informative Athletic article on how Joe Brady transformed the Bills' offensive approach

[thewookie1]

Sounds like a good thing to do; if the entire offensive line is against trying to run a jailbreak screen against the Jets; then Joe Brady should take that into account. It also gives players a sense of ownership over their duties and play. For instance, I highly doubt Cook wants to be used as a FB for any amount of time. Plus Allen may see a dire weakness on film and want to beat that into submission versus trying to dance around it the whole game. 

 

One of Dorsey's primary issues was a lack of any competence in play call scripting. He designed very effective plays but had a terrible tendency of either overusing or underusing a category of plays. Think of the Dallas game where we ran the ball far more than we would usually  however that was greatly influenced by the absurdly significant success that they had had thus far.

[Cash]

37 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

No

 

Due diligence would be conducted by an impartial independent third party. This is like hiring the owners to do an inspection of the house you're about to buy

 

Terrible analogy.  This is a leader asking for input from his front-line people, and doing it in a way that makes honest feedback more likely.  I've seen plenty of leaders who have no clue how things are on the front lines of whatever they're leading, and it's not a good look.  Granted, some of them are able to offset that weakness with strengths in other areas, but the best leaders have those other strengths AND encourage feedback from their front-line people.

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Cash said:

 

Terrible analogy.  This is a leader asking for input from his front-line people, and doing it in a way that makes honest feedback more likely.  I've seen plenty of leaders who have no clue how things are on the front lines of whatever they're leading, and it's not a good look.  Granted, some of them are able to offset that weakness with strengths in other areas, but the best leaders have those other strengths AND encourage feedback from their front-line people.

😂😂he sees them every day in practice and on gamedays, how many more clues does he need ?

 

Reid can tell funny stories about getting plays from janitors because he's been at the top of the game for a long time. Brady isn't close to that level

[Shaw66]

Quite interesting.   Thanks for posting.  Athletic has good stuff.  

 

 

[eball]

5 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Putting your feet up while the players try to come up w game plans is not an approach

 

Yes, that’s exactly what Brady is doing.  You’re so prescient it hurts.

 

[aceman_16]

5 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Putting your feet up while the players try to come up w game plans is not an approach

Is THIS what you took out of the article? If so may want to check your agenda.

[3rdand12]

7 hours ago, QB Bills said:

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it's great that the players are involved and having their voices heard. On the other hand, you'd hope that the coach would know what's best in terms of giving the team the best chance to win and getting the players to follow along. 

Empowering your "employees" Is great team building.

Makes them " more"

Of course he will define and refine their opinions and shape them into plays. That's the trick.

I would love to work for this guy , it seems.

to your point QB , he was thrust into the position midseason and thats a heck of a way to get off to a good start for along term relationship. But yea he will be calling the shots of course. No worries there The will likely be more effective having begun this method of Team Building

I like this guy even more now !

 Go Bills

7 hours ago, Gugny said:

The whole “anonymity” thing is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Be adults. 
 

Open, honest, direct communication is the most efficient way to come to solutions. 
 

Unfortunately, that’s frowned upon by the current head coach. 
 

Just ask Diggs. 
 

Open and honest is a one on one . Not for group settings  in my experiences

7 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Giving players ownership is never a bad thing. That makes them 100% accountable not only to the coaches but also to each other.

 

Plenty of success can be had with this method. Thinking you "have to do something a certain way or it won't work" is in the box thinking. Out of the box thinking works as well if not better many times and is far more flexible. People think Belichick was an "in the box thinker" but he has LOTS of "out of the box" things that he did where he utilized "gray areas" or was innovative in doing something not many others were doing because he saw clear mismatches or advantages to it.

 

At the end of the day, execution ALWAYS is more important than play calls and if you are giving players an opportunity to give feedback on what they believe they can execute well and put the onus on them to then do it, I don't see how that's a bad thing.

It also helps you define their weaknesses with them and what they as individuals need to work on.

[3rdand12]

6 hours ago, davefan66 said:

This most likely isn’t a case of the inmates running the asylum.

 

A good manager gives the illusion that your feedback matters. I’m sure when it hits the fan, he is the decision maker.  But it is good to get a feel for what guys like.

?

[Sierra Foothills]

8 hours ago, QB Bills said:

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it's great that the players are involved and having their voices heard. On the other hand, you'd hope that the coach would know what's best in terms of giving the team the best chance to win and getting the players to follow along. 

 

7 hours ago, Gugny said:

The whole “anonymity” thing is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Be adults. 
 

Open, honest, direct communication is the most efficient way to come to solutions. 
 

Unfortunately, that’s frowned upon by the current head coach. 
 

Just ask Diggs. 
 

 

7 hours ago, boyst said:

100%. It's a cool concept for a team of veterans who have shown their worth and been gilded by a forge already. It's another thing to simply fall back upon what the team wants as a vote. It's not a democracy. The head coach must reign supreme and the positional coaches must be held accountable.

This is going to be a long season.

 

6 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Putting your feet up while the players try to come up w game plans is not an approach

 

As @dave mcbride said, you have to read the entire article. This is not forming a "democracy"... it's being collaborative with heavily-invested stakeholders who are high-level professionals... instead of simply dictating to them. If you've ever played organized team sports you've probably seen instances where the coach was wrong or didn't have his finger on the pulse.

 

"Spencer Brown noted how demoralizing it can be to receive a play script at the end of the week and see a call they know won’t work. So the offense strives to show Brady its gratitude for not being that way. He simplified Dorsey’s playbook and introduced a more universal philosophy to understand what, how and why."

 

 

[Sierra Foothills]

Is success more likely when:

 

1) players gives their input into a game plan and are then stakeholders in that game plan or

2) players are simply "following orders?"

 

When you make a suggestion at work are you more likely to work hard to see to it that your suggestion succeeds or do you not care?

 

[Gugny]

3 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

 

 

 

As @dave mcbride said, you have to read the entire article. This is not forming a "democracy"... it's being collaborative with heavily-invested stakeholders who are high-level professionals... instead of simply dictating to them. If you've ever played organized team sports you've probably seen instances where the coach was wrong or didn't have his finger on the pulse.

 

"Spencer Brown noted how demoralizing it can be to receive a play script at the end of the week and see a call they know won’t work. So the offense strives to show Brady its gratitude for not being that way. He simplified Dorsey’s playbook and introduced a more universal philosophy to understand what, how and why."

 

 

Spare me with the “if you’ve ever played organized sports “ bullsh!t. Give me a break. 
 

I’ve led teams outside of ***** high school scholastics. 
 

Collaboration is fantastic and necessary. 
 

Giving team members a voice is also fantastic and necessary. 
 

Anonymity is weak. And I will double down on my opinion that it ia a recipe for disaster. 
 

Some things work well in the short term. 
 

As quickly as an NFL season goes by, it isn’t short. We all know it doesn’t start with week one and it’s a lot longer than 17 weeks. 
 

This is not organized sports that most of us can relate to. It’s the NFL. It’s an organization (sports/entertainment BUSINESS) chock full of grown men. 
 

Open. Honest. Direct. 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

I've got a bad feeling about Bradys "Mr Nice guy" approach

 

 

Edited September 4 by JakeFrommStateFarm

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

Spare me with the “if you’ve ever played organized sports “ bullsh!t. Give me a break. 
 

I’ve led teams outside of ***** high school scholastics. 
 

Collaboration is fantastic and necessary. 
 

Giving team members a voice is also fantastic and necessary. 
 

Anonymity is weak. And I will double down on my opinion that it ia a recipe for disaster. 
 

Some things work well in the short term. 
 

As quickly as an NFL season goes by, it isn’t short. We all know it doesn’t start with week one and it’s a lot longer than 17 weeks. 
 

This is not organized sports that most of us can relate to. It’s the NFL. It’s an organization (sports/entertainment BUSINESS) chock full of grown men. 
 

Open. Honest. Direct. 

You literally didn't address the point raised above about open communication that fundamentally contradicts what you said earlier in this thread.  I suggest addressing the point that contradicts your conjecture, and I also suggest perhaps reading the piece in full.

9 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

I've got a bad feeling about Bradys "Mr Nice guy" approach

 

 

You have no idea about this. In a failing situation, most new bosses (rightly) come in early and listen to people to find out what was wrong, and guess what: a lot was wrong with the Bills offensive scheme early last year. It was rote and predictable, and maybe you should listen to the professionals charged with executing the scheme? Where they are the next year is an entirely different situation. Also, listening to Josh Allen, who is genuinely smart, is not a terrible idea.  This is not directed at you, by the way, but I feel like there are a lot of authoritarian personalities in this thread who hate the idea that employees should be able to speak up. 

Edited September 4 by dave mcbride

[GoBills808]

13 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

You literally didn't address the point raised above about open communication that fundamentally contradicts what you said earlier in this thread.  I suggest addressing the point that contradicts your conjecture, and I also suggest perhaps reading the piece in full.

You have no idea about this. In a failing situation, most new bosses (rightly) come in early and listen to people to find out what was wrong, and guess what: a lot was wrong with the Bills offensive scheme early last year. It was rote and predictable, and maybe you should listen to the professionals charged with executing the scheme? Where they are the next year is an entirely different situation. Also, listening to Josh Allen, who is genuinely smart, is not a terrible idea.  This is not directed at you, by the way, but I feel like there are a lot of authoritarian personalities in this thread who hate the idea that employees should be able to speak up. 

Speaking of terrible analogies

 

The players are not employees of the OC. They're 20something millionaire athletes whose input is going to be informed by a multitude of factors not necessarily conducive to the OC's offensive goals, like personal statistics/production/ability to self scout/realistic view of their own capabilities

[boyst]

13 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

You literally didn't address the point raised above about open communication that fundamentally contradicts what you said earlier in this thread.  I suggest addressing the point that contradicts your conjecture, and I also suggest perhaps reading the piece in full.

You have no idea about this. In a failing situation, most new bosses (rightly) come in early and listen to people to find out what was wrong, and guess what: a lot was wrong with the Bills offensive scheme early last year. It was rote and predictable, and maybe you should listen to the professionals charged with executing the scheme? Where they are the next year is an entirely different situation. Also, listening to Josh Allen, who is genuinely smart, is not a terrible idea.  This is not directed at you, by the way, but I feel like there are a lot of authoritarian personalities in this thread who hate the idea that employees should be able to speak up. 

I think it's a lot simpler than we believe or know. Topically it looks this way and I don't know that is for the best. McDermott seems confident, competent, and capable of running a football team as a head coach. Below this level we haven't seen him have success. His best successes were always just a little bit short, a dollar too late, or just bad luck. 

 

After the first mixup in Jacksonville putting Peterman in we all just shrugged. After the second in Houston we just rode high that we were so close and have potential with Josh. After KC and 13 seconds many of us were done and rightfully blamed McDermott. After Cincinnati the majority of us shrugged and realized that it was not our year. After Kansas City 2 anyone still believing bought a bridge in San Francisco. 

[dave mcbride]

Just now, boyst said:

I think it's a lot simpler than we believe or know. Topically it looks this way and I don't know that is for the best. McDermott seems confident, competent, and capable of running a football team as a head coach. Below this level we haven't seen him have success. His best successes were always just a little bit short, a dollar too late, or just bad luck. 

 

After the first mixup in Jacksonville putting Peterman in we all just shrugged. After the second in Houston we just rode high that we were so close and have potential with Josh. After KC and 13 seconds many of us were done and rightfully blamed McDermott. After Cincinnati the majority of us shrugged and realized that it was not our year. After Kansas City 2 anyone still believing bought a bridge in San Francisco. 

I just don't know. Everyone said the same thing about Cowher, Andy Reid in Philly, etc. The fact of the matter is that they do get to the second round every year and sometimes there's some bad luck in close games. He's not getting fired, so I will simply roll with him because he's at least a pretty good coach. And pretty good coaches sometimes win SBs with an elite QB.

[Don Otreply]

9 hours ago, Gugny said:

The whole “anonymity” thing is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Be adults. 
 

Open, honest, direct communication is the most efficient way to come to solutions. 
 

Unfortunately, that’s frowned upon by the current head coach. 
 

Just ask Diggs. 
 

Fuh k Diggs, 

[Alphadawg7]

Nah I heard here Brady sucks because of Carolina.  That’s forever his legacy and offense only.  

[HardyBoy]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

Spare me with the “if you’ve ever played organized sports “ bullsh!t. Give me a break. 
 

I’ve led teams outside of ***** high school scholastics. 
 

Collaboration is fantastic and necessary. 
 

Giving team members a voice is also fantastic and necessary. 
 

Anonymity is weak. And I will double down on my opinion that it ia a recipe for disaster. 
 

Some things work well in the short term. 
 

As quickly as an NFL season goes by, it isn’t short. We all know it doesn’t start with week one and it’s a lot longer than 17 weeks. 
 

This is not organized sports that most of us can relate to. It’s the NFL. It’s an organization (sports/entertainment BUSINESS) chock full of grown men. 
 

Open. Honest. Direct. 

 

But they're not anonymous...the entire team is together in the room and Josh Allen reviews the notes and I'm assuming finalizes them and picks the specific things to bring up to Brady.

 

To call that process anonymous is not accurate.

[Avisan]

I, for one, am absolutely shocked that the Venn Diagram of people who have a problem with this approach and people who apparently think they can beat up Sean McDermott is a circle.