Bobby Babich to call Bills' Defense

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, BigDingus said:

 

Agreed. I think it's pretty telling that he ONLY hires guys from within. I think he prefers comfort & control, nobody with enough pull to rock the boat, over everything else.

 

We all thought Dorsey's play calling was getting bad, but he was fired after a game where he wasn't the issue. And when you compare Brady's play calling to Dorsey's, the numbers are pretty damn similar (Brady runs the ball like 2 more times a game?)

 

It's not like Allen's numbers suddenly took off either. Even though we won those last 5 games, Allen finished with like 5 passing TDs to 5 INTs... His rushing TDs helped cover that up, but our offense hardly looked great. And the massive improvement to the running game looks pretty underwhelming outside of the Cowboys game. Cook struggled to average 4 ypc almost every game. Maybe Brady will have more surprises in store with a full off season under his belt, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him sacked if our offense flounders with this hodgepodge WR group we've been given.

You misunderstand why McDermott hires from within.  It is NOT about comfort and control.  It's about building and continuous improvement.  

 

McDermott expects everyone in the organization to work every day at getting better at his job.  He expects everyone in the organization to be better this season than last season.  And he expects everyone in the organization to be self-motivated to improve in that way.  

 

Someone, take Babich as an example, who has been with the organization multiple years has stayed with the organization because he is improving annually.  If he weren't improving, he would be replaced.  Since he's improving every year, it's rare to find someone outside the organization who is better than the guy who has been with the organization.  And even if the new guy brings more raw talent, he still won't be very useful until he gets up the learning curve in McDermott's system.  And the learning curve is always going up, so the longer a guy has been with the team, the further up the curve he is, and the more likely it is that he will be better at the job than a guy with much less experience in the system.  

 

It's not all that unusual.   Lots of teams stick with their veterans, and rehire their veterans.   The Chiefs just re-signed JuJu Smith-Schauster for exactly that reason - he isn't the greatest receiver, but he knows Mahomes and the system - in other words, he's further up the learning curve.  

 

Year after year, Belichick brought guys off the bench who played well within his system, guys who had been on the team for a few years, learning and growing.  

 

McDermott's system is all about the team and teamwork, and veteran experience in his system enhances teamwork.  That's why he hires from within.   

[Don Otreply]

48 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

You misunderstand why McDermott hires from within.  It is NOT about comfort and control.  It's about building and continuous improvement.  

 

McDermott expects everyone in the organization to work every day at getting better at his job.  He expects everyone in the organization to be better this season than last season.  And he expects everyone in the organization to be self-motivated to improve in that way.  

 

Someone, take Babich as an example, who has been with the organization multiple years has stayed with the organization because he is improving annually.  If he weren't improving, he would be replaced.  Since he's improving every year, it's rare to find someone outside the organization who is better than the guy who has been with the organization.  And even if the new guy brings more raw talent, he still won't be very useful until he gets up the learning curve in McDermott's system.  And the learning curve is always going up, so the longer a guy has been with the team, the further up the curve he is, and the more likely it is that he will be better at the job than a guy with much less experience in the system.  

 

It's not all that unusual.   Lots of teams stick with their veterans, and rehire their veterans.   The Chiefs just re-signed JuJu Smith-Schauster for exactly that reason - he isn't the greatest receiver, but he knows Mahomes and the system - in other words, he's further up the learning curve.  

 

Year after year, Belichick brought guys off the bench who played well within his system, guys who had been on the team for a few years, learning and growing.  

 

McDermott's system is all about the team and teamwork, and veteran experience in his system enhances teamwork.  That's why he hires from within.   

   What you stated is understandable and certainly has benefits in coaching and with players, at the same time this concept can perpetuate operational flaws in a system, in this case a defense that quite arguably could stand some tweaks especially in the postseason.

    There are moments when new thought processes are beneficial in coaching especially when an evident plateau in performance is not being overcome. If one always promotes from within, new concepts can be slow to be implemented or developed due to system adherence, organization that resist new ideas quite often are left to play catch up or get left behind. 
 

   Imo, McDermott has been an above average HC, and certainly has been of benefit to the Buffalo Bills organization, but he has demonstrated an inability to make changes in his system/scheme that might very well overcome the plateau in performance his teams have been stuck on for the past several seasons.  
 

  GO BILLS!!! Always hoping for the best! 

[Saxum]

On 8/29/2024 at 8:07 PM, Bill from NYC said:

Smart move by McDermott. He needs more time to  prepare to trade up for a corner of linebacker in the 2025 draft.

 

I mean, there are only 24 ours in a day.  

 

Corner of Linebacker?  I hope BEANE signs a Full corner or Linebacker Coach McD likes.  It is hard to corner the linebacker market.

 

Probably reason for Bobby Babich taking over defense is Coach McD is going to take over GM role since according to many posters here he already is in charge of who Bills draft and Beane just makes coffee.

[Doc]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:09 AM, Mr. WEO said:

 

And why do you think he would hire his position coach over guys who have been NFL play callers?

 

Who should he have hired?  Or is this an "I don't know, just someone else"?

Edited September 1 by Doc
grammar

[Scott7975]

On 8/29/2024 at 10:57 AM, QCity said:

 

 

Great, all we have to do is sign someone like those guys.

 

EZPZ.

 

We have one. His name is Von Miller. He may or may not be in the same shape those guys are currently in.

[Mr. WEO]

6 hours ago, Doc said:

 

Who should he have hired?  Or is this an "I don't know, just someone else"?

Cant hire a guy you don’t interview 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

Cant hire a guy you don’t interview 

 

That's not an answer.  Give us a name of the retread they should have interviewed, much less hired?  Last year the big name was Vic Fangio and he lasted a year with Miami.

[Mike R]

On 8/29/2024 at 8:22 AM, Conlan58 said:

I'm not sure it is going to make a difference in the rotation having Babich call the defense, but I would prefer to see the best players on defense in the game more often than not. The TJ Watt type players have the numbers they have because they get the snaps - we have yet to see a distinguishable difference by using a heavy rotation vs. other teams, and it certainly has not led to more pressure or productivity due to "fresh legs". 

 

Go with the hot hand. 

I’ve said the same for years. Play your best players. The rotating d line has not worked and is a waste of money. Year after year the d line lets them down in the playoffs. It’s never resulted in “fresh legs” or less injuries. It’s the same with the running backs. Every time a running gets warmed and starts to make plays they get benched. It does attract free agent d lineman though. They get paid millions to play part time.

[hondo in seattle]

On 8/31/2024 at 7:59 AM, Don Otreply said:

   What you stated is understandable and certainly has benefits in coaching and with players, at the same time this concept can perpetuate operational flaws in a system, in this case a defense that quite arguably could stand some tweaks especially in the postseason.

    There are moments when new thought processes are beneficial in coaching especially when an evident plateau in performance is not being overcome. If one always promotes from within, new concepts can be slow to be implemented or developed due to system adherence, organization that resist new ideas quite often are left to play catch up or get left behind. 
 

   Imo, McDermott has been an above average HC, and certainly has been of benefit to the Buffalo Bills organization, but he has demonstrated an inability to make changes in his system/scheme that might very well overcome the plateau in performance his teams have been stuck on for the past several seasons.  
 

  GO BILLS!!! Always hoping for the best! 

 

@Don Otreply, this is a cogent response and I'm not trying to be argumentative.  But let me ask...  What changes in scheme do you think McD needs to make?  What effective concepts are other teams making use of that McD isn't?

 

You make a good point about the benefits of hiring from the outside.  The benefit to internal promotes is that you know them, can guess their likelihood of success, know if they're good culture fits, know their work habits and interpersonal skills, etc.  The advantage of external hires is, as you say, they sometimes bring in fresh ideas. 

 

I think perhaps the best course is to mix up it up: use both internal promotes and external hires.  Though if I had to pick one, I'd pick internal promotes because in my experience, the success rate is higher.

 

But because they don't necessarily bring in fresh ideas as you say, I always encourage internal promotes to be curious, explore, talk to peers outside of the organization, and otherwise find ways to learn & develop new ideas.  I don't know how insular the Bills coaching staff is but I suspect they study other teams in detail and there aren't a lot of innnovative concepts in the NFL that they're not aware of and understand.  But I may be wrong.  

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

20 hours ago, Doc said:

 

That's not an answer.  Give us a name of the retread they should have interviewed, much less hired?  Last year the big name was Vic Fangio and he lasted a year with Miami.

as typical, you’ve missed the point of the conversation you’ve stumbled into.

 

why doesn’t continue to identify as the play caller?  Did he suddenly feel he can’t handle that on game day?  Why not continue to emulate HCs who call Defense (or Offense)and be the play caller? 

[NewEra]

38 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

as typical, you’ve missed the point of the conversation you’ve stumbled into.

 

why doesn’t continue to identify as the play caller?  Did he suddenly feel he can’t handle that on game day?  Why not continue to emulate HCs who call Defense (or Offense)and be the play caller? 

Which defensive HCs should he emulate?  Bill Belichick?  The best coach ever that rarely called his defensive plays?  Mike tomlin?  Who sometimes calls plays and sometimes not?  Dan Quinn? Who said he’s not calling plays this season.  
 

He’s a defensive head coach- those are the guys he should be compared to.  Which other defensive minded head coaches always called their own plays?  Which coaches should he emulate?

 

You act as if there aren’t many plausible reasons for him not to call the plays- 

— it’s takes away from his head coaching duties.  

— the main reason he called plays last year is because he thought he was their best option not because he wanted to do it long term 
— he’s been mentoring a young defensive mind that he likes and thinks that he’s finally ready after a year of watching McD calls plays.

as if the only reason McD would hand play calling duties to his DC is because “McD smells something sour brewing and he's heading from the kitchen to the living room”….. and needs a sacrificial lamb.  Yeah, that’s the only reason he would do that 🙄 
 

 

[Thrivefourfive]

So this was a very long, drawn-out job interview. Jeez. Hope BaBich has anything left in the tank for the season.

 

Why didn’t McDermott just give him the keys months ago and let him actually be the DC, in more than name?
 

Personally, I don’t like some of his leadership tactics. At all. I think they manifest fear. 

 

 

[Doc]

4 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

as typical, you’ve missed the point of the conversation you’ve stumbled into.

 

why doesn’t continue to identify as the play caller?  Did he suddenly feel he can’t handle that on game day?  Why not continue to emulate HCs who call Defense (or Offense)and be the play caller? 

 

The reason McD took over play-calling duties last year is because Frazier, who had been his DC since he became HC of the Bills in 2017, left and he didn't trust anyone else to do it.  Now he does, as Babich has worked his way through the ranks.  You're welcome.

 

And if the Bills' defense falters (i.e. not including losing their starting MLB and CB before a playoff game), promoting Babich to DC won't necessarily be the move that saves McDermott.

[Mr. WEO]

12 hours ago, NewEra said:

Which defensive HCs should he emulate?  Bill Belichick?  The best coach ever that rarely called his defensive plays?  Mike tomlin?  Who sometimes calls plays and sometimes not?  Dan Quinn? Who said he’s not calling plays this season.  
 

He’s a defensive head coach- those are the guys he should be compared to.  Which other defensive minded head coaches always called their own plays?  Which coaches should he emulate?

 

You act as if there aren’t many plausible reasons for him not to call the plays- 

— it’s takes away from his head coaching duties.  

— the main reason he called plays last year is because he thought he was their best option not because he wanted to do it long term 
— he’s been mentoring a young defensive mind that he likes and thinks that he’s finally ready after a year of watching McD calls plays.

as if the only reason McD would hand play calling duties to his DC is because “McD smells something sour brewing and he's heading from the kitchen to the living room”….. and needs a sacrificial lamb.  Yeah, that’s the only reason he would do that 🙄 
 

 

 

why wouldn't he?

8 hours ago, Doc said:

 

The reason McD took over play-calling duties last year is because Frazier, who had been his DC since he became HC of the Bills in 2017, left and he didn't trust anyone else to do it.  Now he does, as Babich has worked his way through the ranks.  You're welcome.

 

And if the Bills' defense falters (i.e. not including losing their starting MLB and CB before a playoff game), promoting Babich to DC won't necessarily be the move that saves McDermott.

 

no, but firing will be.  Ask Heath Farwell 

 

you're welcome...

Edited September 3 by Mr. WEO

[Matt_In_NH]

On 8/30/2024 at 11:28 PM, BigDingus said:

Agreed. I think it's pretty telling that he ONLY hires guys from within. I think he prefers comfort & control, nobody with enough pull to rock the boat, over everything else.

I get why you are saying that but they actually are quite proactive in building a pipeline of coaches not from within (Dorsey and Brady were both hired from outside as QB coaches) at lower levels that they develop and choose as eventual replacements at the coordinator positions.

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

no, but firing will be.  Ask Heath Farwell 

 

you're welcome...

If Babich, say, forgets to tell his kicker that the plan for a kickoff has changed, yeah, he should get fired.

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

why wouldn't he?

 

no, but firing will be.  Ask Heath Farwell 

 

you're welcome...

Why didn’t Belichick?  Why didn’t Tomlin?  🤷🏻‍♂️ I’m not a head coach.  There aren’t very many defensive head coaches that exclusively called all of the defensive plays to my knowledge

7 minutes ago, Doc said:

If Babich, say, forgets to tell his kicker that the plan for a kickoff has changed, yeah, he should get fired.

Funny that he uses Farwell as his example after one of the biggest boneheaded gaffes in coaching history (if he in fact didn’t tell his kicker to kick it in bounds).  

Edited September 3 by NewEra

[Doc]

7 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Funny that he uses Farwell as his example after one of the biggest boneheaded gaffes in coaching history (if he in fact didn’t tell his kicker to kick it in bounds).  

Yup. And I have no doubt that’s what happened. 

[Mr. WEO]

51 minutes ago, Doc said:

If Babich, say, forgets to tell his kicker that the plan for a kickoff has changed, yeah, he should get fired.

 

45 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Why didn’t Belichick?  Why didn’t Tomlin?  🤷🏻‍♂️ I’m not a head coach.  There aren’t very many defensive head coaches that exclusively called all of the defensive plays to my knowledge

Funny that he uses Farwell as his example after one of the biggest boneheaded gaffes in coaching history (if he in fact didn’t tell his kicker to kick it in bounds).  

 

37 minutes ago, Doc said:

Yup. And I have no doubt that’s what happened. 

 

Based on....what?

 

"He fired special teams coach Heath Farwell, inferring he called for a deep kickoff in the notorious “13 seconds” game which helped the Chiefs tie it in regulation before winning in OT. However, a number of players “off the record” claimed it was McDermott who made the ill-fated call. Farwell was immediately hired to the same position in Jacksonville"

 

 

"The decision to kick it out of the end zone is what it is. The truth is that the Bills still had more than a 90% win probability, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, as the Chiefs began their drive at their own 25-yard line with 13 seconds left."

 

"Adversity reveals character in any field. Not only did McDermott insult the public by writing off 13 Seconds as an “execution” error. He never owned the defeat privately. He allowed it to linger, and that’s the danger with any trauma. There’s no way for anyone involved to move on unless it’s dealt with head-on. Unless the guilty party takes accountability. McDermott, as Go Long detailed, was the culprit. Yet when his decision to kick a touchback and his defense doomed Buffalo against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, there was zero accountability. To delusional proportions. One assistant coach remembers McDermott saying in the locker room that the offense scored too fast and left the Chiefs too much time."

 

"McDermott used a time out before both of the Chiefs’ plays that set up the field goal. He said he wanted to get a look at what formation Andy Reid was using so he could better set up the defense. Whether you blame Frazier or McDermott, neither did a good enough job explaining to the players what they needed to do to avoid the big plays that followed.

The first play was a short pass to Hill. Taron Johnson, Tremaine Edmunds, and Matt Milano gave the scariest player on the field a 15-yard cushion. Romo basically freaked out on the broadcast and circled all three players. The play call couldn’t have been worse."

 

"Hill caught the ball at the 30 and wasn’t touched until he got to the 40-yard line. That’s 15 yards the Bills just gave to him, knowing the Chiefs had to operate their offense as quickly as possible after the snap. He was tackled after 19 total yards, setting up arguably the most perplexing play of the drive.

McDermott said he used the second timeout for the same reason he used the first: To get information about how the Chiefs would line up. Travis Kelce was lined up next to left tackle Orlando Brown. Milano and Wallace gave him about an 8-yard cushion this time. Nobody touched Kelce coming off the line and he split the defenders on a seam route, and Mahomes delivered the biggest throw of the game. It went all the way down to the Bills’ 31-yard line."

 

(lol--2 timeouts to see "how they would line up", two massive plays given up after McD's idiotic assessment of how the Chiefs "lined up"--but, yeah, it was the ST coach that blew that game!)

 

Throw in Frazier's "year off" to rest, McD on his 4th OC, 3rd ST coordinator.....

 

[NewEra]

5 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

 

Based on....what?

 

"He fired special teams coach Heath Farwell, inferring he called for a deep kickoff in the notorious “13 seconds” game which helped the Chiefs tie it in regulation before winning in OT. However, a number of players “off the record” claimed it was McDermott who made the ill-fated call. Farwell was immediately hired to the same position in Jacksonville"

 

 

"The decision to kick it out of the end zone is what it is. The truth is that the Bills still had more than a 90% win probability, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, as the Chiefs began their drive at their own 25-yard line with 13 seconds left."

 

"Adversity reveals character in any field. Not only did McDermott insult the public by writing off 13 Seconds as an “execution” error. He never owned the defeat privately. He allowed it to linger, and that’s the danger with any trauma. There’s no way for anyone involved to move on unless it’s dealt with head-on. Unless the guilty party takes accountability. McDermott, as Go Long detailed, was the culprit. Yet when his decision to kick a touchback and his defense doomed Buffalo against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, there was zero accountability. To delusional proportions. One assistant coach remembers McDermott saying in the locker room that the offense scored too fast and left the Chiefs too much time."

 

"McDermott used a time out before both of the Chiefs’ plays that set up the field goal. He said he wanted to get a look at what formation Andy Reid was using so he could better set up the defense. Whether you blame Frazier or McDermott, neither did a good enough job explaining to the players what they needed to do to avoid the big plays that followed.

The first play was a short pass to Hill. Taron Johnson, Tremaine Edmunds, and Matt Milano gave the scariest player on the field a 15-yard cushion. Romo basically freaked out on the broadcast and circled all three players. The play call couldn’t have been worse."

 

"Hill caught the ball at the 30 and wasn’t touched until he got to the 40-yard line. That’s 15 yards the Bills just gave to him, knowing the Chiefs had to operate their offense as quickly as possible after the snap. He was tackled after 19 total yards, setting up arguably the most perplexing play of the drive.

McDermott said he used the second timeout for the same reason he used the first: To get information about how the Chiefs would line up. Travis Kelce was lined up next to left tackle Orlando Brown. Milano and Wallace gave him about an 8-yard cushion this time. Nobody touched Kelce coming off the line and he split the defenders on a seam route, and Mahomes delivered the biggest throw of the game. It went all the way down to the Bills’ 31-yard line."

 

(lol--2 timeouts to see "how they would line up", two massive plays given up after McD's idiotic assessment of how the Chiefs "lined up"--but, yeah, it was the ST coach that blew that game!)

 

Throw in Frazier's "year off" to rest, McD on his 4th OC, 3rd ST coordinator.....

 

Who’s defending mcd’s defensive play calls in 13 seconds?  He blew it.  💯 -  I would’ve been fine if we had fired him after the last 2 seasons (as long as we had hired Ben Johnson as HC).  I just don’t think every coaching hire he makes is to make the scapegoats in order to keep his job….like some do

 

I don’t know who was to blame for the kickoff.  That’s why I said what I said.  You apparently think that “a number of players off the record” is the gospel.  You should know better.  
 

which article did you take the quotes from?  I thought we were supposed to post links when taking such large excepts.  Sure looks like an anti-mcd article.