For Ralph Wilson and the Buffalo Bills: Is Mike Shanahan The Answer?

Ralph Wilson recently received his ring from the Hall of Fame for his induction there prior to the start of the 2009 season. That induction was a fitting start for the only owner in Bills history, especially since this was the 50th anniversary season of the Buffalo Bills organization.

When the ring was presented, Ralph was greeted with a loud chorus of boos from the home crowd. Long forgotten was the four straight Super Bowl appearances from 1990 - 1993. It was more like, what have you done for us lately Ralph?

Wilson bit the bullet earlier this week by dropping the ax on Dick Jauron and swallowing the remaining year and a half left on Dick Jauron's pro-rated six million dollar contract. Throwing that much money away is not something Ralph is very fond of doing.

Heck, who would be? You know he hated to do it, but he was faced with such a growing level of discontentment from the fan base that he had to do something. I just wonder if his doctor advised him to make the move for health reasons?

Various sources in Buffalo have leaked word that people like Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas have been talking to Ralph, and the word that is now circulating around the city is that Wilson will step up and pay what it takes to bring in a top flight football man to take over and run the team. Hallelujah!

By "run the team", I mean someone that has a proven plan, that knows what it takes to build a winner step by step, and have the conviction to ignore the complaints and do whatever is necessary to put all of the building blocks in place.

That might mean one more year without making the playoffs, but there had better be some improvement on offense, because you really can't be any worse than the product we saw this year, can you?

Now I realize that this is as close to a collective Christmas present that the city of Buffalo can be wishing and hoping for, outside of our own personal and individual wishes like having a new job, new snow blower, Stanley Cup trophy and a new chicken wing slow cooker.

If this is true, Wilson's decision is smart for a number of reasons. Only the Lord knows how much time Ralph has left on this planet. But as sad as it is to admit, when you are already in to your 90's, the clock is ticking louder and a little faster than you wish.

His family doesn't seem to want to take on the challenges of running the team. So Wilson needs to put the pieces in place if he ultimately has to sell the club. You know for his fifty year investment he will want to command top dollar. So, getting a top flight guy to run the operation makes tremendous sense/cents.

Ralph may not be that crazy after all. Or, perhaps crazy like a fox?

The million dollar question is, who is that right guy to run it?

If reports on the sports wires are accurate, ex-Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is appearing to be the early front runner, as the word is that Wilson will fly him in for a visit next week. From that point forward, if Ralph likes what he hears, and tells Shanahan, okay this it is now your show to run, then the sky is the limit.

You would like to think that Shanahan would want to get as much exposure to the current team as he could with whatever is left of the season to evaluate what is here.

He will want to take advantage of the final month to put together the necessary scouting personnel to start evaluating the college players coming out before their regular season ends and before all of the bowl games have come and gone.

I imagine that Shanahan will want to dig in and find out how badly the current players are hurt that are on I-R now, and what the prognosis is for their return in 2010. There truly is quite a lot of medical inspection and kicking the tires that needs to be done, and not all that much time to play with.

But if Ralph is unwilling to turn over the keys to the penthouse now, or in the next week or two, then we are going to need to back this thing up and start over very slowly from the beginning.

Why Shanahan?

Shanahan has that winner tag written all over him. He has won two Super Bowls. He wears that permanent scowl like Bill Cowher does, and you might get an occasional smile like Cowher, but they are few and far between. Especially when prowling the sidelines on game day.

In fact, I tried to find a picture for this story that showed Shanahan smiling, and couldn't find one. For that matter, Jauron didn't smile either, but that is a different story altogether.

Shanahan is a master at creating a solid running game, and that will play very well in the elements in Buffalo. The Bills have been so horrible on the offensive side of the ball for the past six years, that the fans would relish a true ground and pound attack that is consistent with the mentality of the work ethic of the city itself.

You clearly have some pieces in place already from the core of Lynch, Jackson, Wood, Levitre, Evans and Nelson having a number of years left ahead of them. I suspect that a veteran quarterback would be brought in to run the offense, while they groom the future quarterback that will be selected in the upcoming draft.

You know that the writing is already on the wall for Trent Edwards. If Perry Fewell doesn't have the confidence in him to be his starter, and he has been watching Edwards in practice regularly for the past two and a half years, that pretty much tells you all you need to know.

Sure, maybe Fitzpatrick gets banged up and Edwards comes out firing, realizing that his career may have already peaked. You never know what finally gets a fire lit under someone, or what causes the light bulb to finally turn on. Clearly, that never happened with Dick Jauron at the helm, and he had always believed in Trent from early on.

Timing issues

With so many teams in the NFL playing really bad football, I don't know that Wilson will have the luxury of sitting and stewing on his big decision. Each successive week that comes and goes, we are getting closer to the end of the season, and the best coaches and brightest football minds will be courted and swept up by other organizations looking to right their ship.

What finally made Wilson decide to can Jauron? Ralph doesn't make a bunch of snap decisions, and that is probably a reflection on his level of patience, age and wisdom. But this situation will probably call for him to make a faster decision then he is normally comfortable making.

You would like to think that Wilson could take his time and bring in five, six, or seven people with great credentials as there are clearly a number of qualified people that are not coaching right now. The potential list of choices is growing every time I visit the Bills home page on The Bleachers Report, and read all of the new articles.

But if Wilson really wants to do this right, I think he will need to be bold, and if he sees and hears the pitch of a winner in his gut, to have the courage and fortitude to trust his instincts and to do the right thing and act.

He took the right first step earlier this week. Will he follow that up, or will he get overwhelmed in trying to figure out how to best proceed from here?

We can only hope. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in a certain office in Detroit over the next few weeks.....