Visit Nick's shorter thoughts at twitter.com/NicholasMendola. For his trek through deciphering football-speak, read on...

(WGR 550) -- Working in sports journalism is a pretty okay gig, but a day like Thursday's media gathering at One Bills Drive is not one you covet. Sure, you might gather some tidbits from head coach Chan Gailey and his three top assistants, but it's going to take more digging than an archaeologist's worst nightmare. What was the refrain from the afternoon's talks? You can say it with me:

"Whatever it takes to win."

Let me set the scene for you. Gailey speaks at a podium for an overview and Q&A session, followed by offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins, defensive coordinator George Edwards and special teams boss Bruce DeHaven conducting 'enter-at-random' interviews at seated tables scattered about the place. Then, we all eat sandwiches and pasta salad. It's nice.

That said, here are some educated guesses from the goings-on at the Paul Maguine Press Box Club at Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon:

-- The back-and-forth between media and football coaches is like a chess game where the pieces are extra boring. This is no fault of either party. Football coaches think they might tip off the opposition and the media needs to address what their viewers/listeners/readers are screaming about.

All four fellas played any future ideas for the Bills pretty close to the vest. Can we glean anything from what they had to say? Sure. With apologies to dozens of noted philosophers, the phrase "a tiger can't change its stripes" cannot be an absolute (The tattoo community amongst tigers is growing by leaps and bounds, for one thing).

-- Gailey and Modkins abide by the same philosophy/cliche Buddy Nix said 4,000 times during his introductory news conference as Bills general manager, whatever it takes to win. I asked Gailey whether you needed the "name in lights" quarterback to win in this league, considering he's had success with Tyler Thigpen and Jay Fiedler, and his answer seemed to imply that the league was moving the way of needing a stud more than a plain "game manager." In other words, Gailey doesn't buy the Trent Dilfer/Ravens idea.

-- Gailey referenced the trade block as well as the draft and free agency as a way to acquire talent at signal caller, and that meant something to me in the wake of the Philadelphia Eagles news of the past week. Regardless of if Gailey wants Donovan McNabb from Philly or a wild card from any other team, using conditional draft pieces in 2011 to grab your quarterback for 2010 allows a team to focus on the laborious process of switching to a 3-4, which doesn't always mean instant success as it did for Green Bay this past season.

-- I asked both offensive minds in separate interviews whether they viewed the prototypical pocket passer as a must. Modkins seemed to infer that they'll take any athlete that can win and see what they can do with him. So while they'd certainly love to get their hands on their top available idea, it certainly doesn't rule out anyone from the myriad of quarterbacking styles: McNabb, Michael Vick, Tim Tebow, Dan LeFevour. They will get the guy they see as best fit for the job, and I'm almost guaranteeing it won't be Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick. That may seem like common sense to some, but it isn't a given.

-- George Edwards knows he has a battle on his hands to get a 3-4 defense ready for 2010, and wouldn't tip his hand even when confronted directly with a "Who would be more important to your defense at No. 9? Linebacker or defensive tackle?" question. He didn't flinch while saying, "Both." Frankly, other than Joe Buscaglia's idea from a few weeks back, I haven't seen too many ideas that make any sense to me, and I'll be intrigued to see what Edwards does to address this issue.

Seriously, we could start a chat room or web site simply based on the possibilities. It seems an absolute that Aaron Maybin will be an outside linebacker and Paul Posluszny will be inside, but would you bet on any other front seven player starting in a spot come opening day? Maybe Marcus Stroud and Kyle Williams as ends? But what about Aaron Schobel? Will he come back? Will he be a Bill? Will Chris Kelsay's reign as captain and locker room mouth piece come to a close? Will Kawika Mitchell cut it inside, or be cut altogether?

What? You're looking at me?

Mitchell played inside in Kansas City in a 4-3, so I think you can plant him alongside Pos. Maybin has to start outside. I think logic has the Bills going DT as early as possible, and trying to find another outside linebacker along the way. Maybe Joey Porter, who spent a lot of time with George Edwards in Miami? Also, Edwards coached Stroud and Richard Seymour when they were freshman on the Georgia d-line, so that could become a "fit," as the pundits say. And, of course, there's OLB/DE/athletic freak Derrick Morgan from Georgia Tech, recruited by Gailey at GT and set for a Top Ten spot in the draft.

-- Edwards said something else that rang true. When asked what it was like watching Bill Parcells come into Miami and turn that mess around, he referenced Parcells' job of "changing the entire culture" of the Dolphins. He at least has a theory of how to do it himself, and that's an important thing to recognize. It was nice to not here everyone utter useless statements about how "the pieces are here, we just gotta move them around." They know they have a ton of work to do, and won't say much about how they plan to do it.

-- By the way, don't ask these guys for their takes on players who are actually on the Bills. "Haven't seen enough tape will be their answer," but to paraphrase one colleague in the media, "These guys were getting entertained by game film four seconds after they were hired." If it's true that the coaches just started evaluating their own players yesterday, well, I wish the press conference would be a held a few days later in the week.

-- I don't think Modkins would give you a specific opinion if he was on fire and you asked him how it felt. Typical football guy. Does seem to be a fan of attacking and referenced having "two good backs" when asked if Fred Jackson can handle a No. 1 workload all year. And Chan is calling the plays... all of them.

-- Bruce DeHaven is a nice story, and easy to talk to. The guy gets Buffalo fans, which is nice. He knows he has a good punter in Brian Moorman and an above average kicker in Rian Lindell. Better than that, DeHaven put me a little more at ease with the Gailey and Nix hirings.

DeHaven said he's been places where he wasn't sure he'd get good special teams players on the roster because there weren't "football guys" in charge. Sure, he may have been coached into saying it, but there were only a few of us left at his table when DeHaven gave both men a vote of confidence as true football guys who will give him the pieces to succeed.

-- There isn't a ton of hope to sell for 2010 right now, and I know how nutty the football season gets as soon as someone doesn't throw a challenge flag far enough or in the right direction, but I'm starting to feel pretty good about Gailey's ability to find teachers. I just wonder if he'll get enough rope from the fans on what appears to be quite the long-term endeavor.

Email: nick@wgr550.com