Sal Maiorana - Kyle Williams has been doing this long enough, so the Buffalo Bills defensive tackle knows the drill.
You pull up to Keough Hall on the campus of St. John Fisher College, unpack your belongings, then put on a happy face and exude excitement about the coming season on the eve of the opening of training camp.
“First day here, there’s reason to be excited, everyone’s starting on the same foot,” Williams said Tuesday afternoon when he arrived for his eighth summer stint in Pittsford.
There’s a different vibe to that lip service this year, however. In past years the excitement of a new season has sometimes been quelled by the reality of the Bills’ impending situation; they just weren’t very good, and though they’d never publicly admit it, deep down they knew they were going to have a tough time competing in the rugged AFC in general, and in the Patriot-dominated AFC East in particular. That's not the case in 2012.
“I don't think anything has changed as far as the way we look at things and our attitude about things,” general manager Buddy Nix said. “But I do think we’re realistic enough to know that the first year or two we didn’t have enough depth and enough playmakers to make a difference and contend all the way through the year. The feeling is different now; I think we do.”
Year three of the Nix/Chan Gailey Era has gotten off to a tremendous start with the offseason acquisition of mega free agent Mario Williams, the re-signing of several key veteran players such as Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson, and a draft class led by first-rounder Stephon Gilmore that appears to be very strong.
Further, the players who have been here since Nix and Gailey came to Buffalo — starters as well as reserves — have the experience of two years with basically the same coaching staff and playbook and the important familiarity and confidence that breeds.
“I feel like we’re a few steps ahead than in the past coming here, with guys that we’ve added, some experience that we have that’s been here, so that's a lot of the reason for the excitement,” Williams said. “We've just added some really good players who will obviously help to win football games.”But now the time has come to push toward becoming a relevant team in the NFL which they haven't been for quite some time, 12 years if your standard is playoff appearances.“The hype machine can only go so far,” said CEO Russ Brandon. “We’re excited about everything we were able to achieve in the offseason, but that’s in the past and the only thing that matters is tomorrow and Thursday when we start going.
“Buddy has a plan and his personnel staff has a plan and we feel very good about where we are today as we stand here right now.”
Nix went so far as to say that even if the Bills hadn't shocked the NFL by reeling in Williams, the biggest free agent not named Peyton Manning, the expectations for his team would be no different.
“It would have been time to start winning some games,” he said. “We've done some things right, we've made mistakes along the way, but it’s time to close it out and win some games and until we do it’s not complete. Winning solves all the evils, at least most of them, and fixes the flaws. There’s no question about it. I believe losing, and not being in contention throughout the year, will be a huge disappointment for all of us.”
It’s a refreshing attitude for the Bills who have not always been known for that.
“You want expectations to rise,” said Gailey. “When I came in here I said, ‘We want to expect to win, not hope to win.’ I want expectations to be high not only from the outside but from within and they are. I think that we understand it.
“I think we have a mature enough team to understand where we are. Yes there are expectations and yes everybody’s excited. But we haven’t proven anything yet and we’ve got to get out on the field and prove it then. We’ve got a long way until we get to that point.”
David Nelson sees the transformation happening. The third-year wide receiver played his college ball at Florida where Tim Tebow was the quarterback and Urban Meyer was the coach. Not only was winning expected, anything less than a national championship was a down year.
“When I was at Florida we had (pressure to win) every week and when you expect to win, you come in with confidence,” he said. “That's where we are here. There’s a difference between confidence and cocky. We have to make sure we stay humble and hungry and remember what it felt like to go 4-12 (in 2010), and 6-10 (2011) the past couple years. We have to use that to drive us.”
You pull up to Keough Hall on the campus of St. John Fisher College, unpack your belongings, then put on a happy face and exude excitement about the coming season on the eve of the opening of training camp.
“First day here, there’s reason to be excited, everyone’s starting on the same foot,” Williams said Tuesday afternoon when he arrived for his eighth summer stint in Pittsford.
There’s a different vibe to that lip service this year, however. In past years the excitement of a new season has sometimes been quelled by the reality of the Bills’ impending situation; they just weren’t very good, and though they’d never publicly admit it, deep down they knew they were going to have a tough time competing in the rugged AFC in general, and in the Patriot-dominated AFC East in particular. That's not the case in 2012.
“I don't think anything has changed as far as the way we look at things and our attitude about things,” general manager Buddy Nix said. “But I do think we’re realistic enough to know that the first year or two we didn’t have enough depth and enough playmakers to make a difference and contend all the way through the year. The feeling is different now; I think we do.”
Year three of the Nix/Chan Gailey Era has gotten off to a tremendous start with the offseason acquisition of mega free agent Mario Williams, the re-signing of several key veteran players such as Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson, and a draft class led by first-rounder Stephon Gilmore that appears to be very strong.
Further, the players who have been here since Nix and Gailey came to Buffalo — starters as well as reserves — have the experience of two years with basically the same coaching staff and playbook and the important familiarity and confidence that breeds.
“I feel like we’re a few steps ahead than in the past coming here, with guys that we’ve added, some experience that we have that’s been here, so that's a lot of the reason for the excitement,” Williams said. “We've just added some really good players who will obviously help to win football games.”But now the time has come to push toward becoming a relevant team in the NFL which they haven't been for quite some time, 12 years if your standard is playoff appearances.“The hype machine can only go so far,” said CEO Russ Brandon. “We’re excited about everything we were able to achieve in the offseason, but that’s in the past and the only thing that matters is tomorrow and Thursday when we start going.
“Buddy has a plan and his personnel staff has a plan and we feel very good about where we are today as we stand here right now.”
Nix went so far as to say that even if the Bills hadn't shocked the NFL by reeling in Williams, the biggest free agent not named Peyton Manning, the expectations for his team would be no different.
“It would have been time to start winning some games,” he said. “We've done some things right, we've made mistakes along the way, but it’s time to close it out and win some games and until we do it’s not complete. Winning solves all the evils, at least most of them, and fixes the flaws. There’s no question about it. I believe losing, and not being in contention throughout the year, will be a huge disappointment for all of us.”
It’s a refreshing attitude for the Bills who have not always been known for that.
“You want expectations to rise,” said Gailey. “When I came in here I said, ‘We want to expect to win, not hope to win.’ I want expectations to be high not only from the outside but from within and they are. I think that we understand it.
“I think we have a mature enough team to understand where we are. Yes there are expectations and yes everybody’s excited. But we haven’t proven anything yet and we’ve got to get out on the field and prove it then. We’ve got a long way until we get to that point.”
David Nelson sees the transformation happening. The third-year wide receiver played his college ball at Florida where Tim Tebow was the quarterback and Urban Meyer was the coach. Not only was winning expected, anything less than a national championship was a down year.
“When I was at Florida we had (pressure to win) every week and when you expect to win, you come in with confidence,” he said. “That's where we are here. There’s a difference between confidence and cocky. We have to make sure we stay humble and hungry and remember what it felt like to go 4-12 (in 2010), and 6-10 (2011) the past couple years. We have to use that to drive us.”
