Apr 26, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix on the field at the press conference for first round draft pick quarterback E.J. Manuel (not pictured) at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

He drafted CJ Spiller, Marcell Dareus, Stephon Gilmore and EJ Manuel as his first round draft picks. He brought in Chan Gailey and Doug Marrone as head coaches. He wanted to bring the Bills back to respectability and now he gets to see how his work has panned out from a front row seat, because Buddy Nix has stepped down as General Manager of the Buffalo Bills.

The timing is right. By the time teams finish their draft, the scouting season starts its “New Year” in May, so this will give ample time to the new GM to implement his strategies, which will most likely be Doug Whaley. When Nix was first hired, the owner was 91, Nix was 70 and when Nix hired Chan Gailey as head coach, Gailey was 58.

That’s an average age of 73 for the 3 most important roles in football operations. Now, with Nix stepping down, the old regime is becoming a youth movement. Russ Brandon now fills Wilson’s role, Doug Marrone replaces Gailey, while Whaley will most likely be stepping in for Buddy Nix. The average age now? Try 44. The team just got a hell of lot younger.

Now Nix isn’t going anywhere, as he will still fill a role as a Special Assistant, but the culture is shifting at One Bills Drive. Gone are the days of old philosophies and inside the box thinking. Coming in are the days of analytics and run n’gun offenses. Nix was thinking ahead knowing he would step down at the right time and this is the right time. The teams under Nix may have not had winning records, but he was changing the atmosphere of the Bills one year at a time. A little slower than some of us would have liked, but he has hopefully helped guide the ship and now it’s time for someone else to finish the job in which he started.

Thank you Buddy. Godspeed.

You can follow me @DougRox14

May 10, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel (3) throws a pass during rookie minicamp at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

A number of people can’t get out of bed for 8am. I actually had a photo shoot at the CN Tower in Toronto yesterday for 8:30am and I just about slept through my alarm which was set for 7am. However, for his first day of work Bills new QB EJ Manuel showed up at One Bills Drive at 6am. Forget sleeping through his alarm, this man was eager to get going, eager to start learning and eager to start practicing. Leadership starts from the QB position and when you are the first man on the field and last one off the field, other players and coaches around you begin to notice, not only your work ethic, but your DESIRE to be there. Your DESIRE to be better.

Now I’m not taking away from the other players, because they were at the facilities at 6am as well, which bodes well for this young group of players. However, watch EJ’s presser on buffalobills.com. he is cool, he is calm and he is collected. He didn’t hesitate to answer any of the questions thrown his way (and yes they were softball questions) and he said he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he is eager to show what he can do. It seems as though you can almost tell he wants to earn the privilege to start, rather than be given the starting role.

On a final note, even though the rookies are hard at work this weekend, all the rookies plan on calling their mother on Sunday for Mother’s Day. EJ Manuel believes his mother already had her Mother’s Day gift when he was drafted and she knows, this is his job, his responsibility, so she doesn’t want her needs to interfere with what Manuel has to do to prepare to win.

You can follow me on twitter @DougRox14