Sullivan: Brandon is conspicuous by his absence
Published: November 18, 2009, 11:21 pm
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When the first text message of the day arrived from the Bills on Wednesday morning, I figured, "This is it. They're finally going to bring in Russ Brandon to talk about Dick Jauron getting fired."
Instead, it was a text announcing the signing of butter-fingered tight end Joe Klopfenstein, a former second-round pick who was part of the St. Louis Rams' disastrous draft class of 2006.
Brandon still hasn't spoken publicly about Jauron's overdue ouster, or what might lie ahead for the Great Dysfunctional Family at One Bills Drive.
Apparently, the overdue firing of a bad head coach wasn't sufficient reason for the Bills to hold a news conference, aside from Tuesday night's brief "introduction" of interim head man Perry Fewell. Of course, I'm still waiting for the sit-down to explain their reasons for bringing Jauron back after the disastrous finish last December.
I'm assuming Brandon knows about the coaching change and has a lot on his plate at the moment. But he's the chief operating officer and general manager of an NFL team, the nominal head of the football operation. It's astonishing that the Bills didn't consider it necessary to have the leader of the football department stand up and face the music.
Ralph Wilson announced Jauron's extension by news release. He announced the firing in the same manner. It's a heck of a way to communicate with your ticket-buying public. Of course, this is the same outfit that scheduled a Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Wilson and feigned ignorance when the owner changed his mind. Insulting the fans has become commonplace. And they wonder why people put up billboards.
Brandon seems to be distancing himself from the whole Jauron mess by allowing Wilson to be the lone spokesman. Hey, it's Ralph's deal, not his. It makes Brandon appear powerless and irrelevant, like a figurehead leader who doesn't have the ultimate power over the football operation.
But it insults the fans to act as if no one in management needs to be accountable for the failures of the football team. Maybe Brandon doesn't have any answers, but he owes it to the people to stand in front of the cameras and face the questions. If he's such a marketing genius, how can he not understand that?
Last year, when things got really bad toward the end of the season, Wilson said he was bringing Tom Modrak, his vice president of college scouting, into his "inner circle." It was a troubling sign for Brandon, an indication that Wilson didn't trust Brandon with the ultimate authority that comes with the COO's title.
At the time, I felt Brandon needed to assert his control last season by firing Jauron and putting his stamp on the operation. But the "inner circle" nodded its heads while Wilson took the frugal way out. Jauron stayed. So did Modrak and pro personnel man John Guy, who were hired by Tom Donahoe in 2002 and have managed to survive despite eight years of unrelenting mediocrity.
There's been a stunning lack of accountability in this organization. That's why it's hard to imagine Wilson handing real power to a big-name football man — a Mike Shanahan, say, or Bill Cowher. The new guy might actually want to hold people accountable for the Bills' decade of failure and blow the operation sky-high.
Wilson has been ducking his problems ever since he fired Donahoe in 2006. It's astounding that Modrak and Guy are still employed here. An outside football guy would come in and realize that people at One Bills Drive had been hiding from the truth for years.
It was slim pickings on Media Day. Few players showed up in the locker room to reassert their love for Jauron. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Bobby April, who has the assistant head coach's title but was passed over for the interim job, didn't have time to talk. I can't say I blamed them. Why bother to speak out when Brandon, the guy who is supposed to be running the show, didn't feel compelled to show his face?
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