Diggs NOT at mandatory minicamp, McDermott "very concerned" DAY 2 UPDATE: He's back

[Royale with Cheese]

5 minutes ago, Process said:

What a thread. One for the history books.

It might make Buzzfeed if we send it to them.

[Doc]

12 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

I'm not sure anymore that it is that much on Doresy anymore. I just posted a Ty Dunne article on the 13 minutes as I started to dig a little more and think about things, I recalled that this was a good insight into how the 2022 team was with players speaking anonymously. I am thinking now, it may be a McD issue.

 

I remember that Dunne article.  I think that 13 seconds was a combination of Farwell not getting the change in KO strategy to Bass and Frazier blowing the play-calls.  He got rid of Farwell and now has taken over defensive play-calling.  We'll see where that gets us this year.

[Breakout Squad]

38 minutes ago, arcane said:

Honestly everything I hear out of national media regarding the bills becomes more and more unhinged with each passing day

 

They accumulate dust and pretend it's gold 

 

Theyre talking themselves into things that will not happen and dont represent reality 

I’m a McDermott supporter but he makes good points. Beane has been a good GM and is well respected league wide. Josh isn’t going anywhere. The odd man out would have to be McDermott. 
 

I don’t blame the 13 second debacle against KC on McD. That was on Frazier and poor execution IMO

[Buffalo716]

14 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

It's been on this board, it has been on call-ins to WGR that Sean's seat is getting hotter.

 

We wonder why Chad Hall left? I figured I would go back and pull up this gem from Ty Dunne about 13 seconds - it talks about about Heath Farwell our ST coordinator, McDermott Displeasure and Diggs is in it as well. I highlighted and underscored the main points. I really wonder if...

https://www.golongtd.com/p/it-was-a-bad-bad-situation

 

Only, he did not. He held a generic, “We’ll grow from this”-themed address. The position coaches met with their players, then with the personnel department for year-end summaries on each player and… goodbye. Have a nice offseason. That’s it. Nothing was shared openly amongst players and coaches alike. Everything ended very “abruptly,” one team source said.

 

Many were left wanting more.

 

“You preach accountability,” one player said. “But you don’t practice it.”

 

“What I’ve been told by many players on the team,” one veteran said, “and some special teams players, is our special team coordinator Heath Farwell, that’s his job, right? He’s aware of the situation. He has studied that. So, he tells McDermott to kick the squib. And McDermott said to kick the ball out of the field. So then, Farwell is arguing the case for why we should kick the squib. But then also you’ve got special teams on the other side and he has to get them together and give them

their pep talk and play call and what they’re trying to do. He’s on the other side and telling them to do that, and then he runs down and goes back and in the midst of all this confusion, the kicker didn’t get the information that he needed to kick the squib. So that’s what happened. They get out there and didn’t kick the squib.

“It was a bad, bad situation.”

 

“He was telling them how to line up for the squib,” this player said. “And I guess McDermott had the last say and I don’t know if McDermott translated that to Heath because Heath was prepared for the squib in his mind and McDermott was like, ‘Kick it out.’”

One player was a bit more diplomatic, citing a “miscommunication.”

 

“I’m never one to point fingers,” he said. “It’s nobody’s fault, but I think everybody knows what should’ve been called and it wasn’t.”

Farwell is no longer in Buffalo. He resigned and is now the special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Players said he was unhappy in Buffalo and left on his own accord. They repeat that he was trying to do the right thing in that kickoff moment and deserves no scorn.

 

Frazier calls the defense but obviously McDermott wasn’t exactly ordering a popcorn from a vendor in Section 120 through those two timeouts. He’s clearly an active participant and, if he didn’t intervene to make sure his defense was positioned to disrupt KC’s speed, he should have. Probably no coach in the NFL has been thinking about how to stop Mahomes, Hill and Kelce more these last years and… that was the grand reveal? In the AFC Championship one year prior, McDermott coached scared by kicking chip-shot field goals. That side of him reared its ugly head again — the Bills killed two possessions in this shootout by punting on fourth and 4 and fourth and 1. But this time around, he discovered a new way to coach scared.

 

As one source familiar with the inner-workings of the team puts it, nothing of importance at One Bills Drive happens without McDermott’s approval. He’s aware of everything, right down to what reporters are tweeting during a punt period at practice. Thus, this does not compute. How does this same micromanager freeze up when the season is on the line?

With everything on the line…

…with a chance to host a conference championship…

“…you fold,” one defensive player said, despondently. “You fold.”

 

“Emotions were up in the air,” one veteran said. “Everybody was angry and upset and Stefon Diggs was having an argument with a defensive player — just saying that he was upset with the call — and then Jerry (Hughes) stepped in. There was a big uproar and people were about to throw hands. (McDermott) comes in and says if you’re about to blame anyone for what happened, you should blame him. But that was the only time that he took accountability. There was no public accountability after that. In our exit meetings and interviews, he never really highlighted that as well. He never broke down why we didn’t kick the squib. It was like a ‘Thank you for an amazing year. You guys are great. We’ll see what happens next year.’”

 

McDermott has cycled through a lot of assistant coaches over his five years in charge.

When one is asked what it’s like to work with him as a boss, he chooses not to answer.

“If I have anything bad to say, I’d rather say it to his face. Read into that as you may.”

 

Added one player: “I didn’t notice it (during the season) because everybody was flying the Buffalo flag and teamwork and family and stuff like that but, once the season was over, a lot of people were being more vocal within the organization of their displeasure toward Sean McDermott. That was so surprising for me

 

A squib kick is not a guarantee of anything… football is a crazy game 

 

Time does not start on a squib until touched by the receiving team… I’ve seen plenty of squib kicks fell on the 25-35 yard line … and you can give yourself up with no time gone

 

its not a guarantee to pin you inside the 15 or run time off… and that’s just an objective truth 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Coming in to say duggy isnt about the team but himself. Peace 

 

 

8 minutes ago, Breakout Squad said:

I wonder what high level meetings Dunkirk Don is attending these days. That guy reminded me of a buddy of mine that was in the Air Force as a grunt but claimed he saw aliens at a secret base. 

 

Don was the best wonder what happened to that guy 😅😅

 

 

[Reed83HOF]

1 minute ago, Buffalo716 said:

A squib kick is not a guarantee of anything… football is a crazy game 

 

Time does not start on a squib until touched by the receiving team… I’ve seen plenty of squib kicks fell on the 25-35 yard line … and you can give yourself up with no time gone

 

its not a guarantee to pin you inside the 15 or run time off… and that’s just an objective truth 

 It's not the squib kick itself  - it is everything surrounding it...

 

The assistants who have voluntarily left for lateral positions with other teams (Farwell, Chad Hall) or the strange Frazier move (I was in favor of), or even the report last year that Daboll wanted out regardless if he got an HC job or not. Lack of accountability to players but yet demanding it from them.

 

Once 2022 people within OBD were voicing displeasure regarding him.

 

When one is asked what it’s like to work with him as a boss, he chooses not to answer.

“If I have anything bad to say, I’d rather say it to his face. Read into that as you may.”

 

 

[Doc]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

A squib kick is not a guarantee of anything… football is a crazy game 

 

Time does not start on a squib until touched by the receiving team… I’ve seen plenty of squib kicks fell on the 25-35 yard line … and you can give yourself up with no time gone

 

its not a guarantee to pin you inside the 15 or run time off… and that’s just an objective truth 

 

It's not a guarantee, but it's apparent the final call wasn't for Bass to kick a TB.

[BarleyNY]

26 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

You’re the guy that gives the peace sign while blowing a kiss when taking pictures aren’t you?

I think of him as more of a duck lips guy 

[Reed83HOF]

7 minutes ago, Breakout Squad said:

I’m a McDermott supporter but he makes good points. Beane has been a good GM and is well respected league wide. Josh isn’t going anywhere. The odd man out would have to be McDermott. 
 

I don’t blame the 13 second debacle against KC on McD. That was on Frazier and poor execution IMO

 

Sean overruled the ST coordinator on the squib - do you really think he wasn't in on the defensive call? He was talking into his headset...

 

This year

 

I was sitting with players families 9 rows up on the 25 yardline and saw Sean calling plays after Cincy scored their 2nd TD. After they scored McD was actually coaching up the Defense on the sideline with Frazier just standing there holding the play sheet doing nothing.

[BarleyNY]

@Reed83HOFshould have his own podcast. 

[Royale with Cheese]

2 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

I think of him as more of a duck lips guy 

Tank top t-shirt and chain wallet clipped to his belt loop?

[Beck Water]

35 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

It's been on this board, it has been on call-ins to WGR that Sean's seat is getting hotter.

 

Right, but that's fan opinion.  Is it true, is it not true?  The fans on this board and the WGR call-ins don't know. There's probably a certain element of truth in that pro football is a performance-based business.

 

35 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

We wonder why Chad Hall left? I figured I would go back and pull up this gem from Ty Dunne about 13 seconds - it talks about about Heath Farwell our ST coordinator, McDermott Displeasure and Diggs is in it as well. I highlighted and underscored the main points. I really wonder if...

https://www.golongtd.com/p/it-was-a-bad-bad-situation

 

Only, he did not. He held a generic, “We’ll grow from this”-themed address. The position coaches met with their players, then with the personnel department for year-end summaries on each player and… goodbye. Have a nice offseason. That’s it. Nothing was shared openly amongst players and coaches alike. Everything ended very “abruptly,” one team source said.

 

Many were left wanting more.

 

“You preach accountability,” one player said. “But you don’t practice it.”

(.....................................)

 

McDermott has cycled through a lot of assistant coaches over his five years in charge.

When one is asked what it’s like to work with him as a boss, he chooses not to answer.

“If I have anything bad to say, I’d rather say it to his face. Read into that as you may.”

 

Added one player: “I didn’t notice it (during the season) because everybody was flying the Buffalo flag and teamwork and family and stuff like that but, once the season was over, a lot of people were being more vocal within the organization of their displeasure toward Sean McDermott. That was so surprising for me

 

 

While I loved what Ty Dunne wrote while he was with TBN, it should be noted that he's  now trying to make a living now with his own subscription website.

 

And one way to solicit subscriptions is to generate controversy and clicks.  Towards that end, he initially featured disgruntled former Bills director of player personnel Jim Monos in a bunch of his early podcasts and writings.  Just bear in mind that generating controversy and clicks is how he has to do business now.

 

I think it's notable that, regarding accountability, former Bill 'Zo Alexander said basically, that for certain, "the players know...the players will handle it."  I think a person can second-guess the apparent decision to not throw some players or coaches under the bus to the whole team, or take more blame himself in a different way.  It's seldom been McDermott's MO to throw someone under the bus publicly.

 

I don't think Heath Farwell left voluntarily.  I think he was "voluntold".  Perhaps Farwell should have spent less time arguing for a squib kick with McDermott and more time getting his people lined up?

 

I'm quite certain McDermott had input into the final defensive play calls.

 

There were a number of other players who the team quietly moved on from, including Levi Wallace.  Wallace, in case one missed it, basically admitted in an interview after joining the Pittsburgh Steelers that he had lined up out of position and didn't use his usual cues of looking to one of the safeties to check where he should align.

 

I think if you look around the league, McDermott has not cycled through an unusual number of assistant coaches. 

 

It's hardly news that people in the organization would voice displeasure towards the HC after a dispiriting loss.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Beck Water

[Reed83HOF]

18 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

Now find:

 

Any coach in the history of football that hasn’t cycled through assistants

Any coach in history where you can’t find anyone that didn’t enjoy working for him

 

Some points of view on how McD handled the Hamlin incident and what the players thought of that.

 

Not disagreeing with the Hamlin situation, but that doesn't erase anything else that has happened.

 

It was known in the league circles Daboll wanted out, the weird way we moved on from Frazier, Chad Hall leaves for a lateral position, ST coordinator from 13 seconds leaves for a lateral position - not to mention all of the assistants Daboll took with him - who knows how they decided on who to let go and who not to.

 

[BarleyNY]

3 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Tank top t-shirt and chain wallet clipped to his belt loop?

Oh yeah. And always sunglasses either over his eyes or on his head. 

[balln]

1 hour ago, Reed83HOF said:

 

This times a thousand. Finally. The gaze of the national media is in McD. Pressure is on ! 

[Doc]

3 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

Not disagreeing with the Hamlin situation, but that doesn't erase anything else that has happened.

 

It was known in the league circles Daboll wanted out, the weird way we moved on from Frazier, Chad Hall leaves for a lateral position, ST coordinator from 13 seconds leaves for a lateral position - not to mention all of the assistants Daboll took with him - who knows how they decided on who to let go and who not to.

 

I never saw anything credible regarding that rumor and he only took Tierney, who was the QB coach here (and there) and Bobby Johnson, who everyone wanted gone.  And there was nothing weird about moving on from Frazier as most everyone wanted him gone/wanted McD to call plays.  Farwell screwed-up the KO, so he was basically fired.  As for Hall, I have no idea what happened there, but I read his wife didn't want to live in Buffalo anymore.  Sounds as plausible as anything else.

 

[NewEra]

26 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

Very interesting…

 

I’ve never been high on McD- didn’t think he had what it took to go all the way…But I accepted him because he was the Bills coach…But I always thought we should have let him go and promoted Daboll to HC…👍

You never thought he had what it takes? Or you didn’t think he had what it takes after a few seasons?  Anything in particular?  When you say “never” been high on McD- did you feel like that when we hired him or did it develop over time?  
 

I wonder how people come about these thoughts that a HC doesn’t have what it takes before they even coach.  Can you elaborate?  
 

I like the guy.  I think he’s a good coach.  I don’t know if he has what it takes to win a SB but I believe that he does and I believe that he’ll get it done this season as long as we get some the luck that comes along with winning a Super Bowl

[Royale with Cheese]

1 minute ago, BarleyNY said:

Oh yeah. And always sunglasses either over his eyes or on his head. 

Probably spends a lot of time defending Nickelback on YouTube comments.

[Beck Water]

2 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

It was known in the league circles Daboll wanted out

 

How was this known?

 

It was alleged in Brian Flores lawsuit against the league for racist HC hiring that "Ironically, during their January 11, 2022, text exchange, Mr. McDonnell also suggested that if Mr. Flores were hired as the Giants Head Coach, Brian Daboll might be interested in leaving Buffalo to serve as his Offensive Coordinator (“Heard Daboll isn’t happy with Sean [McDermott] in Buffalo . . . might be able to get of if he doesn’t get a head job. . . thoughts?'”).
 

Got anything else?

 

McDonnell is then Giants co-director of player personnel.  "Might be interested".  "Might be able to get out" "heard he isn't happy..." isn't exactly definitive.   Flores alleges that the Giants engaged in a sham interview where they intended all along to hire Daboll, so make of that what you will.  Companies recruiting a guy have been known to put all sorts of pitches out there.  If they really don't intend to hire, they can say whatever, because they won't be asked to deliver.

 

I'm sure it's true that there was friction between Daboll and McDermott.  McDermott wasn't quiet about wanting more run game and less wear and tear on Josh Allen.  I'm sure it was brought up in private 10x for every 1-2 times it made it to McDermott's post-game pressers.  Whether that friction was anything out of the ordinary that would have led to taking a lateral move, I can't tell.  Nor can anyone; Daboll DID get a HC job.

[Reed83HOF]

3 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Right, but that's fan opinion.  Is it true, is it not true?  The fans on this board and the WGR call-ins don't know. There's probably a certain element of truth in that pro football is a performance-based business.

 

 

While I loved what Ty Dunne wrote while he was with TBN, it should be noted that he's  now trying to make a living now with his own subscription website.

 

And one way to solicit subscriptions is to generate controversy and clicks.  Towards that end, he initially featured disgruntled former Bills director of player personnel Jim Monos in a bunch of his early podcasts and writings.  Just bear in mind that generating controversy and clicks is how he has to do business now.

 

I think it's notable that, regarding accountability, former Bill 'Zo Alexander said basically, that for certain, "the players know...the players will handle it."  I think a person can second-guess the apparent decision to not throw some players or coaches under the bus to the whole team, or take more blame himself in a different way.  It's seldom been McDermott's MO to throw someone under the bus publicly.

 

I don't think Heath Farwell left voluntarily.  I think he was "voluntold".  There were a number of other players who the team quietly moved on from, including Levi Wallace.

 

Wallace, in case one missed it, basically admitted in an interview after joining the Pittsburgh Steelers that he had lined up out of position and didn't use his usual cues of looking to one of the safeties to check where he should align.

 

I think if you look around the league, McDermott has not cycled through an unusual number of assistant coaches. 

 

It's hardly news that people in the organization would voice displeasure towards the HC after a dispiriting loss.

 

Callers into WGR and even us posting on here, hold no water. There are those who are unhappy and want everyone gone and there are those who will always be homers. With the Conservative game plan against KC AFCCG, the 13 seconds meltdown people were already wondering if he could get us over the hump. The handling of Hamlin was a big positive.

 

These are all fair points, I'm just thinking through recollections from the past year or 2. Sometimes where there is smoke there is fire, sometimes there isn't. For Diggs to hold a grudge for 5 months that ended up in a heated argument with a player who wants to win and wants to know what's holding us back? Sean seemed pissed yesterday and walked it back today. It feels like the blowup was directed towards Sean...

 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/chad-halls-departure-from-buffalo-bills-to-jaguars-remains-a-bit-of-a-mystery/article_8b3a69c4-b7c4-11ed-96ef-1bbc1284637a.html

 

Hall’s contract with the Bills had expired, although left unanswered is whether the team made an effort to retain him – or Hall simply was ready to move on. McDermott’s answer when asked about Hall’s departure did little to clear that part up.

 

“Happy for Chad and his family. You know, what I can tell you is he did a good job for us this past season and the years since he's been with us,” McDermott said. “We're happy for him as he moves forward to Jacksonville. Sometimes things come up in terms of business decisions and everything on the coaching side of things. You wish you could keep everybody, but it's hard to do.”

 

It’s the second consecutive season the Bills have lost an assistant coach to the Jaguars. Last year, former Bills special teams coordinator Heath Farwell also made a lateral move to the Jaguars.