BB in Buffalo makes a lot of sense and would not be surprised if another underperformance this year sees Hardo shown the door.
What is next for BB?
- Thread starter tims4wins
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The Krafts have done a wonderful job of setting the table for Bill to have a Tito/Red Sox-like relationship with the franchise.
No one on this board despises Hardo more than me, and seeing him get kicked to the curb would warm the cockles of my cold dead heart. But I can't see Buffalo booting his useless ass for BB. He's got some weird mind grip on that franchise that they cannot break.
It would’ve been a somewhat bold move to replace Siriani, but not out of character for Lurie. He pulled the trigger on Pederson just 3 years after he won the Super Bowl. I think he’ll get there soon, but touché, agree to disagree/see how it works out. Don’t disagree at all with your summary of why Blank didn’t hire BB. Just think those are bad reasons to pass on the best coach in league history.
I find myself torn by the entirety of this article, because at the end of the day the only things particularly noteworthy in it were:
[QUOTE"Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill." ][/QUOTE]
No context about what not to trust.
Everything else was basically the idea that billionaire owners didn't want to hire 1)a coach who wouldn't bend the knee to them and/or 2) didn't want to hire a guy who was only going to coach for 2 years but would clean house while doing so. Which is just common sense and not particularly newsworthy.
The real question is whether Bob Kraft was actively bad mouthing BB in his job search, and the article punts on that completely other than to quote a BB source above, and then claim a confirmation from a Kraft source about whether Bill was trustworthy. The only reason I believe it is the Apple series and because Kraft hid behind Stacey James in the denial.
Also agree wholeheartedly with @Smiling Joe Hesketh that I can't believe the Cowboys didn't hire him.
Hadn't seen that reported before, maybe I missed it.
[QUOTE"Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill." ][/QUOTE]
No context about what not to trust.
Everything else was basically the idea that billionaire owners didn't want to hire 1)a coach who wouldn't bend the knee to them and/or 2) didn't want to hire a guy who was only going to coach for 2 years but would clean house while doing so. Which is just common sense and not particularly newsworthy.
The real question is whether Bob Kraft was actively bad mouthing BB in his job search, and the article punts on that completely other than to quote a BB source above, and then claim a confirmation from a Kraft source about whether Bill was trustworthy. The only reason I believe it is the Apple series and because Kraft hid behind Stacey James in the denial.
Also agree wholeheartedly with @Smiling Joe Hesketh that I can't believe the Cowboys didn't hire him.
Buried in that story.....
View: https://twitter.com/wynnde13/status/1780602631578345977
The Panthers are going to be bad forever.
View: https://twitter.com/wynnde13/status/1780602631578345977
The Panthers are going to be bad forever.
Kraft kept the Pats in Massachusetts, where they belong. In the process, he hung Connecticut out to dry. He also brought in Belichick, the GOAT, and largely (not always, but largely) stayed out of BB's way in terms of running the team.
But man, if any of these fairly recent stories are even remotely true, he's really stuck it to BB in a bad way, which puts RKK in a terrible light, IMO. You don't like the way he's run the team the past few years, I get it. Fire him. But the whole idea of him poisoning the well with other owners with regards to BB...man if that's true, what a jerk move.
EDIT: Here's an SI story (from 2017) about the Pats almost moving to CT. If you read the article you'll see why RKK has a favorable relationship with the current commissioner, and which may explain much of RKK's behavior towards him even during the "gate" scandals.
EDIT 2: Oops this is in the wrong thread. Eh...I'll just leave it here anyway with my apologies. I also posted it in the Kraft thread. My bad.
But man, if any of these fairly recent stories are even remotely true, he's really stuck it to BB in a bad way, which puts RKK in a terrible light, IMO. You don't like the way he's run the team the past few years, I get it. Fire him. But the whole idea of him poisoning the well with other owners with regards to BB...man if that's true, what a jerk move.
EDIT: Here's an SI story (from 2017) about the Pats almost moving to CT. If you read the article you'll see why RKK has a favorable relationship with the current commissioner, and which may explain much of RKK's behavior towards him even during the "gate" scandals.
EDIT 2: Oops this is in the wrong thread. Eh...I'll just leave it here anyway with my apologies. I also posted it in the Kraft thread. My bad.
Wickersham is incapable of writing an article about the Pats that doesn’t have at least one whopper in it:
Jack Easterby stands as much chance of working for Bill Belichick again as Eric Mangini.
Unexpected, but super fucking cool. Just don't know if I'll be able to watch from here, unfortunately.
Really wish he was on with someone less terrible, but whatever, can just mute it until they cut to Bill I guess
"I have two lists, Pat. 'Best available,' and 'best long snapper, Rutgers, or armed services player.' Hopefully, we'll have time to get into both lists tonight."
I may be in the minority but I always like Trey Wingo as the point guard on these broadcasts. He'd play it straight and pair well with Bill. Less schtickey than Eisen, and I can't stand McAfee.
It would be excellent if he was self-aware enough to do something like this.
Brady's post Patriots career has been so open and honest, which was weird to adjust to after 20 years. Bill obviously is not Brady, but maybe he'll find some levity in his image.
Imagine somebody in 2009 predicting BB being featured on the Pat McAfee show by zoom in the year 2024
View: https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1780660499685810254
View: https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1780659941763629111
Love the bling in the background
Interesting that he speaks about "fit" given the comments by Wolf and the expected changes to the Pats' rating/grading system.
I look forward to many years of these stories
View: https://twitter.com/sophieewellerr/status/1780671629070152100
“Belichick: "First of all Pacman, I want to tell you, that the punt you returned against us with the Titans was total BS. It was third down and I was standing there on the sideline and I said, 'look, these guys can't move the ball. The only way they can score is if we punt it to Pacman and he returns it. So we are going out of bounds with the ball right before the half. There's a minute to go in the half. I said we are going out of bounds with this ball and we're going to make them drive it because they can't score on our defense. And we punt it right down the middle and you got 85 yards and I tell you, I can't remember a situation I have been more upset about... And you killed us on that just like I knew you were going to do."”
View: https://twitter.com/sophieewellerr/status/1780671629070152100
“Belichick: "First of all Pacman, I want to tell you, that the punt you returned against us with the Titans was total BS. It was third down and I was standing there on the sideline and I said, 'look, these guys can't move the ball. The only way they can score is if we punt it to Pacman and he returns it. So we are going out of bounds with the ball right before the half. There's a minute to go in the half. I said we are going out of bounds with this ball and we're going to make them drive it because they can't score on our defense. And we punt it right down the middle and you got 85 yards and I tell you, I can't remember a situation I have been more upset about... And you killed us on that just like I knew you were going to do."”
Maybe more of a comment for the media thread but the Wickersham piece is so fascinating. He is a highly credible reporter and yet that piece contained nothing I didnt already know from casually reading SoSH. I feel like I know enough to have written that. There was virtually nothing new in there. And if I know as much as a well sourced quasi-"insider" then either nobody knows anything or everybody knows everything!
Would love McAfee at some point to ask BB if he's seen the Dynasty series, with BB deadpanning in response "No, but heard there was no happy ending?"
I thought I saw this link to the full BB spot somewhere here on SoSH, but I can't find it now. Anyways, I finally had a chance to watch the whole thing and just wanted to say that this is pure Patriots/football porn. He seems really excited to do TV analysis work, and I can't fucking wait.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUA2LpFgtvw
Interested in how Krafts must see this. BB doesn’t need to place anonymous quotes or drop subtle comments to respond to the apparent hit jobs. He can simply maintain a public profile and do things like this and continue with analysis. He is so good at this stuff and his football mind and glibness shine through.
BB’s star is going to skyrocket as more people hear him speak like this. They all know him as a curmudgeon who doesn’t talk - so they’ll get to see him on the biggest stages being insanely intelligent and it’s going to chip away at them.
Similar to what happened to Brady when he got social media and owned that shit.
I mean, BBs camp was very obviously the source for the Wickersham story that painted Kraft in a really bad light. It's not like he's above this, he just won't say it personally.
facts it makes me think denver owners might be ok if they can stomach rebuilding for 2 years the hackett hire was not their fault but they did make the GM sign wilson to a 5y 250 m deal so the jury is out
Definitely appears that way. And this is what RKK gets for going off so much in The Dynasty. It's such a weird choice to make. I didn't disagree with the criticism of BB - there were a lot of mistakes this last decade - but why on Earth does the owner feel the need to paint him in such a poor light? So short-sighted and also just...lame.
I won’t hijack this thread since there’s already one about the Krafts but in that thread it’s clear many who have crossed paths with them note their undying need for credit for things.
Famously contrite? If I had a list of adjectives in front of me, I think that would be in the bottom 10 that might apply to Bill. I'd put things like "bubbly," ahead of contrite. I can't recall a single moment of public contrition from Bill. I mean, other than, "I need to coach better" or whatever.
Edit -- I clicked on the link and the Athletic fixed it ("concise").
Edit -- I clicked on the link and the Athletic fixed it ("concise").
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If they made the Manning Cast Peyton, Eli and Bill with a rotating guest interview during halftime it'd be just perfect football content. But I fully expect the guests to still have a ton of space during the game itself, mostly contributing nothing while Peyton tries to awkwardly insert questions in the middle of the action.
I had the exact same reaction. “Concise” isn’t much better. “Laconic,” maybe.
(But looking to sports writing for elegant prose leads inevitably to disappointment.)
Yeah. I think they were trying to convey the idea that for a guy who keeps his cards close the vest and gives one word answers at press conferences, it looks like he's about to be a chatterbox.
Which, if it's your hook, you can just write. Instead of letting weird, vague adjectives do the job poorly.
Is he toasted here? He seemed much more composed earlier when I was watching.
Does anyone have the Barry sanders bit?
I watched the McAfee broadcast last night and truly thought Bill was great. He’s such a natural straight man foil to their goofball antics anyways.
Liked seeing his breakdowns and liked that he was critical in his film evals too.
I’m sure he wants to coach again, but between this and the Manningcasts, he can probably have whatever job on whatever network he wants.
Liked seeing his breakdowns and liked that he was critical in his film evals too.
I’m sure he wants to coach again, but between this and the Manningcasts, he can probably have whatever job on whatever network he wants.
missed in all this is that Bill will be on Mondays in fall on the pat mcafee show. Announced at the end of the draft.
Wonder if the WWL gave any consideration to a Bill and Saban desk. Just the 2 of them and a moderator/host.
Thought Bill was excellent. Maybe I'm just getting old but the shenanigans eventually drove me to the Gameday broadcast.
Thought Bill was excellent. Maybe I'm just getting old but the shenanigans eventually drove me to the Gameday broadcast.
I love shenanigans, but that crew just isn't that funny. That said, I actually think some lightheartedness + Bill dropping knowledge every 7 minutes or so looks like a recipe for excellent tv so I support the McAfee pairing at least a bit.
I love Bill. I really can't stand McAfee. But he seemed to loosen Bill up in ways that Mike Greenberg was not going to do. It's the eight man panel that never makes sense to me.