Why doesn't anyone like Doug Whaley? Sad.
Former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley seems like a pretty nice and approachable guy. However, whether it be fans, head coaches, or media members, there seems to be a large coalition of people out there who don't like Doug. Why is that?
I did a little investigating and it seems like Whaley just couldn't get along with his "brothers" and his "parents", Terry and Kim Pegula, ultimately grew frustrated with their young "son". Let me explain:
Whaley was asked to play nice with several of his "brothers" a.k.a. head coaches by his parents in Buffalo. Unfortunately, no matter who he tried to play with he couldn't get along with any of them.
First Doug Whaley had issues with his grumpiest and most boring former brother Doug Marrone. They butted heads on many occasions including reports that Marrone was against trading up for Sammy Watkins. Marrone couldn't stand Whaley so much that he chose to move to a new family. He took a demotion to become the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach rather than work with Whaley anymore as a head coach of the Bills. That had to have hurt Whaley's ego.
Then Doug Whaley helped choose his jolly, humorous and outspoken brother Rex Ryan. Rex was known as one of the easiest guys in the world to get along with except that Whaley and Rex also clashed during their play dates. It was clear they couldn't get along after less than two years and Rex was cast aside.
Whaley was promoted by his parents Terry and Kim Pegula to the big boys table where he was in charge of the search for his next brother. Finally the opportunity that little Dougie always wanted. Mom and Dad were going to give him a chance to show what he could do. He planned on seizing this opportunity. His parents made it very clear to him that he was on thin ice and that he better get along with his next brother so Doug knew he had to get this right.
He hired Sean McDermott only to find their relationship sour very shortly after according to media reports. Terry and Kim noticed that their children were not getting along but they blamed Doug for the first time and not his brother Sean. Whaley was sent to timeout and was not allowed to speak publicly on behalf of the organization while McDermott became the golden child and the "one voice" of the organization leading up to the draft.
The day after the draft, Terry and Kim let little Dougie know that they were disowning him as their son. They chose to give up legal guardianship of Whaley and immediately went on a search for a new son which ended up in them adopting Brandon Beane into the Buffalo Bills family as the new general manager.
Doug Whaley has had a tough go of it lately. There was tension between him and members inside and out of the organization during his time in Buffalo. He did some things well but other things poorly. People tend to only remember the latter with him which is natural for human beings to do. Still one has to wonder why can't people clash with this seemingly nice guy? Will he ever find a brother he can get along with and a family that will love him?