The Sabres and Bills have taken different paths under the couple’s ownership.
By: Rich Kowalski / billswire.usatoday.com
When Terry Pegula purchased the Buffalo Sabres in 2011, Western New York exhaled. The fans wouldn’t have to worry about the team being in limbo like it was when the Rigas brothers fell apart.
When Pegula and his wife, Kim, purchased the Buffalo Bills in 2014, the area let out an even bigger exhale. One that took a potential West Coast or Canadian dash off of the city’s mind and cemented the team’s foundation in Buffalo.
Without a doubt, the area and community are thankful for those decisions.
On the field and ice for the two Pegula teams has been a different attitude and a different story.
The Sabres are going through one of the roughest patches in team history and is on its third general manager and fifth head coach in just eight seasons.
Kim and Terry have only owned the Bills since 2014 and the gradient has been a steep one from the NHL to the NFL.
The Pegulas were quickly thrown into chaos after becoming owners when head coach Doug Marrone decided to exercise a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave during the ownership change and be paid for it. The owners found a loyal companion within the organization with Russ Brandon and decided for their first coach to have experience and a personality. They strongly courted and chased down Rex Ryan.
Ryan started with a bang but brought the same attitude to western New York that got him booted from East Rutherford. All bark but no bite. The team was in disarray, players were airing their grievances about coaching schemes to the media and the Bills still weren’t making the playoffs.
In the team’s second season under the Pegulas, communication was absent. General manager Doug Whaley was left out of the loop for much of the year and was eventually canned months after the team ditched Ryan.
Now comes a new loyal companion in Sean McDermott tethered to his right-hand man, general manager Brandon Beane. It’s a different theology but a similar background. Blue-collar, defensive-minded, run-heavy mindset. It’s a familiar mindset to western New Yorkers, but it might be an outdated one.
Although the Bills made the playoffs in 2017, they were close to the worst statistically among the team’s playoff drought squads. The team relied on a run-heavy offense, finishing 2017 with the second-highest percentage of running plays. The Bills had nearly 48 percent of their plays come on the ground while the league has been safely trending toward a pass-heavy attack.
With all of the change and tumultuous times both teams have suffered, how can Buffalo be happy with what the owners have done? They’ve promised success and progression while simultaneously relying on old-school ideas.
They substituted a playoff party in the plaza with having a draft party for finishing last. The team mocked itself and its ideals when it took a red-flag magnet, Josh Allen, in the 2018 draft. Allen would have made scouts decades ago swoon with his size and arm but gave many teams pause. When the Bills had the choice between the Pac-12’s Josh Rosen or the Mountain West’s Josh Allen, they opted for the latter.
We don’t know how Allen will end up. He may very well end up being the right fit for the team but the decision begs the question: Do the Pegulas understand how leagues work and innovate?
The two have opted for old-school, out-dated options in positions of leadership when both leagues are moving forward and don’t live in the past. Innovation is how a team gains a competitive advantage to win. They don’t win by deploying schemes that are no longer en vogue.
There’s no telling what either of Buffalo’s teams will do this season. Both are in the midst of major changes and have a lot of work to do.
The Sabres could certainly turn it around with their arsenal of recent top-10 picks. Who knows if McDermott is a one-year wonder or if he really can coach his team to win, even without superior talent.
What we do know is that both teams are safe and sound in Western New York but please, Terry and Kim Pegula, just bring a championship to the city.