Change is coming, as they say in the world of politics, and surely it is on its way for the Bills in the world of pro football.

A fresh cast of decision makers should be in operation by mid-January or so, but there is

one major note of caution: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

That happened five years ago when Rusty Jones left the Bills and immediately became a member

of the Chicago Bears organization. For 20 years Jones was in charge of the Bills'

conditioning, physical training and nutrition program with a great deal of success. He

received a number of awards as the result of his work in Buffalo during the Bills' Super Bowl

era, a time of an unparalleled run of good health for the team.

Before Jones arrived in Chicago the Bears suffered through a period of missed games and

assorted absences of key players. For the last five seasons the team has enjoyed far more

healthy results, for which Jones' program has received much credit.

The 2009 Bills, on the other hand, have been a disaster. Not a small part of their problems

has been due to injury and illnesses that hacked their way through the Buffalo roster. The

season has been a sour-note symphony of penalties, lack of discipline, chaos in the red zone,

passes misdirected or receivers not even located.

One thing of which the Bills cannot be accused is lack of heart. They have stumbled often

but never quit. Their ocean of injuries has been a big part of their woes.

Their defense, the best part of the team, has been without a half dozen starters for a

number of games. A conditioning and nutrition system may not seem very sexy to the fans, but

the Bills' organization had better do something about theirs, quickly.

Change among the players has to start with the quarterback. The saying "quarterback is the

name of the game" is not just a cliche. The Bills should use as much of the season as possible

to find out what they need to know about their new acquisition, Brian Brohm. A few years ago,

at the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions, I had breakfast with Paul Hornung, who then was

still a Notre Dame broadcaster. The Golden Boy told me about this high school senior in his

hometown of Louisville, Ky.

"His name is Brian Brohm and he is so good I told Tyrone Willingham [then the Irish coach]

that if he recruited him Brohm would win three Heisman Trophies for Notre Dame."

Hornung has been known to be overcome by enthusiasm at times. Willingham, who already had

Brady Quinn at the time, did not add Brohm. Instead Brohm enrolled at Louisville, where he had

huge success. Green Bay drafted him in the second round and he vanished behind Aaron Rodgers.

The Bills need to find out everything there is to know about Brohm and his possibilities as

a quarterback who could produce a contender in Buffalo. If he doesn't answer that description,

the people who inherit their drafting assignment must investigate what either Tim Tebow or the

other highest-rated emerging college quarterback has to offer between January and draft day in

April.

In Tebow's case everything that is known about him is that he's a great college

quarterback, a constant winner and inspirational leader. Still to be determined is whether he

passes well enough to excel in the NFL. A lot of scouts remain unconvinced, but a lot of

scouts were sure that Philip Rivers, despite his 6-foot-5 stature, would be a victim of his

sidearm throwing motion, which would cut him down to size in the pros.

Rivers is now an NFL superstar, pushing the San Diego Chargers nearer to the Super Bowl.

Larry Felser, former News columnist, appears in Sunday's editions.