Tyler Dunne story on McDermott - 3 parts, 25 interviews, one damning conclusion

[TheyCallMeAndy]

10 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Devils advocate: This post reads like someone who has an agenda to defend McDermott and will rebuke any source (let alone 25 of them) that display any negativity toward him. 

 

It’s a common theme to discredit an article by stating that it’s for “clicks”. Which in this case is especially odd, since “for clicks” is a phrase that indicates that the author wrote something inflammatory to drive click-traffic that increases advertising revenue. But Dunne doesn’t get paid for clicks (he has zero ads).

 

If the only source you would accept is McDermott himself telling you that he is doing a bad job, then of course you will never get that. You’ll never see Dick Jauron admit that either.

 

If this was anyone but Dunne, perhaps the theory of the big-bad-reporter being out to hurt the head coach for a couple advertising dollars would have some merit. But Dunne is as respected as a reporter as one could possibly be. University respected.

 

Reports of McD having a bit of an a-hole side has been around since he was hired. He famously went off on a reporter after a practice for writing a negative article.

 

That being said - who are we going to get that’s definitively better? I struggle to think of anyone. I love Ben Johnson’s offense, but he is definitively going to be better as a HC? That’s impossible to answer. completely own that in the not too distant past I was against firing McD in 2023. I made that position strongly known. What I didn’t make strongly known is after 2024 I’d like to move on, due to potentially limited candidates this summer. 

That is fair to say, as I have been a strong advocate to keep McD around for 2024. I made a super well received thread on it, which I totally didn’t delete. 
 

I know he likely needs to go, that we’ve likely peaked, and he has shown he’s isn’t reliable decision maker in do or die moments. 
 

My lone hesitation is like yours, the 2023 candidates for HC. Pickings are very thin. 

 

I fully believe, at the end of the day, it comes down on the HC. We fired 2 OCs, a DC, and probably soon to be 2 SPCs. 
 

This team will be best served with an offensive minded head coach, but I hate the idea of wiping this whole staff away. We have some gems. 

[The Frankish Reich]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

In sorry but that whole thing sounds like a complete lie. 
 

McD wanted his OL to wear work boots instead of Jordan’s during a walk through? What? 

More likely it's one of those things that was innocuous at the time, that is now blown up into a "story." Something like:

McD: "hey, [lineman], you look more like a slot receiver than a tackle wearing those Jordans."

[time passes] ... "I heard McD wants all linemen to wear work boots now."

[Billsfan1972]

Here's McD's comment about not going/staying up-tempo vs. Cincy (and comments, since Reddit).  Yes hit view on reddit.  

 

If you don't think he had a say on Dorsey's Offense......

[NewEra]

7 minutes ago, Heitz said:

 

I think it's odd to say Dorsey was a scapegoat, he just wasn't good and his job and had to go.  If we were scoring 40, but giving up 45 and he was fired, he'd be a scapegoat.  Now he's just a guy who got fired. 🤷‍♂️

 

There was also some discussion of McD "holding himself accountable" and what that even means, or looks like.  Is he firing himself?  I'd argue he is holding himself accountable by firing Dorsey - he's the one that hired the guy, so to have to swallow your pride and say I "F'd up, dude has to go, so I'm going to fire him" is him being responsible for the problem and trying to find a fix.  

💯 my friend!  And happy holidays to you!

 

I can’t believe how many times I’ve read a poster say “McD should hold himself accountable” or something to that nature.  Is he supposed to resign mid season?  Is Beane failing by not firing McD mid season?  Is Terry supposed to force the issue?  
 

He held himself accountable by firing the guy he made a mistake by not firing last offseason.   I didn’t think there was any chance he would fire Dorsey mid season and I don’t believe he wanted to.  It was just painfully obvious that he had to.  And he did. There’s not much else he can do other than resigning or handing over defensive play calling to a guy that has never called defensive plays.  

[wettlaufer]

1 hour ago, hondo in seattle said:

If I was a reporter who wanted to write a negative article about a HC, I'd do the following:

 

*  Interview every coach and player who I suspect has a negative opinion of the coach.

 

*  Include all the worst comments in the article.  

 

*  Include a couple of positive observations in the piece just to make it seem like I'm fair and balanced.

 

*  Imply that the negative sentiments represent a consensus even when they don't.    

 

I'm not sure Dunne did all this.  But I don't know that he didn't.  

 

I'm hoping that Terry spends enough time with the team to have a true understanding of what the coaches and players think of McD and how he actually operates.   

 

If Dunne is, in fact, giving a fair portrait of the man, he deserves to be fired.  I'm just not confident that he is.  

 

 

 

 

 

So you've worked in journalism, taught it, or are a journalism ethicist? There is plenty of balance in many of the quotes and observations. It's not all hate. There's no reason to question Dunne's journalist ethics, but you do. So what direct knowledge of journalism are you basing this on?

 

I've worked in journalism and don't agree with your take at all. Dunne is a thoroughly capable and diligent journalist and he's not making up things or slanting it 'just for the clicks.' It's a compelling story on its own. Everything Dunne has done as someone covering football and the Bills indicate this is an accurate portrait.

[TheyCallMeAndy]

1 minute ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Here's McD's comment about not going/staying up-tempo vs. Cincy (and comments, since Reddit).  Yes hit view on reddit.  

 

If you don't think he had a say on Dorsey's Offense......

But now he’s magically staying out of Joe Brady’s offense? 

[eball]

1 hour ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Reading some of the comments made by McD over the last 6 weeks made me think that Dorsey was not an independent OC in the way that DeBoll was. Dorsey was a tool of McD his purpose was to implement what McD wanted out of HIS offense and more importantly out of HIS QB.  The placing of a governor on Allen's play which was the primary reason this offense struggled at times came from McD.  And for this reason alone McD should be fired.  Dorsey was only there to try to make McD's demands happen.

 

 

This makes no sense at all, given what happened before and since Dorsey’s firing. 
 

[Buffalo03]

To be fair, no, he doesn't take accountability but Dorsey deserved to be fired. You can only scapegoat when it's not deserved

[Donuts and Doritos]

This is Sean McD's relationship w/ Bills fans:

Every dang year.

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Donuts and Doritos

[Livinginthepast]

1 hour ago, Roundybout said:

https://www.golongtd.com/p/the-mcdermott-problem-part-i-blame?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
 

 

A very long read, and the other parts are only for paid subscribers, but his sources paint a picture of McD as a narcissistic control freak who won’t take accountability for anything. 
 

 

Do with this what you will. 

Thanks for sharing! Great article and I think very accurate!

[dollars 2 donuts]

 

 

Well, even if only half of this is true that is a big old plate of pyscho sandwich, with a side order of WTF.

 

Perfect timing heading in to KC, too.

 

Does anyone want to come over to my house and pull all my chest hairs out, one at a time, just to make this a turd trifecta?

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by dollars 2 donuts

[JohnNord]

7 minutes ago, bouds said:

It's clear teh org doesn't like what's been reported in the past.  Dunne's had Monos on his podcast plenty of times, airing some of the inside discussions about what went on even before McD took over, so the blacklist he's on comes from high up, lol.

I don’t think it’s that.  The Bills have long had a stance that they only give press access to media organization.  They will not give access to bloggers or independent writers like Dunne.   For example, year ago Erik Turner from Cover 1 tried to access credentials and was rejected multiple times.   Even Jerry Sullivan and Bucky Gleason were rejected when they worked for the Buffalo Maven LOL
 

Not every franchise operates this way.  I think Dunne’s vitriol is fueled by not being getting media access.  

[Negan]

It's inevitable at this point that McDermott won't be coaching here for much longer.

[wettlaufer]

55 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

This is where the “meddling” narrative never made sense.  If he is so controlling, wouldn’t he micromanage Joe Brady the same way he “micromanaged” Dorsey?  

I don’t buy that Dorsey was a scapegoat at all.  We saw 6 weeks where the offense struggled badly.  Over the past two weeks, it’s looked better.

 

McDummy has scapegoated everyone this seasons -- the offense, Allen, Davis. Sure. those guys make mistakes, but the end-of-game fails are almost exclusively defensive. The Bills offense has walked off the field with the lead in-hand numerous times, only to have that lead cave in under the weight of bad defensive- and head coaching.

 

McDummy threw the offense under the bus after the Philly loss and of course there's the non-explanation for 13 seconds.

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

In sorry but that whole thing sounds like a complete lie. 
 

McD wanted his OL to wear work boots instead of Jordan’s during a walk through? What? 

I agree.

 

You are not going to risk injury to your players forcing them to wear work boats, prima facie absurd.  Also more than likely a violation of many CBA and NFL rules/regulations.

[Einstein]

18 minutes ago, Heitz said:

 

I think it's odd to say Dorsey was a scapegoat, he just wasn't good and his job and had to go.  If we were scoring 40, but giving up 45 and he was fired, he'd be a scapegoat.  Now he's just a guy who got fired. 🤷‍♂️

 

I agree that Dorsey needed to go. 

However, Dorsey's offense left the field with 2 leads and never got the ball back. 

If the defense did their job, we would have been 7-3 when Dorsey was fired. In fact, I wonder if he even would have been fired in that case.

[Billsfan1972]

7 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

But now he’s magically staying out of Joe Brady’s offense? 

Just 2 games......  Things worked (yet still lost one).  

 

The collar wasn't tight vs. NYJ and they didn't do a thing the last 20 minutes of the game.

 

BTW The Eagles gave up 6 straight TD's vs. SF.

[BigDingus]

1 hour ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Is anyone shocked? 

 

He came to Buffalo trumpeting a "physical run game" to play in "snowy weather". 

 

To be fair, that exact thing was what nearly ALL of our head coaching hires said throughout the entire drought... and I used to mock it all the way back to the day of the BBMB!

 

Always talk oh this hard-nosed defense & physical run game to compliment a blue collar city like Buffalo. Always complete BS, basically saying "we know we don't have a QB & can't adapt to today's NFL."

 

Remember, a lot of fans used to believe this narrative. They'd defend our passing offenses being stuck in the toilet each year, saying 300 yard games mean nothing, and eventually accepted the idea that the Bills HAD to be a defensive, grindy team.

[Governor]

“This job’s too hard to fight from within and that’s what you do there,” one ex-Bills assistant explained. “You’re fighting against the head coach. You’ve got to overcome the head coach. This job is already hard enough. You’ve got to overcome all your opponents, all the dynamics. You’ve got to overcome so much *****. But then you’ve got to overcome the guy who’s supposedly steering the boat.”

 

Frazier?

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

The defense has been why we haven’t made it all the way for years and it’s the reason why we won’t make the playoffs this year. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to understand. The offense is the only reason we are ever good.