What they thought in 2017 of McD hire

[Draconator]

I wanted Frank Reich instead of stupid Rex. I am very glad how things worked out for the Bills. 

[RyanC883]

24 minutes ago, LEBills said:

I was completely wrong on McD. I wanted an offensive minded coach back then and was disappointed with another Defensive coach.

 

I even had some doubts about him in 2018 because I loved Josh as a prospect but I thought he (and Beane) handled the QB position terribly (starting Peterman, not having an experienced QB room until midway through the season)

 

But he has really been great and he has improved in the nuances of coaching. Glad to be very wrong and excited for the next several years with him and Josh

 

the 2 seem to have a history of not benching vets quickly enough.  but they will eventually admit their mistake. overall the best part of the mcd hire is his working relationship with bean.  

 

2 minutes ago, Draconator said:

I wanted Frank Reich instead of stupid Rex. I am very glad how things worked out for the Bills. 

 

well, you were not wrong then!

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, DCofNC said:

I would argue that McD would not be shown in a great light we’re it not for Allen emerging.  Funny how a top 5 QB can make people look like a genius.  He came in and did what was expected, got the D on track and they won enough to back into the playoffs, the next year wasn’t so pretty, then JA came on and here we are.  If Allen had turned out to be the wrong Josh, I don’t think you are singing his praises right now.  His overly conservative approach has been taken away by having Josh basically blow it up.  The D has not been great for the majority of the time he’s been here, but has definitely flashed at times.  Overall, the success of a team these days is tied to scoring points, which is pretty much tied to QB play.  A bad coach can make it harder than it has to be, he is not a bad coach.  A good coach can look really good with a QB and I think that’s where you find him.  Good luck to the other new coaches, their future is tied to the QB they have to work with.

This post is selling McDermott short.  At worst, you can say he’s a “good” coach.  Making the playoffs with the 2017 roster was pretty impressive on its own.

 

Second, McDermott was a huge part of Josh’s success from his selection to hiring a new OC/QB coach to develop him.  
 

Third - I think McDermott has shown the ability to adapt which should be a given but isn’t always the coach for a HC.  

The only criticism that I think is fair about McDermott is whether he’s among the very best in the NFL by coaching a team into and winning the Super Bowl

 

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, DCofNC said:

If anything, you could argue McD blew the draft before, not taking Maholmes, but you don’t like that take because it doesn’t fit your narrative.

 

We're still doing this 5 years later? McDermott took over a couple months before the 2017 draft. He did not have his own GM on staff yet. He had no QB scouting to go off of. So he traded down and set himself up for a QB the following year. There was zero chance of us drafting a 1st round QB in 2017.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

2 hours ago, DCofNC said:

You act as if all the moves to get Allen were the Head Coach, which is a joke.   He did fall into their laps, there was a lot of chatter that Cleveland was going to take Allen first overall, how different would things have been? Denver could easily have taken him at 5, the Browns dictated that entire draft, not the Bills.  It was a great job by Beane going up and getting the guy they wanted, but he could have just as easily not ended up in Buffalo. 
 

Think back to 04 draft, the Bills couldn’t pull off the trade to get up for Big Ben and wound up the JP, how much better would the team have been fit years in end, had that gone differently?  How much better would the coaches have done with a real QB?

 

If anything, you could argue McD blew the draft before, not taking Maholmes, but you don’t like that take because it doesn’t fit your narrative.  Beane had to make up for it and go get the player they needed.

 

Yes Cleveland could have taken him, would the Jets' have then taken Mayfield, maybe.  Denver was ready to trade with us till Bradley Chubb fell into their lap, so highly unlikely they'd have taken Allen as they weren't looking for a QB.  Could the Bills instead have ended up with Darnold, maybe either him or Mayfield.  Either choice wouldn't have been terrible.

 

McD stated he didn't want to take a QB in 2017 as he hadn't had enough time to study them.  If he had known Maholmes were to end up the way he did, maybe he'd have changed his mind, but at the time he had alot of questions, maybe almost as many as Allen had going into the draft.

 

 

2 hours ago, DCofNC said:

They failed to win enough games to control their own destiny and it took a last second heroics of another team to put them in, that is backing in. 

 

Most of the time backing into the draft means you lose your last game, but still get in.   That wasn't the case here.  The Bills game ended about 20 minutes prior to the end of the Bengals game.  So if the ending times were reversed, would that mean they didn't back in?  Every year, the last week of the season, things change, teams get in and others get out.  I guess last year Cleveland and think it was Indy both backed in as if Miami had beaten the Bills they'd be in and one of those two out.  Don't recall anyone talking about Cleveland backing in.

 

In fact the only way any team ever makes the playoffs is by another team losing either this week or last week, or maybe 2 weeks prior.  But if according to you a team losing means that you backed in, then every team in the league backs in every year.

 

Regardless winning 9 games with that talent in 2017 was still impressive whether they made the playoff or not.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Ed_Formerly_of_Roch

[Billzgobowlin]

39 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Hahahahaha not sure if they ever served together in Carolina

 

Beane was with the Panthers in various capacities since 1998

Beane and McD were together in Carolina for 6 years, basically McDermott's whole tenure there.

I was referring to Polian and Beane sorry for a lack of clarity

[JohnNord]

42 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

We're still doing this 5 years later? McDermott took over a couple months before the 2017 draft. He did not have his own GM on staff yet. He had no QB scouting to go off of. So he traded down and set himself up for a QB the following year. There was zero chance of us drafting a 1st round QB in 2017.

This all depends who you believe.  According to Whaley and Monos, Terry loved Mahomes and wanted to take him.  They liked him too but McDermott claimed he didn’t want to send a message that the team was rebuilding with a rookie QB.  So with the new coach wanting to punt and GM’s not being overly vocal, Terry kept him mouth shut.  

 

Monos, more so that Whaley, claimed he saw physical promise in Mahomes but there still were some question makes about how he’d transition into the NFL.  
 

The reality of the situation IMO was that Whaley and his staff were on his way out and this had been the plan for months, if not back in January when McDermott was hired.  I think Terry was speaking to consultants like Bill Polian who advised him to wait to fire the scouting staff until after the draft to risk intel getting leaked to other teams.  
 

A franchise QB is a huge decision.  I don’t think McDermott trusted the advice from Whaley/Monos and certainly not Terry.  He also wasn’t confident enough to pick on his own.  So he waited until he could get Beane and his scouts to advise him.  It’s hard to fault his logic

Edited October 10, 2021 by JohnNord

[Albany,n.y.]

At the time my thoughts were anyone but Anthony Lynn.  The last thing I wanted was a branch off the Rex Ryan coaching tree.  

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, JohnNord said:

The smartest thing McDermott did was get rid of the dysfunction at One Bills Drive when he first took over.  
 

Unlike Rex and Doug Marrone before him, I think he was smart enough to know that the issues at OBD went beyond what happened on the field.

 

Not sure how an unproven rookie HC got that much power, probably the naivety of the Pegulas, but they definitely lucked out.  Very Good coach…now he needs to prove he’s a great coach!  

 

how

[AuntieEm]

2 hours ago, JohnNord said:

The smartest thing McDermott did was get rid of the dysfunction at One Bills Drive when he first took over.  
 

Unlike Rex and Doug Marrone before him, I think he was smart enough to know that the issues at OBD went beyond what happened on the field.

 

Not sure how an unproven rookie HC got that much power, probably the naivety of the Pegulas, but they definitely lucked out.  Very Good coach…now he needs to prove he’s a great coach!  

 

        Pegula may have been  new to nfl and how to run a team but Terry was still a successful business man and when they interviewed Sean who's so very detail oriented wouldn't have been hard to be impressive.  I bet he was able to detail how he would build up a team and the plan to bring in beane as new gm.  After Rex and his build a bully plan  it wouldn't even take much to have a plan that was better.  I expect any question they asked Sean he had answers  and of such nature it was easy to follow and feel certain that the plan was achievable with the proper effort and here we are.  If Sean swung and missed we'd still have a solid team, but luckily they backed a winner.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by AuntieEm
Corrections

[JohnNord]

14 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

how

- Removed Russ Brandon from all football matters.  When McDermott was hired Brandon was “promoted” to president of PSE overseeing the business side of the Bills and Sabres.  But the move prevented him from getting involved in football decisions as he previously had in the past.  
 

- Removed Doug Whaley and Jim Monos and staff.  Average at best as talent evaluators.  Had no clue how to build a roster or long term vision.  Also had no play at QB.  These two needed to go. 
 

- Removed Scott Berchtold.  PR person for 30 year or so and rumored to be the one of the famous “leaks” at OBD. 

 

Also he made move with several other coaching positions.  I believe the trainer and strength and conditioning coach.

 

Not only did he remove the underperforming co-workers from the positions, he filled the jobs with competent replacements who had the same vision as he did.   Basically he gave himself a completely fresh start which is what Rex, Marrone and Gailey never did before him.  
 

 

4 minutes ago, AuntieEm said:

 

        Pegula may have been  new to nfl and how to run a team but Terry was still a successful business man and when they interviewed Sean who's so very detail oriented wouldn't have been hard to be impressive.  I bet he was able to detail how he would build up a team and the plan to bring in beane as new gm.  After Rex and his build a bully plan  it wouldn't even take much to have a plan that was better.  I expect any question they asked Sean he had answers  and of such nature it was easy to follow and feel certain that the plan was achievable with the proper effort and here we are.  If Sean swung and missed we'd still have a solid team, but luckily they backed a winner.

 

 

Yep this was the rumor. Sean came to the interview with a giant binder outlining not only what he would do on the field but also with the culture of the organization.  This is something that Rex and Marrone never did.  Purely football guys.  I believe that’s how he initially landed the job and his attention to detail and planning gained him a lot of trust quickly

[Mr. WEO]

19 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

- Removed Russ Brandon from all football matters.  When McDermott was hired Brandon was “promoted” to president of PSE overseeing the business side of the Bills and Sabres.  But the move prevented him from getting involved in football decisions as he previously had in the past.  
 

- Removed Doug Whaley and Jim Monos and staff.  Average at best as talent evaluators.  Had no clue how to build a roster or long term vision.  Also had no play at QB.  These two needed to go. 
 

- Removed Scott Berchtold.  PR person for 30 year or so and rumored to be the one of the famous “leaks” at OBD. 

 

Also he made move with several other coaching positions.  I believe the trainer and strength and conditioning coach.

 

Not only did he remove the underperforming co-workers from the positions, he filled the jobs with competent replacements who had the same vision as he did.   Basically he gave himself a completely fresh start which is what Rex, Marrone and Gailey never did before him.  
 

 

 

With a new HC and GM, there was nothing for Brandon to do with running the team.  Plus, only a few months after McD got there,  Russ "resigned" as the Pegulas had him under investigation for inappropriate behavior.  Pegula gave him a break by letting him resign.

 

Whaley was a dead man walking after both he and Rex didn't deliver a playoff appearance for Pegula.  As he warned them, Pegula canned Rex before the season ended and Whaley went after the draft.  That was Pegula and everyone knew it was coming.

 

As for football staff, every new HC and GM combo is going to bring in new people.  

Edited October 10, 2021 by Mr. WEO

[billsfan89]

I always favor going after up and coming coordinators as opposed to retreads. So I liked the McD hire personally. I thought it was the right move philosophically to try and catch lighting in a bottle with an up and coming coach as opposed to chasing someone proven.

 

I think the fans liked the idea of the coordinator route but were unsure of McD’s track record which was a good but far from great DC coaching under a defensive coach. 
 

The media was lukewarm not calling it a bad hire but questioning if it was the teams best option.

[Buffalo Boy]

3 hours ago, DCofNC said:

I would argue that McD would not be shown in a great light we’re it not for Allen emerging.  Funny how a top 5 QB can make people look like a genius.  He came in and did what was expected, got the D on track and they won enough to back into the playoffs, the next year wasn’t so pretty, then JA came on and here we are.  If Allen had turned out to be the wrong Josh, I don’t think you are singing his praises right now.  His overly conservative approach has been taken away by having Josh basically blow it up.  The D has not been great for the majority of the time he’s been here, but has definitely flashed at times.  Overall, the success of a team these days is tied to scoring points, which is pretty much tied to QB play.  A bad coach can make it harder than it has to be, he is not a bad coach.  A good coach can look really good with a QB and I think that’s where you find him.  Good luck to the other new coaches, their future is tied to the QB they have to work with.

   McD was hired BEFORE Beane and clearly was the reason Beane was hired.    
   Some on here might know in greater detail but the Beane choice seemed like a Fait Accompli once McD got the job, maybe not at the time but in retrospect.

    They had the balls to make a bunch of personnel decisions both to the roster and the staff that have proved to be correct. They have also made some mistakes but EVERY GM and coach do. 
    The reason Josh makes him look good is because McBeane chose Josh. To argue otherwise, It’s like arguing the cool kid who is scoring with all the chicks since he bought the Corvette ( who most told him was a bad decision) shouldn’t get props for all the ladies he keeps hooking up with.

    He’s not perfect but he’s on the precipice of being our best coach ever…..why piss and moan about it🤔

[Beerball]

3 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Watching the Jets game and all the off-season gushing over Robert Saleh made me wonder what will they think of him in 3 to 4 years.  He was the sexy hire, but will he actually be any good? 

 

So got me thinking about the very un-sexy hire by the Bills in 2017.  I found a few articles ranking the hires and for the most part McD was ranked near the bottom of the 6 hires.  Some of the articles ranked the Marrone hire above the Bills.  Found  only one article that liked the McD hire.  Here's a comment from Fox Sports:

 

The Bills didn’t retain Anthony Lynn as their full-time head coach after making him the interim head coach for Week 17, which was a bit of a surprising move. Instead, they opted to hire former Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.

It’s not that it was a bad hire, but with all the issues the Bills have in the front office, and the lack of success they’ve had for the past two decades, McDermott likely won't bring the quick turnaround they need. At the very least, he should be able to turn around the defense, which was inexplicably bad under Rex Ryan.

What’s unclear, though, is how much of the Panthers’ defensive success was McDermott’s doing and how much was the fact that Ron Rivera was the head coach. We’ll find out relatively soon, but the bigger questions for McDermott loom on offense.

Will the Bills’ dominant ground game continue without Lynn? Will he be able to continue Tyrod Taylor’s development as a quarterback, if Taylor returns next season? These are two of the biggest questions McDermott will have to answer.

 

This article ranked McD 5th and Lynn 3rd. Another article  from NFL.com ranked Lynn the #1 hire and McD last.  Two of the hires that season were Shanahan (29-35) and McVay (43-21) compared to McD (38-26) Goff also had one season under his belt when McVay was hired so that likely helped his record some the 1st year.  Overall nothing to complain about much when looking at McD's record compared to them.   Lynn and V Joseph are both gone.  The other "great hire" think it was in 2016 with Pederson and the Eagles, another one who's now on the un-employed list.

 

At the time was hard to argue with most of the articles as many here too were not all that happy with the McD hire.  But interesting how many of the hot names, while great coordinators, never worked out as head coach.  Will Saleh join that list.  This year CBS ranks U Meyer as the 2nd best hire!

Here’s all you need to know about the hire.

 

 

[Warcodered]

3 hours ago, Apocalypse Nuts said:

 

 

 

I mean he really nailed this take.

[AuntieEm]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Hahahahaha not sure if they ever served together in Carolina

 

Beane was with the Panthers in various capacities since 1998

Beane and McD were together in Carolina for 6 years, basically McDermott's whole tenure there.

 

     Think they meant wonder if he was in Carolina while Pollan was there.

[AuntieEm]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

- Removed Russ Brandon from all football matters.  When McDermott was hired Brandon was “promoted” to president of PSE overseeing the business side of the Bills and Sabres.  But the move prevented him from getting involved in football decisions as he previously had in the past.  
 

- Removed Doug Whaley and Jim Monos and staff.  Average at best as talent evaluators.  Had no clue how to build a roster or long term vision.  Also had no play at QB.  These two needed to go. 
 

- Removed Scott Berchtold.  PR person for 30 year or so and rumored to be the one of the famous “leaks” at OBD. 

 

Also he made move with several other coaching positions.  I believe the trainer and strength and conditioning coach.

 

Not only did he remove the underperforming co-workers from the positions, he filled the jobs with competent replacements who had the same vision as he did.   Basically he gave himself a completely fresh start which is what Rex, Marrone and Gailey never did before him.  
 

 

Yep this was the rumor. Sean came to the interview with a giant binder outlining not only what he would do on the field but also with the culture of the organization.  This is something that Rex and Marrone never did.  Purely football guys.  I believe that’s how he initially landed the job and his attention to detail and planning gained him a lot of trust quickly

 

        When someone has a good sound plan and can explain it so it is clear and if it's also a reasonable logical process that alone demonstrates good coaching ability as for any good coach it helps to be a good teacher/communicator. 

[Mark Vader]

3 hours ago, DCofNC said:

They failed to win enough games to control their own destiny and it took a last second heroics of another team to put them in, that is backing in. 

Wrong.

 

Backing in to the playoffs, is when you lose your final game and still manage to get into the post season.

 

The Bills needed to win their last game and needed help. 

[PromoTheRobot]

More than a few here "knew" McDermott was a DUD, clapping his hands and spewing that Process crap. (but to be fair, Sean didn't help his image with his first QB Nate.)