Pepper Johnson to join Buffalo Bills as Defensive Line Coach

[upstater1]

Good for Pepper, now he can toil and labor in the north country... Schwartz is an old BB buddy and if he moves on, may provide more of an opportunity for Pepper...

24 years is a long time.. a whole generation??

Listen, Upstate New Yorkers are very picky about what you call the regions. The North Country refers to the region north of Albany west to Watertown. Central is Syracuse and Binghamton. Western is Rochester and Buffalo. The Southern Tier is Jamestown and Corning.

 

[upstater1]

Such a weird name for a team. Should've been the Bison, or Buffaloes. Or Snowmen.

In the "olden" days, the wild west extended out to Buffalo. Well, at least the shoot-em up shows were planted in Buffalo for awhile. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was stationed there before and well after the Pan Am Exposition in 1901. In fact, Calamity Jane was arrested and jailed several times for barfights in Buffalo even up until a month or so before she died in the Dakotas in 1903.

 

[upstater1]

The Jills have a pretty good D.

I anticipate another big '4 - 12' or '5-11' season from that team

They still have the same old problem of a lowrent front office.

Look at the drafts of the last 10 years, take an extra look at the players Buffalo picked and who they passed over. It's unbelievable. They traded up for Losman in 2004 and lost their 2005 pick.

2004 22 J. P. Losman Quarterback
2005 - No Pick - -
2006 8 Donte Whitner Safety
2006 26 John McCargo Defensive tackle
2007 12 Marshawn Lynch Running back
2008 11 Leodis McKelvin Defensive back
2009 11 Aaron Maybin Defensive end/Outside Linebacker
2009 28 Eric Wood Center
2010 9 C.J. Spiller Running back
2011 3 Marcell Dareus Defensive tackle
2012 10 Stephon Gilmore Cornerback
2013 16 EJ Manuel Quarterback

Whitner was not a good pick at #8 even though he's had a long career. There are several All-Pros taken behind him from 8 to 21. Marshawn Lynch left because he was really a head case. Best thing for Lynch is to be on team like Seattle because he has a very fragile psyche. CJ Spiller at #9? A joke. And although they had no choice but to take Dareus at #3, the guys that followed like Patrick Peterson and JJ Watt would scream for a do over.

Eric Wood was a good choice where he was taken. But how can you swing and miss this many times?

 

[Tunescribe]

In the "olden" days, the wild west extended out to Buffalo. Well, at least the shoot-em up shows were planted in Buffalo for awhile. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was stationed there before and well after the Pan Am Exposition in 1901. In fact, Calamity Jane was arrested and jailed several times for barfights in Buffalo even up until a month or so before she died in the Dakotas in 1903.

Yes, yes, yes. I knew all that. I was just yanking the Bills fan's chain. Still a stupid name, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills#cite_note-5

Once the AFL–NFL merger took effect, the Bills became the second NFL team to represent the city; they followed the Buffalo All-Americans, a charter member of the league. Buffalo had been left out of the league since the All-Americans (by that point renamed the Bisons) folded in 1929; the Bills were no less than the third professional non-NFL team to compete in the city before the merger, following the Indians/Tigers of the early 1940s and another team named the Bills in the late 1940s.

Buffalo’s team in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946 was the Bisons. In 1947 a contest was held to rename the team, which was owned by James Breuil of the Frontier Oil Company. The winning entry suggested Bills, reflecting on the famous western frontiersman, Buffalo Bill Cody. Carrying the “frontier” theme further, the winning contestant further offered that the team was being supported by Frontier Oil and was “opening a new frontier in sports in Western New York.”

 

[IcyPatriot]

Such a weird name for a team. Should've been the Bison, or Buffaloes. Or Snowmen.

Actually to reflect where they are they should have been the Buffalo Outhouses.

 

[Tunescribe]

Actually to reflect where they are they should have been the Buffalo Outhouses.

Abominable Snowmen would've been perfect. Their slogan could've been, "Super Bowl champs? Not Yeti."

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

The AFCE east is too interbred/interhired. (Even with our our hires sometimes...though never coaches).

 

[zoostation]

Their name has always fit.

Boy I Love Losing Superbowls

 

[mgteich]

I would not be surprised if Belichick even talked to Schwartz about this possibility for Pepper.
When Belichick didn't choose him as his DC, it was only a matter of time until he found a place with a chance to advance or gave up on advancing.

Johnson does have more of a future in Buffalol.

Schwartz will get another shot at HC soon which gives Johnson a path to a promotion.

 

[PP2]

Seriously? I can't believe we let him go - the DL and LB have always been a stable (at times strong) component of our defense. I wonder if it is just typical Pats propaganda spilling the "let go" thing.

So you are saying he wanted to go from a division contender to a basement contender?

If he left for a promotion, or for the possibility of promotion to DC, I would see it as a move on his part, even if it were to the Bills. But to suggest otherwise does not seem to make sense to me.

 

[captain stone]

The Pats now have Zero coaches on staff with NFL playing experience. I wonder how many
other teams can claim that dubious distinction.

 

[Tunescribe]

The Pats now have Zero coaches on staff with NFL playing experience. I wonder how many
other teams can claim that dubious distinction.

I doubt it matters all that much. If they're good coaches, they're good coaches.

 

[Uncle Meat]

So you are saying he wanted to go from a division contender to a basement contender?

If he left for a promotion, or for the possibility of promotion to DC, I would see it as a move on his part, even if it were to the Bills. But to suggest otherwise does not seem to make sense to me.

Well, Pepper Johnson certainly didn't have the Bills in mind when he decided to leave the Patriots (or whatever happened). Mike Pettine was still d-coordinator for the Bills when Pepper and the Patriots parted ways...the big change-up in Buffalo was to come only a couple days later. Johnson was in limbo for about 10 days or so, I guess.

But going to Buffalo is a great career move for him, believe it or not. The Bills have lots of talent on defense, especially on the d-line. Three defensive lineman went to the Pro Bowl this year. That's also why Jim Schwartz jumped at the opportunity to be the d-coordinator in Buffalo too. If these guys have any idea what they are doing, the pieces are in place for them to look very, very good coaching these players.

Mike Pettine went to Buffalo for one year, and then was hired on as a Head Coach.

We'll see what happens, but anybody with ambition to climb the ladder and get promoted somehow couldn't find a much better opportunity than to coach Buffalo's d-line.

 

[Jackson 2]

Well, Pepper Johnson certainly didn't have the Bills in mind when he decided to leave the Patriots (or whatever happened). Mike Pettine was still d-coordinator for the Bills when Pepper and the Patriots parted ways...the big change-up in Buffalo was to come only a couple days later. Johnson was in limbo for about 10 days or so, I guess.

But going to Buffalo is a great career move for him, believe it or not. The Bills have lots of talent on defense, especially on the d-line. Three defensive lineman went to the Pro Bowl this year. That's also why Jim Schwartz jumped at the opportunity to be the d-coordinator in Buffalo too. If these guys have any idea what they are doing, the pieces are in place for them to look very, very good coaching these players.

Mike Pettine went to Buffalo for one year, and then was hired on as a Head Coach.

We'll see what happens, but anybody with ambition to climb the ladder and get promoted somehow couldn't find a much better opportunity than to coach Buffalo's d-line.

Jim Schwartz didn't "jump at the opportunity" to go to Buffalo. It was there or unemployment. No one "jumps at the opportunity" to go to Buffalo unless the only remaining option is Vladivostok, Russia.

 

[BigMike]

Its been written that old man Wilson doesn't pay his coaches all that well.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Jim Schwartz didn't "jump at the opportunity" to go to Buffalo. It was there or unemployment. No one "jumps at the opportunity" to go to Buffalo unless the only remaining option is Vladivostok, Russia.

Not really, dude.

Jim Schwartz was fired by Detroit, and coaches' contracts aren't like players' contracts. Their money is almost always guaranteed. So say for example that a team fires a Head Coach today with one year left on his contract, and they owe him $5 million for the 2014 season according to the contract. They gotta pay him that even if he's off the team; HOWEVER, say that coach takes a coordinator job on a different team right away at say $1 million. In that case, the team that fired him now only owes him $4 million for the 2014 season...in effect, the coach is basically working for free when he could have just collected all of the same money without doing anything. This is normal, as the general theory.

A major reason why Schwartz came to Buffalo was because he liked the opportunity there with the defensive personnel. The Lions reportedly still owed him $12 million for the 2-years left on his contract, so let's not be talking about "unemployment" like it means something in this case. He could have just sat back and collected all that $12 million, but he chose to come to Buffalo and have some of that money the Lions owed him be offset by what Buffalo pays him.

Lots of people thought Schwartz would sit out for at least a year because of the reasons I just explained, in part. If you take off the blindfold, you'll see that Schwartz wasn't really desperate for just any old job in the least. He liked what he saw in Buffalo's defense...it's OK to admit it. I'm sure Pepper Johnson did too.

 

[Jackson 2]

Not really, dude.

Jim Schwartz was fired by Detroit, and coaches' contracts aren't like players' contracts. Their money is almost always guaranteed. So say for example that a team fires a Head Coach today with one year left on his contract, and they owe him $5 million for the 2014 season according to the contract. They gotta pay him that even if he's off the team; HOWEVER, say that coach takes a coordinator job on a different team right away at say $1 million. In that case, the team that fired him now only owes him $4 million...in effect, he is basically working for free when he could have just collected all of the same money without doing anything. This is normal, as the general theory.

A major reason why Schwartz came to Buffalo was because he liked the opportunity there with the defensive personnel. The Lions reportedly still owed him $12 million for the 2-years left on his contract, so let's not be talking about "unemployment" like it means something in this case. He could have just sat back and collected all that $12 million, but he chose to come to Buffalo and have some of that money the Lions owed him be offset by what Buffalo pays him.

Lots of people thought Schwartz would sit out for at least a year because of the reasons I just explained, in part. If you take off the blindfold, you'll see that Schwartz wasn't really desperate for a any old job in the least. He liked what he saw in Buffalo's defense...it's OK to admit it.

You missed my point, which is not shocking to me, "dude." Coaches who get fired and are not employed for a year quickly become persona non grata ("dude", that means no one wants them anymore.). Buffalo is not just the bottom of the NFL barrel, it's the bottom of the universe barrel. A depressing gray, dying dump no one wants to go anywhere near. It's a hole, you know it and anyone who has been anywhere near it knows it, too. No baseball team, no basketball team and soon no football team. Enjoy!!

 

[Jackson 2]

I doubt it matters all that much. If they're good coaches, they're good coaches.

Such as Wesleyan's Bill Belichick.

 

[Uncle Meat]

You missed my point, which is not shocking to me, "dude." Coaches who get fired and are not employed for a year quickly become persona non grata ("dude", that means no one wants them anymore.). Buffalo is not just the bottom of the NFL barrel, it's the bottom of the universe barrel. A depressing gray, dying dump no one wants to go anywhere near. It's a hole, you know it and anyone who has been anywhere near it knows it, too. No baseball team, no basketball team and soon no football team. Enjoy!!

Sit on it, dude.

Your "point" is beside any kind of rational point. Your point was to be an insulting ****...unprovoked even. Congratulations. I kind of did get that part of it, but I wanted to actually have a conversation, dude.

On the other hand, I made a perfectly valid point which makes all the sense in the world...yet you choose to ignore it completely.

If you think that coaches that sit a year out automatically lose out on future opportunities, then you haven't been paying attention and have no idea what you are talking about. **** Vermeil sat out for 15 years and came back to bring a team to a couple of Super Bowls, for Christ's sake. Lovie Smith was on his couch last year and now is the Bucs Head Coach. Need I go on? Some team would have hired Schwartz next year as coordinator if he wanted to take a break and collect millions.

 

[Jackson 2]

Sit on it, dude.

Your "point" is beside any kind of rational point. Your point was to be an insulting ****...unprovoked even. Congratulations. I kind of did get that part of it, but I wanted to actually have a conversation, dude.

On the other hand, I made a perfectly valid point which makes all the sense in the world...yet you choose to ignore it completely.

If you think that coaches that sit a year out automatically lose out on future opportunities, then you haven't been paying attention and have no idea what you are talking about. **** Vermeil sat out for 15 years and came back to bring a team to a couple of Super Bowls, for Christ's sake. Lovie Smith was on his couch last year and now is the Bucs Head Coach. Need I go on? Some team would have hired Schwartz next year as coordinator if he wanted to take a break and collect millions.

Yeah, Schwartz and Vermeil - absolutely comparable in terms of accomplishments. Just stop. As usual, you're making a fool of yourself. What causes people like you to come to another team's board and prostitute yourselves? I mean, I understand to some degree Ravens fans or Steelers fans whose teams have won some games recently coming here to bust balls. But a Bills fan? Go away and come back when your team has some credibility - dude.