchdowns wiped out by needless penalties, and that's what bad teams do, and the Bills are still a bad team.  An entertaining team at least, as Ryan Fitzpatrick shows no reluctance to throw it downfield, and Terrell Owens benefitted with his breakout performance in an otherwise forgettable season for him.  No matter where T.O. is next season, we'll always remember the 98-yard touchdown catch  as one of the most electrifying plays in Bills history.

But clearly, the Bills need several things to be relevant again, and quarterback is right up there with head coach.  The pickup of Brian Brohm does give the Bills another option as Trent Edwards is obviously  finished in Buffalo, but we're talking about minor details in a major structural reorganization.

It turns out the fans who predicted an early firing were right on target, and while I still don't think ousting Jauron and naming defensive coordinator  Fewell the interim head coach will change much in terms of the team's performance, there is an advantage to the change in terms of the Bills future.

They get a bit of a head start on the rest of the field -- more firings are coming, of course -- in terms of beating the bushes for a head coach and/or head coach/general manager, because COO Russ Brandon doesn't have to worry that word of him contacting other people will become a distraction to the coach or his team.  It's right out front that the Bills are looking, and looking hard, for new people.

While owner Ralph Wilson was personally responsible for the firing of Jauron,  it will be Brandon organizing and personally conducting the search for the next head coach and most likely gm, unless the gm hiring comes first and that person then brings in his own coach and staff.

Brandon doesn't have the football reputation of a Scott Pioli or Bill Polian, but he's a very bright guy who isn't just a "marketing genius" as many refer to him.  He knows how to gather the information he needs to go after the "right" people, and while Buffalo might be considered a hard sell for some of the high profile types out there like Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher, Brandon does have Wilson's support to talk to them and make them competitive offers.

One of the things Polian used to do in Buffalo and no doubt still does in Indianapolis, was bring in top people to interview for positions he already knew they couldn't or wouldn't accept.  But in spending time with them, he could also pick their brains about who they knew about out there, and that information was invaluable.

The odds are highly against Brandon being able to coax Shanahan to Buffalo, and yet, the very fact Wilson is allowing an open bar in the selection process has to be considered a huge step toward fixing what has been an ongoing problem the past ten years or so.  It was comfortable for Wilson to turn to his old friend Marv Levy the last time he needed help, and after being burned by Tom Donahoe, Wilson needed someone he could trust.

It now appears Brandon is the trusted man in Wilson's mind, and while Ralph still has the final word on hirings and firings, Brandon is now being given the keys to putting together a football team both on and off the field that can bring stability and eventual success back to the Buffalo Bills.  That means a gm and coach who work hand in hand with the scouting department on what type players they want for a particular system they will put in place.

The successful organizations all have that in common, and I strongly suspect the Bills, with holdovers from the Donahoe era working with a new coach and system, were a somewhat fractured organization that now needs a total healing.

This isn't to say Fewell couldn't be part of the discussion if the Bills show progress from  a strong effort at Jacksonville over the next six games, and his defense has played remarkably well considering the rash of injuries, without a doubt.

But the Bills can't be breaking in a new head coach now without knowing for sure what they have.  What happens in the next six games can and will have a lot to do with players who remain on the roster next season, but the rest of the organization is like a blank book that needs to be filled in.

The Bills, right now, are on page one.