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

[Buffalo Barbarian]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:31 AM, CincyBillsFan said:

Damn this is prophetic:

 

Those who’ve worked with the head coach on a day-to-day basis predicted all of this — months in advance — because they’ve seen how McDermott operates on a day-to-day basis. How tangibly nervous he gets in close games. How he has never truly appreciated his gift from the football gods: Josh Allen. How he’s quick to blame everyone but himself in defeat. That’s why one coach — in June — began by asking a simple question: “If they fail again this year? What does ownership do with Sean?”

 

Three seconds later, he answered his own hypothetical.

 

“Next year if they fail, you know who’ll be the first person he serves up? Ken Dorsey.”

 

The coach wasn’t quite sure how McDermott would manage to put Dorsey’s head on a stick. After all, it’s the head coach’s beloved defense that has melted in four straight postseason losses. The honeymoon period with fans ended a long time ago — pointing a finger at his breadwinning quarterback, again, surely wouldn’t work. Yet even back in June, this assistant knew his old boss would find a way to deflect blame.

 

“Watch,” he said, “if they sputter at all during this year, the narrative’s going to be the offense.”

 

it has been the offense, the defense plays great until McDermott plays them soft on third and long .

 

thats my problem with McDermott is his yipps in crunch time.

 

all this crap about his character is nonsense, you can tell hes a quality man and most of his players and coaches would agree.

 

 

[Scott7975]

6 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

I don't know if Dunne has a 'pre-existing beef' as such, but fired Bills Director of Player Personnel Jim Monos does a regular report for him so they're apparently tight, and he's said to be close to  Bills CEO Russ Brandon (who resigned or was forced to resign after an internal investigation) and fired Bills General Manager Doug Whaley.   None of these guys have found NFL work after the Bills moved on from them.

 

He also hosted a podcast with former Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie who was "beefy" - he was benched by McDermott, felt he wasn't used or targeted appropriately last season, and finally was cut after the signing of Deonte Harty.

 

One line of thought is if your friends and associates have beef, you're more likely to have beef.

The Bills didn't credential Dunne as media, but technically he isn't media - he's an independent 'content creator'.  They don't credential the Cover1 guys and other independent 'content creators' either.  Some may think that's unfair, but there are some differences - reporters who work for media like TBN, AP, etc are supposed to have journalistic standards where they have multiple sources and verify, and editorial ovesight as a 'check and balance'.  I think this standard is actually a bit 'loosy goosy' with some media who are credentialed, but that's the theory.

Anyway, the point is, Dunne isn't being singled out, this is apparently a consistent Bills policy.

 

 

 

Maybe he has a beef maybe he doesn't. I have no idea.  I dont really care either.  All I care about is whether the quotes he used are true or not.  Did he have a Rodgers/GB beef too?  He wrote a "hit" piece on them as well.  Can we chalk that up to having a beef or is he just making a living writing in his style?

Edited December 10, 2023 by Scott7975

[GunnerBill]

47 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

 

 

We can argue semantics until we're blue in the face. In the end, it's irrelevant what you want to call Dunne's reporting and completely misses the point I'm making.

 

The point is that this existing mindset from a segment of the fanbase that a reporter shouldn't report certain opinions about a millionaire coach of a football team because it might hurt his feelings is completely absurd.

 

We need to bring all perspectives about this head coach to light because many people pay their hard-earned money and spend time out of their lives rooting for this team that he's in charge of. And because it's a competitive sport, our goal as fans is to witness this team winning the Super Bowl. And if there are many people out there who have experience working closely with that coach and believe he doesn't have the leadership qualities and/or coaching chops it takes to get that team there, then it should be reported to the public.

 

To think Dunne "could have listened to his higher angels and taken a higher road" by not reporting what former players and colleagues really think about McDermott is a disservice to the fanbase.

 

 

 

Haven't said at any point it shouldn't have been reported. It needs someone with the freedom that Dunne has now as a glorified blogger to be able to print a piece like this though. First because of length and second because it doesn't really make much of an effort at balance and as someone who was a sports journalist earlier in my career I know how hard that is to get past your editor. That is not me saying he shouldn't have published it. He is trying to make a living.

 

17 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

Maybe he has a beef maybe he doesn't. I have no idea.  I dont really care either.  All I care about is whether the quotes he used are true or not.  Did he have a Rodgers/GB beef too?  He wrote a "hit" piece on them as well.  Can we chalk that up to having a beef or is he just making a living writing in his style?

 

When you are essentially a content creator charging people $8 a pop for your content you won't drive eyes and subs with on the one hand this on the other hand that pieces. Much more likely to drive traffic with hit pieces. Which he has on Rodgers and McDermott. And worth saying Buffalo and Green Bay are the two markets in which he has most contacts and knowledge.

[LeGOATski]

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but apparently Josh Allen did speak up during the players meeting in support of McDermott.

[Nephilim17]

Well, if you were willing to blame Dunne for being a distraction for this KC game, are you willing to credit him for galvanizing the team?

[Warcodered]

McDermott:

Edited December 11, 2023 by Warcodered

[Wayne Arnold]

2 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

Well, if you were willing to blame Dunne for being a distraction for this KC game, are you willing to credit him for galvanizing the team?

 

Dunne should get a ring after they win the Super Bowl.

[Rico]

Just now, Wayne Arnold said:

 

Dunne should get a ring after they win the Super Bowl.

He can hock it after he ends up homeless on the streets of Downtown Buffalo.

[ToGoGo]

On the bright side, this is McDermotts greatest quality since he showed up here in 2017. 
 

Nobody comes back from having his back against the wall like McDermott. 

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

Well, if you were willing to blame Dunne for being a distraction for this KC game, are you willing to credit him for galvanizing the team?

 

Based on what they are reporting happened in the meeting where Hyde and then Josh stood up in front of the team and told Sean they have his back it could just have that kind of galvinisng effect. 

 

Success is failure turned inside out;

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell just how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

 

[Trogdor]

8 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

McDermott:

He just got gifted his own 12 men moment lol. Defense had ***** the bed last minute after letting them walk down the field. 

[Mikie2times]

4 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

On the bright side, this is McDermotts greatest quality since he showed up here in 2017. 
 

Nobody comes back from having his back against the wall like McDermott. 

Toney steps back by the length of my Johnson and this thread is 200 Pages.  People assigning short term observations to long term conclusions. If you want a takeaway, we were very aggressive the last drive KC had the ball. It was nice to see. It was even nicer to see us hold on the sending the house on 4th down as KC was waiting for it. We made good calls on that last drive and yes, he deserves credit for that.

[Wayne Arnold]

5 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

On the bright side, this is McDermotts greatest quality since he showed up here in 2017. 
 

Nobody comes back from having his back against the wall like McDermott. 

 

Yes I like how he managed to force Toney to line up Offside with mind control.

 

I keed I keed. I'm all about feeling good after this win and hoping McDermott can prove me wrong and they can rally behind each other and go on a tear.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Toney steps back by the length of my Johnson and this thread is 200 Pages.  People assigning short term observations to long term conclusions. If you want a takeaway, we were very aggressive the last drive KC had the ball. It was nice to see. It was even nicer to see us hold on the sending the house on 4th down as KC was waiting for it. We made good calls on that last drive and yes, he deserves credit for that.

 

He does. And even had that Toney play worked that was a complete freak. Now don't get me wrong the Bills losing to freak plays is a theme. But you couldn't have legislated for that. 

 

He called a good final drive. Blitzed early. Simulated late. And as a result even on the simulated blitz Mahomes was fidgety.

[SinceThe70s]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He does. And even had that Toney play worked that was a complete freak. Now don't get me wrong the Bills losing to freak plays is a theme. But you couldn't have legislated for that. 

 

He called a good final drive. Blitzed early. Simulated late. And as a result even on the simulated blitz Mahomes was fidgety.

 

Maybe the wrong thread but can you imagine the headlines and on-going narrative  if that play had stood given the timing of Wycheck's untimely death.

[ToGoGo]

9 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

Yes I like how he managed to force Toney to line up Offside with mind control.

 

I keed I keed. I'm all about feeling good after this win and hoping McDermott can prove me wrong and they can rally behind each other and go on a tear.

We were due for a miracle going our way. Think of it as cancelling out the 59 yard field goal against the Eagles. 
 

Neither had much to do with McDermott. His defense stepped up today. 

[Mikie2times]

11 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He does. And even had that Toney play worked that was a complete freak. Now don't get me wrong the Bills losing to freak plays is a theme. But you couldn't have legislated for that. 

 

He called a good final drive. Blitzed early. Simulated late. And as a result even on the simulated blitz Mahomes was fidgety.

That's all he can do. You could say from a pretty rational view that we didn't have it right in a lot of our calls in these close games. That wasn't the case in this one. We challenged KC on the last drive. Then we backed off and certainly by the last play Reid didn't know if we would send the house or drop everybody. It was one of the better final drives he's called. If we don't get the Offside, fine, guess what? Time was still left. I will take catastrophic failure to win against the averages. You have to be ok risking everything to win the %'s. He did that on the last drive and I think it was a step in the right direction. 

[RoscoeParrish]

https://x.com/thebillsguys/status/1734019264716439883?s=46&t=OXyXgvyV9xUtz0I9HYtilg

[CaliBills]

 

 

Just going to leave this here for those thinking the players don't have this mans back.

[RoscoeParrish]