McDermott deserves praise for JA’s career year

[Mikie2times]

McD came in as HC of the Bills with zero experience on the offensive side of the ball. He has never played or coached even a position group on the offensive side of the ball in his pro and college career. The fact that he was willing to be our acting DC shows his disconnection with the offense. You couldn't do that unless your focus was firmly on one side of the ball. He brought in Dabs and migrated from Dabs to Dorsey. So if you wish to credit him with what this iteration has become you also have to recognize he hired the coaches responsible for what it used to be. Perhaps what it became under them was a result of how little he was involved at that time.

 

When it comes to Allen's development as a QB, footwork, accuracy, intelligence, I give McD almost no credit. I don't see a logical path to do so when it comes to the technical development of Josh the last few years. When it comes to Josh being on this team? Sure, McD had to contribute to that process. Allen wouldn't be a Bill if McD didn't agree with that path. Does it help Allen having the type of environment McD has provided? Structure, discipline? Sure it does. But winning also allows for those things to develop and you really can't separate Josh and our "winning" culture. Without Allen, this is likely a .500 team. If that is the case is this notion of culture building and nurturing the same?

 

Finally, I do credit McD for the transition to Brady and what I think is a more balanced approach. If a time existed where I think McD did influence more I think it has been this year. From my lens, Brady was much more capable of his influence where Dabs might have said, ya, no thanks. We will do it my way. That direct line to Brady is why in part, I didn't really like the hire. I didn't want our OC to be so open to McD injecting wisdom as I knew Brady would have to be. As it stands right now I was wrong in that observation. Brady has been great and any influence McD has had on him has seemed to be very positive.  

 

 

[Nephilim17]

Beane deserves praise for JA's career year too by losing Diggs and giving Josh multiple weapons to spread the ball around to.

 

I love that he's not forcing the ball to one guy and opposing D's can't key in on one player to neutralize our offense.

[thenorthremembers]

41 minutes ago, Rigotz said:

Yes, McDermott, the offensive mastermind is the reason our O-Line is better than ever and Josh is playing great.

 

Not Joe Brady, not Brandon Beane, not the world class position coaches like Aaron Kromer, not the players themselves, the head coach and his zero years of experience coaching offense did this.

Who hired Joe Brady and Aaron Kromer?   

[RoscoeParrish]

30 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

Who hired Joe Brady and Aaron Kromer?   

Stop. You can’t give any credit to a defensive minded HC for anything positive on the offensive side of the ball. 
 

I also firmly believe Josh’s leap in playing smarter turnover free football is a direct result of McD’s philosophy. It took some time, but I think it finally clicked for him. McD has always harped on this negative aspect of JAs game in needing to play smart and take what the defense gives him. 

Edited December 16 by RoscoeParrish

[JoPoy88]

2 hours ago, RoscoeParrish said:

McD’s focus and commitment to building a physical offensive line and a team able to run the ball has freed Josh up to have the best year of his career in a multi dimensional offense. 
 

Many on this board were critical of him being an old conservative outdated defensive mind for his constant focus on being able to run the ball and win up front. 

 

Not only was McD right that this was the answer, it unleashed our franchise QB to win his first MVP and hopefully a Lombardi. 
 

Go Bills. 

Didn’t know McD “built” the offensive line. Coulda sworn that was Beane. Don’t remember McD coaching the offense at all either, including the O line. Thought Kromer did that. 
 

you learn new things here every day! 😉

[DrDawkinstein]

5 minutes ago, RoscoeParrish said:

Stop. You can’t give any credit to a defensive background HC for anything positive on the offensive side of the ball. 
 

I also firmly believe Josh’s leap in playing smarter turnover free football is a direct result of McD’s philosophy. 

 

So far you're giving McD genius-level credit for:

 

1. Wanting to have a balanced Offense instead of being one dimensional

2. Wanting to have a good OLine

3. Wanting to prevent turnovers

 

I mean, these are basics that most Pop Warner coaches strive for as well.

 

I'm waiting to see something unique and/or that can be directly attributed to his coaching. Like Reid being known for scheming guys open in his Offensive play calls.

 

Edited December 16 by DrDawkinstein

[Buffalo716]

51 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

McD came in as HC of the Bills with zero experience on the offensive side of the ball. He has never played or coached even a position group on the offensive side of the ball in his pro and college career. The fact that he was willing to be our acting DC shows his disconnection with the offense. You couldn't do that unless your focus was firmly on one side of the ball. He brought in Dabs and migrated from Dabs to Dorsey. So if you wish to credit him with what this iteration has become you also have to recognize he hired the coaches responsible for what it used to be. Perhaps what it became under them was a result of how little he was involved at that time.

 

When it comes to Allen's development as a QB, footwork, accuracy, intelligence, I give McD almost no credit. I don't see a logical path to do so when it comes to the technical development of Josh the last few years. When it comes to Josh being on this team? Sure, McD had to contribute to that process. Allen wouldn't be a Bill if McD didn't agree with that path. Does it help Allen having the type of environment McD has provided? Structure, discipline? Sure it does. But winning also allows for those things to develop and you really can't separate Josh and our "winning" culture. Without Allen, this is likely a .500 team. If that is the case is this notion of culture building and nurturing the same?

 

Finally, I do credit McD for the transition to Brady and what I think is a more balanced approach. If a time existed where I think McD did influence more I think it has been this year. From my lens, Brady was much more capable of his influence where Dabs might have said, ya, no thanks. We will do it my way. That direct line to Brady is why in part, I didn't really like the hire. I didn't want our OC to be so open to McD injecting wisdom as I knew Brady would have to be. As it stands right now I was wrong in that observation. Brady has been great and any influence McD has had on him has seemed to be very positive.  

 

 

It's a lot more than xs and Os to develop an NFL quarterback 

 

It is a culture and the building and the people who surround the QB 

 

Bill belichick was a TE coach once in 45 years and is a defensive guru and he certainly has a part in developing Brady 

 

Not always about the person calling the plays or the quarterback coach.. Sean McDermott has his fingerprints on every part of this roster and has been a steady calming influence since the beginning on Josh Allen 

 

[RoscoeParrish]

3 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

Didn’t know McD “built” the offensive line. Coulda sworn that was Beane. Don’t remember McD coaching the offense at all either, including the O line. Thought Kromer did that. 
 

you learn new things here every day! 😉

He brought in Kromer to run his style of football.
 

He deserves some credit for that as the boss, no?

 

Also there is zero chance McD is not involved in personnel decisions. Deserves credit there as well. 
 

 

[thenorthremembers]

3 minutes ago, RoscoeParrish said:

Stop. You can’t give any credit to a defensive background HC for anything positive on the offensive side of the ball. 
 

I also firmly believe Josh’s leap in playing smarter turnover free football is a direct result of McD’s philosophy. It took some time, but I think it finally clicked for him. McD has always harped on this negative aspect of JAs game in needing to play smart and take what the defense gives him. 

 

I agree with you 100%.    I have to imagine the people harping on McDermott have never coached football before.   To coach defensive football, you need to know a thing or two about offensive football.       

[RoscoeParrish]

5 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

So far you're giving McD genius-level credit for:

 

1. Wanting to have a balanced Offense instead of being one dimensional

2. Wanting to have a good OLine

3. Wanting to prevent turnovers

 

I mean, these are basics that most Pop Warner coaches strive for as well.

 

I'm waiting to see something unique and/or that can be directly attributed to his coaching. Like Reid being known for scheming guys open in his Offensive play calls.

 

 

I agree they are simple things. Surprisingly, 99% of the league cannot do any of those 3 things consistently. He deserves credit for instilling these principles as the boss of the football team. He lives by it and we do it.  

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

Not trying to say anyone is right or wrong to feel the way they do but I can’t say I’ve ever seen so much hate for a coach that just finished up beating the 1 seed in each conference 😂 this has gotta be uncharted waters.  How many teams even play the top seed in each conference in a given year haha 

 

Edited December 16 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[klos63]

2 hours ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

Giving McDermott credit for Josh's career year would be like giving credit to the rooster for the sun coming up !

There was no guarantee that, coming out of college , Allen would be this great.  The organization did an incredible job in his development. 

[RoscoeParrish]

2 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Wasn’t it McD who hired Dorsey? 

Yeah? Never said the guy was perfect. 

[thenorthremembers]

11 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

Didn’t know McD “built” the offensive line. Coulda sworn that was Beane. Don’t remember McD coaching the offense at all either, including the O line. Thought Kromer did that. 
 

you learn new things here every day! 😉

Again.  Who hired Kromer?   I am not sure people understand what an NFL head coach does.  

  

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, klos63 said:

There was no guarantee that, coming out of college , Allen would be this great.  The organization did an incredible job in his development. 

Ehhh take another look at what they put around him early on

 

Incredible is overstating it

[klos63]

1 minute ago, GoBills808 said:

Ehhh take another look at what they put around him early on

 

Incredible is overstating it

Amazing that they couldn't build a line,,wr, te and rb all at once like most teams do.

[GoBills808]

Just now, klos63 said:

Amazing that they couldn't build a line,,wr, te and rb all at once like most teams do.

Incredible even

[Mikie2times]

People act like Josh didn’t directly impact the stability of the organization. When everybody talks about the culture that McD has been able to build how do you think that would have gone had he been starting Tyrod or JP or Trent? Winning allows you to build culture. Which is what Josh brought more than anything else to this organization. McD has been able to harness that success and build on it, but it doesn’t even reach that point without Allen. Its a lot easier to say Josh helped McD than the other way around. 

[DrDawkinstein]

13 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

Not trying to say anyone is right or wrong to feel the way they do but I can’t say I’ve ever seen so much hate for a coach that just finished up beating the 1 seed in each conference 😂 this has gotta be uncharted waters.  How many teams even play the top seed in each conference in a given year haha 

 

 

No hate. But we've all watched Josh carry this team and put them in positions to win in spite of the coaching decisions and defensive performances he has to deal with. So some push back should be expected when someone wants to shift some/any of that Josh credit to McD when McD has far more issues doing his job than Josh does.

[FireChans]

4 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

People act like Josh didn’t directly impact the stability of the organization. When everybody talks about the culture that McD has been able to build how do you think that would have gone had he been starting Tyrod or JP or Trent? Winning allows you to build culture. Which is what Josh brought more than anything else to this organization. McD has been able to harness that success and build on it, but it doesn’t even reach that point without Allen. It’s a lot easier to say Josh helped McD than the other way around. 

It’s crazy how the Pats culture fell apart when Brady left. And the Saints culture evaporated when Brees retired. And the Packers culture suffered when Rodgers fell apart. And the Broncos culture disappeared when Peyton retired. And the Colts culture disintegrated when Peyton missed the year or Andrew Luck retired. 
 

It’s almost like consistently winning is directly related to finding a great QB. But how would Bills fans recognize this? It’s not like we had a 17 year playoff drought and damn near 20 years of crappy football because that was our gap between having great QB’s.