THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Michael Jordan and McDermott's Process

[Shaw66]

I’ve been watching The Last Dance on ESPN.   It’s the ten-part documentary about Michael Jordan’s career.  It’s a great collection of behind-the-scenes film over Jordan’s years with the Bulls, with plenty of candid comments from Jordan and others about his personality.  After watching one of the recent episodes, I could see more clearly one of the central parts of Sean McDermott’s team-building philosophy. 

 

Jordan is and was extraordinarily competitive.   I’d heard about his competitiveness before, and it’s on full display in the show.  He has a burning desire to win.  He gambles, he competes in coin-tossing, he plays table tennis, he invents personal affronts to fire himself up.   Everything is to win – for Jordan there is no other way to play. 

 

Jordan came to understand that for his team to win championships at the highest level, the entire team had to practice and play with the same desire he had, and he made his team do it.  Every day in practice, Jordan played hard, and he was in the face of his teammates to play hard, to play like his life depended on it.   He demanded intense competitiveness of everyone: Scotty Pippen, Horace Grant, B. J. Armstrong, everyone.

 

Steve Kerr hadn’t been on the team when the Bulls did their first three-peat, and Jordan decided that Kerr didn’t know what it took to be a winner.  Jordan began pushing him, harassing him in practice.   Finally, Kerr lost it and punched Jordan in the chest, and Jordan punched Kerr in the eye.  After practice Jordan admitted to Phil Jackson that he was wrong, and he called Kerr and apologized.   After that, they were fine.

 

Jordan was merciless with Scott Burrell, who had enormous talent but wouldn’t, couldn’t play with the fire that would make him a great player.   Jordan was merciless.  Other players talk about how bad they felt for Burrell.

 

When asked whether he liked Jordan, B.J. Armstrong struggled.   In the film, you can see how much fun they all had around each other, laughing and joking.  They were great teammates.  But in the end, Armstrong admitted that everyone was afraid of Jordan.   You didn’t want him to target you. 

 

What you can see on the show is that Jordan raised the level of play of the entire team by demanding competitive excellence.   He was merciless, but he got away with it because he also was fun to be around and because he held himself to the same standards.   There were plenty of times when his teammates thought he was a jerk, but they were willing to put up with it, because they knew he was making them all better. 

 

What’s fascinating is to see how fierce competitiveness translated into championships.   The Bulls played for years with unmatched intensity and commitment to excellence.  They came at you with a killer instinct that Jordan demanded of the team. 

 

Watching this display I could see for the first time why it is that Brandon Beane and McDermott value certain personal qualities above all else.  

 

To win consistently, an NFL team has to play with the intensity and the competitiveness that the Bulls had in those years.  They have to be determined to execute their jobs with ruthless efficiency under just about the most difficult circumstances imaginable, short of being in an actual battle.  They have to play with excellence and non-stop ferocity.

 

NFL rosters are too big for one player to will the rest of team to play like that.  In the NBA, a Jordan or a Magic or a Bird, by virtue of being the best player and the hardest worker on the team and if they have the right personality, can bring everyone else along with him.  In the NFL, that isn’t possible.  First, the leader pretty much has to be the QB, but the QB can’t be the most physically intense player on the team.  His job is to avoid some of the contact that the other guys need to relish.   So, occasional leap over a linebacker notwithstanding, the QB isn’t playing the same game everyone else is.  Second, no one has the personality to keep 40 different guys happy and willing to put up with the relentless demands of the lead dog.  Third, although the QB may be the leader of the team, it’s hard for him to demand intensity from the defense.  He just isn’t around them enough, and he doesn’t really understand the game they’re playing.

 

So, turn the clock back ten or fifteen years.  A young Sean McDermott, working with the Eagles and later with the Panthers, is studying how to build a winner.  That’s the amazing thing about McDermott – he’s been studying how to be a winner for a couple of decades.   He can see that when teams succeed, one characteristic they always have is intense competitiveness.   If they aren’t intensely competitive, when the chips are down, they lose.  And they lose not just because they don’t have enough fight on the field; they lose because the competitiveness isn’t there every day on the practice field and in the position rooms and at the training table.  They lose because they don’t want it bad enough to focus on doing what they need to do every day. 

 

McDermott realized that the only way for an NFL team to have that intense competitiveness is to fill the roster with guys who already have it.  He knew what that intensity looks and feels like, because it’s the intensity that successful wrestlers have.  He has it.  He knew from watching his wrestling teammates that the very best didn’t get their intensity from someone else; it’s inside them.  And so, McDermott came to understand that a core principle to NFL success is to fill the team with guys who have it.   

 

In Beane, McDermott has a GM who understands the same point.   And that is why they have told us for three years now that they are looking for players who want to compete, who love to compete, who hate to lose and who are great teammates.   They still need leaders, but the leaders can’t do the job on a football team unless the whole team burns with the desire to win, burns so much that they are willing to do what needs to be done, every day, to win on Sundays.

 

Beane and McDermott have now bought together a team full of guys with that fire in them and with the understanding that success comes from working together.  These guys look around the locker room and see a bunch of other guys just like themselves.  They all want it.  They see it in their coach.   They see it in their quarterback. 

 

It’s powerful.  

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

[mushypeaches]

Well said.  This team is easy to like, easy to root for.  

 

But probably tough as hell to play against

[Inigo Montoya]

I think it explains McBeane’s desire to have a strong veteran leader in every position room to help push, teach, and hold accountable the young guys in that room.  That’s why players like Gore and DiMarco end up on the Bills’ roster.  They are valued beyond just their on the field ability by Beane and McDermott.

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Inigo Montoya

[Shaw66]

Just now, Inigo Montoya said:

I think it explains McBeane’s desire to have a strong veteran leader in every position room to help push, teach, and hold accountable the young guys in that room.  That’s why players like Gore and DiMarco end up on the Bills’ roster.  They are valued beyond just their on the field ability by Beane and McDermott.

Excellent point.  Wish I'd thought of it.  

 

And that's why Trent Murphy is on the team.  

 

You see it in the youngsters, too.  You see it in how Singletary and Moss run.   Knox has it.   Fromm has it.   McDermott wants intense guys who also will commit to the team.  

[Happy]

McD may want to win, but can he develop the gameday tactics to win consistently, especially against playoff caliber teams?  The week 16 game vs NE and the WC game vs Texans both say no, not right now.  Like this team, McD and his staff are all works in process.  How will it turn out?  Well, as long as this season (assuming it is played) is a positive step forward from last season, then there is reason for optimism.

 

It's not just the players who need to get better, it is McD and his staff that need to show the kind of winning fire that Michael Jordan did; right now I'm not sure they have that kind of leadership, at least not on the coaching staff, as McD is too low key and conservative. There needs to be a get-in-your-face kind of guy who challenges others among the players; probably the closest we have to that right now is Micah Hyde and that may be a stretch.

 

I don't think McD is that kind of coach; rather I suspect he tells the guys what he wants to see from them and lets the leaders emerge.  Most of the team is young, and some of the young guys need to step into this role; i.e. Josh, Edmunds, someone else.  Time for the young guys to start stepping up.

 

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

And that's why Trent Murphy is on the team. 

 

Disagree.  Why couldn't Hughes fill this role?  Murphy is just a FA pickup who isn't dominant on a consistent basis and is overpaid.  He'll rack up a bunch of stats against a favorable matchup, then get overpowered and pushed out of plays the next week.  Plus he is terrible against the run and screen plays as he is undisciplined in setting the edge.

[Shaw66]

16 minutes ago, Happy said:

McD may want to win, but can he develop the gameday tactics to win consistently, especially against playoff caliber teams?  The week 16 game vs NE and the WC game vs Texans both say no, not right now.  Like this team, McD and his staff are all works in process.  How will it turn out?  Well, as long as this season (assuming it is played) is a positive step forward from last season, then there is reason for optimism.

 

It's not just the players who need to get better, it is McD and his staff that need to show the kind of winning fire that Michael Jordan did; right now I'm not sure they have that kind of leadership, at least not on the coaching staff, as McD is too low key and conservative. There needs to be a get-in-your-face kind of guy who challenges others among the players; probably the closest we have to that right now is Micah Hyde and that may be a stretch.

 

I don't think McD is that kind of coach; rather I suspect he tells the guys what he wants to see from them and lets the leaders emerge.  Most of the team is young, and some of the young guys need to step into this role; i.e. Josh, Edmunds, someone else.  Time for the young guys to start stepping up.

 

 

Disagree.  Why couldn't Hughes fill this role?  Murphy is just a FA pickup who isn't dominant on a consistent basis and is overpaid.  He'll rack up a bunch of stats against a favorable matchup, then get overpowered and pushed out of plays the next week.  Plus he is terrible against the run and screen plays as he is undisciplined in setting the edge.

I disagree on both of these points.   

 

McDermott is intensely competitive.   He works every day to improve particular skills that he and his staff have identified for him to work on.   He's going to improve as a coach, year after year, for the next 20 years.   He doesn't know any other way.  He is nowhere near his best coaching abilities.

 

Hughes doesn't have anything like the intensity that Murphy has.   Murphy has white-hot intensity, and McDermott wanted him on the team because of it.   Murphy's problem is that intensity alone isn't enough, so he's at risk of losing his job every season.   

[freddyjj]

34 minutes ago, Happy said:

 

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

And that's why Trent Murphy is on the team. 

 

Disagree.  Why couldn't Hughes fill this role?  Murphy is just a FA pickup who isn't dominant on a consistent basis and is overpaid.  He'll rack up a bunch of stats against a favorable matchup, then get overpowered and pushed out of plays the next week.  Plus he is terrible against the run and screen plays as he is undisciplined in setting the edge.

My guess is Addison assumes this role for DEs if Murphy is shown the door.  Vocal and got to NFL the hard way.  And he just produces.

[Don Otreply]

Thanks Shaw66, excellent read, it takes hard asz desire, intensity and skill to pull of a championship, and that is exactly what SM is creating in Buffalo. As was posted above any team that has us on there schedule knows damn well it’s gonna be a dog fight. 

[Shaw66]

18 minutes ago, freddyjj said:

My guess is Addison assumes this role for DEs if Murphy is shown the door.  Vocal and got to NFL the hard way.  And he just produces.

I don't really no the new players, but "vocal and got there the hard way" is what we're talking about here.   

 

McDermott would have loved Fred Jackson.  

[Chaos]

First, I have no complaints about McDermott's results to date. If we don't win a playoff game this season, I probably will start to fear Marvin Lewis syndrome creeping into the team. But as of now, the aggregate results are acceptable.  Next, I want everything in the original post to be true.  However, I am not convinced it is true.
 

I have a hard time separating Jordan's competitive nature from his talent.  I am short and lack athletic ability, bless me with 1000x Jordan's burning desire to win, and it would mean nothing to an NBA team.
 

My understanding is that the average NFL head coach spends 100 hours a week working during the season.  Here the headline from an article written in 2006. "No Sleep Till Touchdown NFL coaches, the hardest-working men in human history." I think the entry point to be a consistent winning NFL coach is to be in the top 0.1% of the general population in terms of competitiveness.   Any NFL coach who is not part of that group will likely not be an NFL head coach for long.  

I believe  McDermott is part of the top 0.1% group. I am just not convinced that it provides the team any particular edge vs. the competition. McDermott will put the work in.   If he is a really talented coach, his teams will win. If his talent is average, the teams over time will perform at an average level.

In terms of competitiveness providing insight to the players for the team, I imagine that there is some effort + desire + talent = production formula that exists even if it can't be easily quantified. I also expect, at the NFL level, the standard deviation for talent is much greater than the standard deviation for effort and desire. I think the teams that win the most consistently are the teams with the best talent (including coaching).  If McDermott's coaching talent equal's Michael Jordan's basketball talent, Bills fans are in for a great long ride. If McDermott's coaching talent equal's Michael Jordan's baseball talent, maybe not so much, notwithstanding the burning desire.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Chaos

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I hate to be that guy, and it hurts saying it, but Jordan's personality is strikingly more similar to that of Brady's than McDermott's

 

[dorquemada]

8 minutes ago, Chaos said:

My understanding is that the average NFL head coach spends 100 hours a week working during the season.  Here the headline from an article written in 2006. "No Sleep Till Touchdown NFL coaches, the hardest-working men in human history." I think the entry point to be a consistent winning NFL coach is to be in the top 0.1% of the general population in terms of competitiveness.   Any NFL coach who is not part of that group will likely not be an NFL head coach for long.  

 

 

The defense introduces one Rex Ryan into evidence

[RoyBatty is alive]

Anyone still questioning the departure of the much heralded Marceul Dareus or Sammie Watkins for not being here and not "process guys"?  I certain;y dont.

5 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I hate to be that guy, and it hurts saying it, but Jordan's personality is strikingly more similar to that of Brady's than McDermott's

 

I agree with what you are saying BUT there is a big difference, McDemoprtt isnt being a competitive players a la Tom Brady or Jordan, he is trying to be a role model coach, not an alpha type a asshat sports figure.

[BillsPride12]

18 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Anyone still questioning the departure of the much heralded Marceul Dareus or Sammie Watkins for not being here and not "process guys"?  I certain;y dont.

I agree with what you are saying BUT there is a big difference, McDemoprtt isnt being a competitive players a la Tom Brady or Jordan, he is trying to be a role model coach, not an alpha type a asshat sports figure.

McDermott's role would be like the Phil Jackson of the team whereas you want Josh Allen to be our Michael Jordan or Tom Brady if we are going to use the Chicago Bulls analogy. 

[Shaw66]

22 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I hate to be that guy, and it hurts saying it, but Jordan's personality is strikingly more similar to that of Brady's than McDermott's

 

You're absolutely correct.   And if you thought I was comparing Jordan and McDermott, you more or less missed the point.  

 

I had written enough, so I didn't want to confuse the point by talking about Brady.   Brady IS Jordan, in terms of competitiveness.   But when I watched the Patriots it was clear that Brady couldn't demand the kind of performance from all of his teammates that Jordan could with his team.   The nature of personal dynamics is such that no one can drive the performance of 30 or 40 individuals the way a basketball player can drive eight or ten.  When Jordan was doing his job, he was on the floor, side by side with his teammates.   Their play together is in a significant measure personal - Jordan's looking you in the eye expecting you to be here or there, expecting the ball to arrive here or there.  It's a one-on-one relationship.   A quarterback may have that kind of relationship with his offensive players, but there's no such relationship with his defensive players.   Just can't be done.  

 

Brady went as far as he could down that road, and it helped drive the team, but he never had anything like the impact that Jordan had.   

 

The point is that in football, the individual players have to bring the intensity themselves, because it isn't possible for anyone, including a Brady, to get all the players to be committed at the necessary level.  It just isn't possible.  

 

And that's why in looking for players, McDermott and Beane aren't interested in any guy who doesn't have the natural competitiveness, intense natural competitiveness, of a Jordan or a Bird.  

[RoyBatty is alive]

I will agree wit that, BUT realistically i  dont except J Allen to turn into Tom Brady or Jordan, fundamentally just too "nice a guy".  ..... more like a more polished Dak Prescott is a realistic goal for me.  I wouldnt be shocked one iota if McDemott was a real asshat when he played, you dont rack up 20 tackles in one large game without being fiercely competitive. 

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

You're absolutely correct.   And if you thought I was comparing Jordan and McDermott, you more or less missed the point.  

 

I had written enough, so I didn't want to confuse the point by talking about Brady.   Brady IS Jordan, in terms of competitiveness.   But when I watched the Patriots it was clear that Brady couldn't demand the kind of performance from all of his teammates that Jordan could with his team.   .  

 

Well, I don't think you can cite this legendary scenario of a player (Jordan) being the supreme (and really sole) motivator of his teammates and then apply it to any NFL coach.  Because you then are comparing McD to Jordan. 

 

Every coach wants winners/motivated competitors, etc.  McD isn't unique in that regard.  He can line up all the process guys he wants, but Michael Jordan isn't walking through that door.  There's no player like that on this team (Brady was exactly like that, Offense or Defense) and a coach just can't motivate his players like a once or twice in a lifetime player/leader can.  The Last Dance is pure proof of that.

 

McD is intense, yes.  He has some intense players.  More intense and with more intense guys on the roster than most NFL HCs?  I mean, I don't know....

[stevewin]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

You're absolutely correct.   And if you thought I was comparing Jordan and McDermott, you more or less missed the point.  

 

I had written enough, so I didn't want to confuse the point by talking about Brady.   Brady IS Jordan, in terms of competitiveness.   But when I watched the Patriots it was clear that Brady couldn't demand the kind of performance from all of his teammates that Jordan could with his team.   The nature of personal dynamics is such that no one can drive the performance of 30 or 40 individuals the way a basketball player can drive eight or ten.  When Jordan was doing his job, he was on the floor, side by side with his teammates.   Their play together is in a significant measure personal - Jordan's looking you in the eye expecting you to be here or there, expecting the ball to arrive here or there.  It's a one-on-one relationship.   A quarterback may have that kind of relationship with his offensive players, but there's no such relationship with his defensive players.   Just can't be done.  

 

Brady went as far as he could down that road, and it helped drive the team, but he never had anything like the impact that Jordan had.   

 

The point is that in football, the individual players have to bring the intensity themselves, because it isn't possible for anyone, including a Brady, to get all the players to be committed at the necessary level.  It just isn't possible.  

 

And that's why in looking for players, McDermott and Beane aren't interested in any guy who doesn't have the natural competitiveness, intense natural competitiveness, of a Jordan or a Bird.  

You said it much more diplomatically than I could.

 

To me there couldn't be a more terrible comparison (not aimed at you, just my true feeling)  To me Brady is a cheating douche who has cheated throughout his career to win, and his "competitiveness" manifests as tantrums when things don't go his way.  There is absolutely no comparison to the qualities Jordan showed with regard to working and willing himself and his teammates to be the absolute best they could be.

 

BTW - such a great show - so great to see Jordan doing his thing - amazing.  How anyone could not say he is the best ever is beyond me - no one touches him as far as I'm concerned. 

[Shaw66]

8 minutes ago, stevewin said:

 

BTW - such a great show - so great to see Jordan doing his thing - amazing.  How anyone could not say he is the best ever is beyond me - no one touches him as far as I'm concerned. 

I agree.   I have to admit that as the years have gone by the memory of just how impactful he was has faded a bit.   And what an enormous star he was.   Everyone DID want to be like Mike.  

 

The show gives a great look inside his life during those years.  The amount of pressure he was under to be Mike whenever he left the house or the locker room was incredible.   And through it all he was patient, smiling, and then still able to perform on the floor in unbelievable ways.   

 

But what impressed me the most, and what got me thinking about what I wrote, was the level of emotional intensity the whole team brought to the game.   They worked so hard, every day, because they couldn't stand losing, and they couldn't stand it because Jordan made them that way.  

 

60 Minutes did a show on him once, and they covered his fantasy camp.   Forty-something wannabes playing ball for three or four days, with Jordan and others coaching drills.  Every camper was guaranteed at least one three-on-three game with Jordan on his team.   The report said no matter what happened, Jordan never lost.  Never.   He hates to lose.   He admits it.  He admits it isn't always pretty.   It's just the way he is.  

[Saxum]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

 Brady IS Jordan, in terms of competitiveness.   

 

Jordan did not whine; if he got calls by referee he worked harder not try to get referees to get a pass.  Bad comparison. 

24 minutes ago, stevewin said:

You said it much more diplomatically than I could.

 

To me there couldn't be a more terrible comparison (not aimed at you, just my true feeling)  To me Brady is a cheating douche who has cheated throughout his career to win, and his "competitiveness" manifests as tantrums when things don't go his way.  There is absolutely no comparison to the qualities Jordan showed with regard to working and willing himself and his teammates to be the absolute best they could be.

 

You have a better opinion of Brady than me.