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As the Bills search for a new head coach you're going to hear a lot of the loser's mentality. The team has been unsuccessful on the field for more than a decade and that means that expectations are quite low when it comes to finding a new head man. However, I'm here to suggest that you, yes you, shed the loser's mentality.
*Important aside here...not everyone has this affliction. We all know someone that is like this though.*
You'll hear it everywhere.
The team starts a search for the coach. Cue this:
"We can only get the guy on the scrap heap."
Candidates start to line up for the position. You hear:
"Who would want to coach here? It has to be the worst job in the league"
The hot candidate is going to talk to the Bills on Friday. Bring in the big guns:
"Chip Kelly scheduled an interview with Buffalo? Yeah, probably to just drive the price up elsewhere."
Then there's the good old standby for both coaches and free agents:
"He'll never come here"
This mentality that some of us have is certainly justified in some cases. The lack of faith in the Bills organization is something that has been building for more than a decade now. We've all done it. We've all fallen into the trap of shooting something down because it is too good to be true. I said on the air that I thought the Bills had a better chance of winning the Superbowl than signing Mario Williams. That was dumb.
Perhaps it's time for us to shed this mentality and start to do our part. Every national writer or football analyst that plays into it...can be ignored. Funny thing is that we don't ignore it from the outside. Anytime anyone from Emerson Etem to Tom Brady says anything about our fair city we jump all over it. Then once that dies down you'll find plenty of nay-sayers that live here. They pick up the slack and tell everyone here why we aren't good enough every day.
Think back to March of last year for a moment. Mario Williams, the most coveted free agent on the market signed to play here. If you go back through the timeline of events it was about as much fun as we've ever head (and more fun than Mario's first year, but he'll have more.)
Free agency opened up and Mario Williams came to visit Buffalo.
The Loser's Mentality gave us the usual. The "drive the price up" and "he'll never come here" came out big time. ESPN's talking heads and NFL.com and Rotoworld and everyone in the world said things like "He's going to leave and head to ______". Remember how great it was to hear the Claytons and Schefters and others EXASPERATED? They couldn't understand why he was still here? Surely he was leaving. Some reported that he left!
He never did. He came. He signed. We felt good about ourselves. We felt good about the Bills. We felt good about Buffalo.
Think of Bass Pro. That fiasco turned into what we have going on now at Canalside. Think of all that is happening downtown as we enter 2013. If you don't know...look into it.
Now the big name is Chip Kelly. He's the target. He's the seemingly unattainable coach. Why would he pick Buffalo over Cleveland or Philadelphia?
I don't know. Maybe he will and maybe he won't. Maybe the Bills can't sell him on coming here. Here's the thing though: He can't say yes unless you ask him.
Just like with the Mario Williams watch, when we were worried that he'd come here, look at us, and say no. To the Bills. To us. To Buffalo. Mario said yes.
I'm glad the Bills are going after Chip Kelly and if he says yes then it's game on. If he says no, it'll hurt for a bit, but maybe something better comes along. Our city is on its way back. I think our sports teams are as well. I really do. I'm more convinced of it with the Sabres than with the Bills, but this change that seems to be on the way might just be exactly what is needed. It's only big talk at this point but I'm choosing to think of Chip Kelly as possible.
I've learned something in the 10 years I've been on WGR. Pessimism is rarely the more fun or fulfilling approach.
Make a run at Chip Kelly. He can't say yes unless you ask.
And what if he says....yes?