The Buffalo Bills will introduce new coach Sean McDermott at a news conference Friday, and when they do, the team would be wise to take a page from the Jacksonville Jaguars' playbook and make it abundantly clear to fans who is in charge.
If the Bills have learned anything from their sloppy pair of news conferences in recent weeks -- interim coach Anthony Lynn's first news conference Dec. 28 and general manager Doug Whaley's season-ending news conference Jan. 2 -- it should be that they risk looking like a rudderless ship to their fans and the rest of the NFL without a clear message and leadership figure.
Whether it is Whaley or McDermott who is given control of the 53-man roster, owner Terry Pegula should make that clear Friday, just as Jaguars owner Shad Khan left no room for confusion Thursday when introducing Tom Coughlin as executive vice president of football operations and Doug Marrone as coach.
Responding to a reporter's question about who controls the 53-man roster, Coughlin gave a vague answer about how player personnel decisions would be a joint effort between himself, Caldwell and Marrone. Perhaps realizing the need for a more firm answer, Khan quickly clarified that Coughlin would be the tiebreaking vote and that the former Giants coach will "oversee all facets" of the football operation.
The Bills have chosen not to put a "czar" such as Coughlin in charge, but that should not mean taking a "committee approach" or repeated use of the word "we" should be the answer for Pegula as he tries to convince fans Friday he has put the Bills on a winning path.
Some across the NFL cringed when Lynn was put in front of a microphone to explain Dec. 28 why the front office decided to sit starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor for the season finale, just as the organization was embarrassed Jan. 2 when Whaley sat alone on the podium to "speak for ownership," but could not speak for ownership because he was "not privy" to why former coach Rex Ryan was fired last month.
Both instances displayed to the rest of the league that there was confusion about who was making decisions in Buffalo, and that those making the decisions were unable or unwilling to show leadership and accountability by speaking publicly about them.
As much as the Bills might be tempted to convey a message of "internal unity" and group decision-making at Friday's news conference to fight a national perception of dysfunction in the organization, fans are smart enough to read through that. To most, the word "we" should be code for the clunky disorder that has stuck to this franchise for the past decade.
The Bills should make it clear who is in charge and let their leader be captain of the ship.