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

[Rico]

1 minute ago, PBF81 said:

 

@Rico   Well, do you?  

 

A laugh emoji doesn't answer that question.  

 

 

Sorry I’m too busy laughing at you.  
Please continue to beclown yourself, I’ve enjoyed it all season long. 

[NoSaint]

1 minute ago, CaliBills said:

 

That is your opinion.  Maybe they don't care about the outside noise and just want to focus on winning a damn game.

 

saying a strong couple words takes 4 seconds and changes the narrative - which has obviously gotten in the building. 
 

this does not read as “we are above the noise” so much as “we are uncomfortable with having to be associated”

 

[Scott7975]

5 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I don't, actually.  I think he did the right thing as a coach and a leader to say that, but both of those players had coaching and film about how to play certain defensive looks pre game.  One of those two players read the defense and made the correct call as to route or throw, and one of them read the defense and was mistaken.

 

So maybe I just don't understand what you mean by "genuine accountability" here.  Brady took accountability in the "starts with me" sense, he's the coach and the one having the pre-game film sessions and conversations during the week of preparation, so when he talks about watching film with his players and preparing them, he can say he needs to do a better job there.

 

But how is this different from the accountability McDermott says when he says "it starts with me"?  Brady wasn't saying he made the wrong call for the down and distance, or he'd make another call if he had a do over, he specifically mentioned preparation and film.

 

His words were "what can I do to put them in better position to have success next time we get that opportunity and can have a walk off."  Thats not a "it starts with me."  He said more but I'm not going to sit here and transcribe the whole thing.

[FireChans]

10 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

McD will crawl under that bus? 

He will get fired potentially. He won’t fire himself. Coaches normally don’t do that.

 

Here are 3 assumptions that we probably agree on:

 

1. Dorsey was 100% on the hot seat prior to this season for underperformance

2. McD is empowered to fire him for underperformance 

3. Dorsey underperformed and was justifiably fired 

 

So, knowing all of that, the leap of, “If the season goes bad, McD will sell out Dorsey” isn’t a leap at all. It’s not prescient. It’s obvious. It’s just a preemptive negative spin on something we all thought was very possible to happen. Long before any of this other stuff came out.

 

If you got some crappy scrub tech fired for sucking, someone could try to paint that you’re doing it because you suck and you need someone to blame. It’s more likely they just sucked. 

Edited December 9, 2023 by FireChans

[CaliBills]

2 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

saying a strong couple words takes 4 seconds and changes the narrative - which has obviously gotten in the building. 
 

this does not read as “we are above the noise” so much as “we are uncomfortable with having to be associated”

 

 

That is the issue, you are reading into it to fit your narrative.  

I am simply stating we do not know and since they tend to keep it in house, we won't know.

[RochesterLifer]

I paid the $8 and spent the past two hours reading the article. When I finished, I canceled my subscription. In the box that asked the reason for cancellation, I wrote, "I paid $8 to read your article on McDermott. Your agenda, the contradictions, and your blatant dishonesty were all too obvious. You will never get a click from me again. "

 

If I had another two hours, I would pull apart all of Dunne's one-sided contradictions. That is too much time and work. I'll provide two:

 

Dunne attempts to condemn McDermott for not having relationships with players - being too distant and unrelatable. In a different section, he quotes multiple players who comment on how much they enjoy their one-on-one conversations with the head coach.

One anonymous (always anonymous) player complains that the Bills offense is built for a dome. In another section of the novel, Dunne condemns McDermott for wanting the offense to be more physical and run-oriented.

 

Dunne began writing with a conclusion, "McDermott must be fired," and worked his @$$ off to prove his conclusion. Unfortunately, in 2023, this is mistakenly called journalism.

 

[HappyDays]

12 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

But now, somehow the same observation that many of us had made, is not 'authentic" and is a sign of a control freak feeling defensive, even though we jumped from an average of 20.6 PPG in the 5 previous games, to 33 PPG (and 505 yds vs the Eagles!) in the two subsequent games to date?

 

There is nothing authentic about a head coach publicly questioning his franchise QB's mental state. I can't think of a single other example of such a thing. When McDermott says "it starts with me" but then questions every other part of the operation before actually pointing the finger at himself, that is the opposite of authenticity. That is fake, empty accountability; merely projected, not practiced. He pays lip service to growth mindset but when have we ever seen it out of him?

 

Anybody can stand up in the midst of failure and cast blame at people around them. It's the easiest thing in the world to do. People that make a habit out of it are not authentic. Everyone sees right through them.

[Airseven]

Not interested in this article. But what’s been reported about his 9/11 comments is so overblown…albeit par for our silly times.

[Rico]

7 minutes ago, RochesterLifer said:

I paid the $8 and spent the past two hours reading the article. When I finished, I canceled my subscription. In the box that asked the reason for cancellation, I wrote, "I paid $8 to read your article on McDermott. Your agenda, the contradictions, and your blatant dishonesty were all too obvious. You will never get a click from me again. "

 

If I had another two hours, I would pull apart all of Dunne's one-sided contradictions. That is too much time and work. I'll provide two:

 

Dunne attempts to condemn McDermott for not having relationships with players - being too distant and unrelatable. In a different section, he quotes multiple players who comment on how much they enjoy their one-on-one conversations with the head coach.

One anonymous (always anonymous) player complains that the Bills offense is built for a dome. In another section of the novel, Dunne condemns McDermott for wanting the offense to be more physical and run-oriented.

 

Dunne began writing with a conclusion, "McDermott must be fired," and worked his @$$ off to prove his conclusion. Unfortunately, in 2023, this is mistakenly called journalism.

 

He still won, he got your $8. 
 

Maybe he’s auditioning for the WaPo or the NYT.

[Beck Water]

33 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Thanks for the info.  I'll validate it. 

 

Appreciate it.  

 

 

 

Another source directly announcing the layoffs and who they impacted

 

https://awfulannouncing.com/br/bleacher-report-layoffs-ben-osborne-howard-beck-br-mag.html
 

Dunne was "laid off" "fired" "position eliminated" "downsized", whatever lingo you like when your employer tells you your services are no longer required.

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Beck Water

[RochesterLifer]

12 minutes ago, Rico said:

He still won, he got your $8. 
 

Maybe he’s auditioning for the WaPo or the NYT.

Nah, I paid $8 to learn something and draw my own conclusions. I definitely learned something. But, it was more about Mr. Dunne than Coach McDermott.

[JohnNord]

22 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

We dodged a bullet because there was no bullet to dodge.  The NFL loves its fine money.  If there was a violation they would have at the very least spoke on it.  There was nothing.  No media about it.  No word from the NFL.  Absolutely nothing.  When the Titans had practice outside their facility when they shouldn't have been, it was all over the news everywhere.  The team did nothing wrong.  Had they of, the NFL would have done something.

 

 

I just dunno.  I don't really even want to guess.  All I can say is what I would do in that situation.  I would have spoke up and defended my coach if it was me and we had a good relationship.  If I didn't have a good relationship, I would probably say nothing.  So far we have seen nothing.  Thing is that the longer they don't say anything the more I am going to think it's just PR that tells them what to say.  

 

I will say this... I said this way long ago in this thread... I get the timing of the article but I don't like it. Only because I don't want our team being distracted by it.  Game is too huge for it.  Maybe they haven't said anything because they don't want to be distracted, I don't know.  All I know is they haven't said anything as of yet.  I don't want to make guesses on why.

I actually understand the timing for Dunne.  He wants to get it out there when fan attention is at an all-time high.  Like he said the Philly game kind of showcased everything he was discussing, so it made sense to publish when he did

25 minutes ago, RochesterLifer said:

I paid the $8 and spent the past two hours reading the article. When I finished, I canceled my subscription. In the box that asked the reason for cancellation, I wrote, "I paid $8 to read your article on McDermott. Your agenda, the contradictions, and your blatant dishonesty were all too obvious. You will never get a click from me again. "

 

If I had another two hours, I would pull apart all of Dunne's one-sided contradictions. That is too much time and work. I'll provide two:

 

Dunne attempts to condemn McDermott for not having relationships with players - being too distant and unrelatable. In a different section, he quotes multiple players who comment on how much they enjoy their one-on-one conversations with the head coach.

One anonymous (always anonymous) player complains that the Bills offense is built for a dome. In another section of the novel, Dunne condemns McDermott for wanting the offense to be more physical and run-oriented.

 

Dunne began writing with a conclusion, "McDermott must be fired," and worked his @$$ off to prove his conclusion. Unfortunately, in 2023, this is mistakenly called journalism.

 

IMO this is a fair concluding to make. 

[HardyBoy]

3 hours ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

If you're not winning with one of the two or three greatest quarterbacks on the planet and sources close to the owner come out and say there's no chance the head coach is fired then ***** is going to get ugly. Why is this so hard for you to understand?

 

There isn't a single billionaire on the planet Earth who doesn't mind "operating at a loss". Not a one.

 

The team is appreciating in value like crazy, probably over a billion dollars already...fans boycotting is probably going to cause them to operate at a loss year to year, which he will likely not feel at all because he can use it write off gains somewhere else and get tax savings.

 

I'd be very surprised if Pegula cares about the operating costs of the bills in any meaningful way, the brand and asset are far more important... this isn't the MLB, NHL or NBA where attendance matters a ton. 

[Mr. WEO]

37 minutes ago, FireChans said:

He will get fired potentially. He won’t fire himself. Coaches normally don’t do that.

 

Here are 3 assumptions that we probably agree on:

 

1. Dorsey was 100% on the hot seat prior to this season for underperformance

2. McD is empowered to fire him for underperformance 

3. Dorsey underperformed and was justifiably fired 

 

So, knowing all of that, the leap of, “If the season goes bad, McD will sell out Dorsey” isn’t a leap at all. It’s not prescient. It’s obvious. It’s just a preemptive negative spin on something we all thought was very possible to happen. Long before any of this other stuff came out.

 

If you got some crappy scrub tech fired for sucking, someone could try to paint that you’re doing it because you suck and you need someone to blame. It’s more likely they just sucked. 

1. Bills Offense was #2 in scoring under Dorsey—better than the year before him and the year after.

 

2. I can’t get employees fired

[Beck Water]

13 minutes ago, Rico said:

He still won, he got your $8. 
Maybe he’s auditioning for the WaPo or the NYT.

 

Yeah, that's the Cold Hard Financial Facts of the situation.

 

If Dunne pulled in 100 new subscribers who spent their $8, that's $800 and a Merry Christmas for family and friends.

If he pulled in 1000, that's $8000, a Merry Christmas and a trip to Hawaii (or the server bill and maybe his home's utilities and property tax too.)

If he pulled in 10,000, that's $80,000  - twice the per capita income reported for Erie County by   Census.gov

 

With a story that got nationwide airplay as the 9/11 anecdote from 2019 has done, I don't think it's beyond the pale that 10,000 people might have had $8 of curiousity.

[GoBills808]

59 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

I hadn’t seen this snippet yet, but this is EXTREMELY hackery.

 

Oh man you have a kid? And a job? What a unique experience, go ahead and take off early every day. This is anonymous, so I’m assuming the kid doesn’t have medical issues or anything else, because they would include that to make McD look even worse.

 

you are a low rung on the totem pole of a multibillion dollar industry. Golly the man in charge expects you to work hard 

I agree, it doesn't move the needle for me either

 

The funny part is how we read this. Imo Dunne isn't a very effective writer, so where you guys see malice by omission or innuendo I see a guy who could have  written a way more damaging piece but lacks the chops to put it all together in such a way

[beer can shower]

McDermott came in and Pegula made him "Czar" "One Voice".
Of which he had no experience.

From all accounts he went way beyond "Coaching".
If allegations are true.  He had his hand in some dismissals, not just his underlings which He certainly  would be responsible for, but above what a Football coach in a billion dollar  organization would be involved in or responsible for.

 

I am sure we have all seen this, given authority goes to their head.

So does one not expect at some point the fan would be turned his way and the **** would hit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by beer can shower

[Rico]

7 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

I agree, it doesn't move the needle for me either

 

The funny part is how we read this. Imo Dunne isn't a very effective writer, so where you guys see malice by omission or innuendo I see a guy who could have  written a way more damaging piece but lacks the chops to put it all together in such a way

He’s no Sully, that’s for sure.

[Beck Water]

35 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

There is nothing authentic about a head coach publicly questioning his franchise QB's mental state. I can't think of a single other example of such a thing. When McDermott says "it starts with me" but then questions every other part of the operation before actually pointing the finger at himself, that is the opposite of authenticity. That is fake, empty accountability; merely projected, not practiced. He pays lip service to growth mindset but when have we ever seen it out of him?

 

Anybody can stand up in the midst of failure and cast blame at people around them. It's the easiest thing in the world to do. People that make a habit out of it are not authentic. Everyone sees right through them.

 

Well, I do appreciate your viewpoint.

 

On the QB thing, it seems to me it's not been uncommmon for a coach to talk about his QB's mental state usually in the guise of "his confidence leve" or etc.

 

Seems to me Gailey did it with Fitzpatrick, seems to me I've heard it before with a couple other players as well - Martz talking about Warner maybe?

 

But, I don't make a practice of tuning in to HC pressers for 31 other teams around the league week after week.  So, if you do and you feel you have the data set to say "I can't think of a single other example of such a thing" in a meaningful way, I have to defer to your superior knowledge of HC-speak Around The League.  (Obviously, if you can't think of a single other example of such a thing but you only tune in to a few other team's HC pressers a few times a year, what you say would be True, but Meaningless)

Sounds to me as though your mind is made up and Dunne's article reinforces your viewpoint.

 

One of three things is true: either McDermott actually does sound authentic to his players and has the respect of the locker room

or

He doesn't

or

The picture is far more nuanced

 

I would say Wawrow's tweets imply (3) is true.

[Billsfan1972]

Do you think 95% of football fans who are not Buffalo Bills fans know anything about McDermott or how this organization is run?

 

Outside the Bills, what do I know in any detail about other coaches?  Very little.  I do not live & die and neither do fans.

 

What the knowledgeable football fan knows (and not talking casual), is that the Bills have underachieved and went from one of the SB favourites to their season that could be sunk come Sunday.

 

The only other team approaching that ineptitude this year (and they have no fans and have had minimal playoff success) is the LA Chargers.

 

Casual fans all know Josh Allen and they are wondering why they are 6-6.  

 

This article was needed and is a national story and yep a lot of us here simply are happy to see additional context provided.