ATLANTA — Two years ago at this time, Bill Parcells became executive vice president

of the Miami Dolphins — their football "czar", if you will — and undertook a

thorough, unsparing review of the franchise's foundering operation.

One of the first things Parcells did was ask for information on injuries. He was staggered

by the thickness of the binder that chronicled the team's injuries from the 2007 season.

Parcells is an old school guy. He favors big, strong, well-conditioned players. He said he

didn't know all the reasons for the injuries. But something had to change.

"Either the athletes aren't good enough to keep from getting hurt, or they're not in good

enough condition to avoid them," Parcells said at the time.

A few days later, Parcells fired Miami's strength and and conditioning coach, Matt Schiotz,

and his assistant Brad Ohrt. Thus began the Dolphins' one-year transformation from a 1-15 season to the '08 AFC

East champions.

Miami put 16 players on season-ending injured reserve the year before Parcells arrived.

This past week, the Bills put Jairus Byrd and Terrence McGee on injured reserve, increasing

the season total to 18. Two years ago, they led the NFL with 19.

It's hard to say exactly why. But I imagine that J.T. Allaire isn't feeling too secure

these days. Allaire is the Bills' strength and conditioning coach. This is his fourth season

in the job, his eighth overall in Buffalo. It's his first stint as the head strength guy for

an NFL team, same as Schiotz.

Allaire learned under Rusty Jones, who spent 20 years with the Bills before Mike Mularkey

nudged him out the door to Chicago.

I spoke with several Bills, all of whom spoke highly of Allaire's work. They said Allaire

can't be faulted for the siege of injuries that have plagued the roster. Allaire declined

comment, deferring injury questions to interim coach Perry Fewell.

A lot of it is luck. Lifting weights and stretching weren't going to prevent Eric Wood's

compound leg fracture, or Paul Posluszny's broken arm.

Injuries are a way of life in the NFL. It's a brutal sport, where the size, speed and

strength of modern players is taking a toll on the human body.

But the NFL is a cruel business, too. Job security is fragile. The Bills might be on the

verge of an organizational purge similar to what Miami did two years ago. And whoever takes

over the football department is sure to take a long, hard look at the injuries.

The management overhaul is long overdue. I don't know who Ralph Wilson and Russ Brandon are

going to bring in here, but he should take a blowtorch to the operation. It has to start with

the mediocrities who have been responsible for player acquisition for almost the entire lost

decade.

It's amazing that Tom Modrak and John Guy, the vice presidents of college scouting and pro

personnel, have been in their jobs since Tom Donahoe brought them to Buffalo in 2001. Ralph

Wilson blames Donahoe for his plight, yet he continues to employ Donahoe's two lieutenants.

Wilson should have sent Modrak and Guy out the door with Dick Jauron. It would have sent

the proper message: The Bills' decade of woe has been mainly a failure of personnel, and they

were chiefly responsible for the product on the field.

The injuries fall on them, too. All teams, good and bad, suffer injuries. But injuries

result from inferior talent. When players are physically overmatched, they tend to get hurt by

compensating for their shortcomings (they get penalties, too).

So while the strength coaches need to be held accountable, the Bills' injury woes reflect

an organizational failure. The personnel department has blood on its hands — and Jauron

deserves his share of blame for his infatuation with undersized players and refusal to demand

more capable backups.

Was it Allaire's fault that management didn't provide sufficient depth at offensive line?

If you count tight ends, eight of the 18 players on injured reserve this year are offensive

linemen. That's no coincidence. The Bills sabotaged the line by trading Jason Peters, cutting

Langston Walker and failing to bring in quality replacements.

Keith Ellison and Marcus Buggs, two undersized linebackers, wound up on IR. So did Kawika

Mitchell, who was forced to take on greater responsibility when linebackers were hurt.

Management has to take blame for leaving the team woefully thin at reserve linebacker.

Sure, it would nice to bring back Rusty Jones, one of the best strength, conditioning and

nutrition guys in the business. But the problem with the Bills is bigger than that. It's a

lack of vision and management.

This franchise needs to find a football man who is smart and strong-willed, a man with the

guts to tell the Bills that most of their problems have been self-inflicted.