Is it time to move on from McDermott?

[ExiledInIllinois]

No

[Gregg]

2 minutes ago, colin said:

 

nah, this doesn't hit the mark.

 

philly had fat andy, someone many think of as one of the best ever.  he did great (4 nfc chips in a row, 1 sb, close loss) but not good enough.  the canned him and took a swing w chip kelly.  had an exciting team, but not good enough, they canned him and got peaderson.  he got them a chip, w their 2nd overall qb pick hurt, that's an insane result.  the team fell off (they baked the wrong horse at qb) and his butt got canned.  they reloaded at qb, rebuild the team, and got to another sb but lost a super close one.  so, they rebuilt the D, brought in top flight coordinators, and now just walked to another ring.

 

philly fired two top flight coaches, including one who won them a chip, and are a better team for it.  they traded picks to move up, traded picks for players, went out and signed big FAs, and reset their coaches below HC.  they saw what wasn't good enough, and made bold moves.

 

we have mcd for at least one more year, that's obvious, but aside from changing scouts and the GM (we have had really bad top round picks and some crippling contracts, i don't think anyone would argue with that), mcd himself has shown us our coaching just isn't good enough.  he canned an OC midseason, forced frazier out, and now brought in a seasoned guy to breath down the neck of his DC and also upgraded at secondary coach.

 

as it sits right now, the bills have a hole in vertical passing, and the D basically blows.  turnovers and a super charged ball control O (that's a really rare thing) have made them look way better than they actually are.  mcd and beane have this season to right that ship (frankly, i think they are on borrowed time at this point).  multiple top shelf pass rushers are available for trade or rumored to be available for trade, this is their chance.

 

hamlin and knox and douglas and coleman and injured cooper and softmore slump kinkaid and injury magnets milano and bernard and rapp and bishop aren't scaring anyone.  there needs to be an infusion of talent and a cogent strategic change in coaching to maximize whatever roster we end up with in the 2025 season, or else the keys get handed over to someone else.  i honestly think mcd knows it and will act accordingly.

 

The one thing though is Pegula loves having Beane and McDermott as his GM/HC. I agree with you, but Terry's opinion is the only one that counts. If the Bills keep having winning seasons and just keep making the playoffs despite no Super Bowl wins/appearances, I am afraid that would be good enough to keep Terry happy.

[Steptide]

36 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I understand the debate but it’s a waste of time imo. The pegulas won’t fire him unless he has like multiple losing seasons. 

I mean, if pegula has let the Sabres be the way they are, I feel like McDermott will be here until 2040 no matter what

[Goin Breakdown]

4 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

“no idea why” - because fans of this franchise have been waiting 64 years now to win a Championship. 
 

You have a window with Josh Allen. Next year in no.8 for him in Buffalo, he’ll be 29. You think he’ll stay this athletic for another 8-years? 

 

Next year will be Year 9 with McDermott at the helm.

 

What exactly are we holding onto here? A 17-3 win against the Ravens in the 2020 AFC Divisional and the 2024 AFC Divisional? 
 

A part of this job is that you win the Super Bowl. This man hasn’t been able to get to one yet with the best QB this franchise has ever had. 
 

Part of the profession is the acceptance that if you can’t get it done it’s your time to go. 
 

Lindy Ruff said the first time around in Buffalo that Darcy Reiger came to his office and he just said “I know”. 
 

He got the pass in 2019 because Allen was young despite being up 16-0 in that game, got the pass for the 2020 AFCCG because the team wasn’t ready to beat the Chiefs, survived the 13-seconds debacle, got the pass for the team being emotional spent with Damar in 2022, got the injury pass last year against the Chiefs, what is the excuse this year?

 

When have you suffered enough gut wrenching losses to where you say hey we gave it our best scheme, you’ve given your best speeches, it’s just not enough?

 

It’s crazy to me that fans of this organization cling to Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane for that matter. 
 

They both have been given ample time here. 

Trust the process. I'm not even sure what that means 9 years later. 

[Gregg]

38 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I understand the debate but it’s a waste of time imo. The pegulas won’t fire him unless he has like multiple losing seasons. 

 

At this point its just Terry. Unfortunately, because of her health I doubt Kim as anything to do with the Bills/Sabres anymore. I doubt Terry's kids are involved in the decision-making process with the teams at least not yet.

[BernieBill]

It's been time for years ... What the Eagles did last night is just another reminder that McDermott's had 4 chances in the playoffs to stifle KC's offense, has had 8 years to build a champion, and has failed.  13 Seconds was a disgrace and yet the guy is still here, losing in the playoffs every single year due primarily to poor defense.  Without Josh, McDermott would have been gone a long time ago.  He's not a championship-level coach, period.

[Gregg]

Just now, BernieBill said:

It's been time for years ... What the Eagles did last night is just another reminder that McDermott's had 4 chances in the playoffs to stifle KC's offense, has had 8 years to build a champion, and has failed.  13 Seconds was a disgrace and yet the guy is still here, losing in the playoffs every single year due primarily to poor defense.  Without Josh, McDermott would have been gone a long time ago.  He's not a championship-level coach, period.

 

Beane needs to take some blame here as well. His drafting in the early rounds hasn't been good. 

[colin]

38 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Trust the process. I'm not even sure what that means 9 years later. 

 

focusing on process is a trendy thing in business and parenting and such.  like almost all new trends tho, new studies have shown that it doesn't necessarily lead to better results.  mcd is in many ways a state of the art 2012 guy, the problem is the old time stuff still works, and there are newer improvements on these trendy things from a management and also football stand point.

 

the dude who was GM at the giants was the same way, and he made all the right moves from a process POV -- got a qb, got OL and DL talent, added a play maker on O.  the problem was he got soldier on a big contract, becton as a top 5-10 draft pick, the DL did work out, and he got that scrub danny dimes at qb.  he also got a terrible WR.  he was procedurally great, but his results were dog water because he consistently got the wrong guys.

 

the rams and philly made good procedural moves too, but when they don't work they make adjustments with urgency.  in the end results matter, and i really hope that the firing of the ST coach, bringing in a senior guy for D, and a seasoned db coach are signs that mcd might be finding some religion and getting with the program.

 

moves like trading for garrett, drafting actual fast big strong guys, and taking the risks to implement what these new coaches came in to do will be the proof.

[zow2]

I think McDermott is OK,  i'm starting to think he just doesn't have the tools on defense.  The Eagles DLine just came in and said we're better, we are dominating you.  The Bills have no ability to do that no matter how well McDermott coaches them up.  Even when Mahomes got a pass off, the Eagles DB's were aggressive and not giving them anything easy until it was garbage time.

Beane is on the clock to make this a Super Bowl level defense.

Edited yesterday at 01:32 PM by zow2

[Roundybout]

56 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Trust the process. I'm not even sure what that means 9 years later. 

No one says it anymore except people who hate McDermott. 

[Bruffalo]

I've been on the record that I'm fine moving on from McDermott, if only because I think philosophically having a defensive HC with an all world QB in today's NFL is backwards.  

 

That being said, I don't think it's fair to compare what the Eagles just did and hold that against McDermott. Roseman is on an incredible hotstreak as a GM, well above the norm in hit rate draft picks and FA signings. The Bills simply are not as good of a group of individual talents as the Eagles are. Despite that, the Bills are right there at the top of the NFL. 

 

The type of players that Beane and McDermott draft needs to shift.  Whether or not they can do that remains to be seen. 

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

1 hour ago, BernieBill said:

It's been time for years ... What the Eagles did last night is just another reminder that McDermott's had 4 chances in the playoffs to stifle KC's offense, has had 8 years to build a champion, and has failed.  13 Seconds was a disgrace and yet the guy is still here, losing in the playoffs every single year due primarily to poor defense.  Without Josh, McDermott would have been gone a long time ago.  He's not a championship-level coach, period.

I kind of agree.  McDermott is a good leader and motivator, but his defensive philosophy of small undersized players playing a conservative reactive defense is never gonna get you a Super Bowl.  

[Straight Hucklebuck]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

We won in '64 and '65.  Quit with the false narrative.

Super Bowl LIX February 9th 2025

 

Super Bowl I January 15th 1967 

 

You're right, it's only been 58 years, 26 days. 

 

Thanks for clarifying. 

[stinky finger]

9 hours ago, JohnNord said:

Yeah… that’s not going to happen.  It would take a failure to make the playoffs for his seat to be warm.  I’m certain Terry is going to let Beane and McDermott finish out their contract as long as they keep winning 

 

While I agree with this......I don't buy in. Missing the playoffs shouldn't be the criteria. They're on the clock and it's ticking. 

 

Shhit or get off the pot.

[Goin Breakdown]

1 hour ago, Roundybout said:

No one says it anymore except people who hate McDermott. 

 I don't hate McDermott. But he did say it and although it has gotten us far, it's has also disappointed. McD is a fine coach and a great dude. I'm hoping the changes he is making will pay off. 

[Orlando Buffalo]

2 hours ago, Bruffalo said:

I've been on the record that I'm fine moving on from McDermott, if only because I think philosophically having a defensive HC with an all world QB in today's NFL is backwards.  

 

That being said, I don't think it's fair to compare what the Eagles just did and hold that against McDermott. Roseman is on an incredible hotstreak as a GM, well above the norm in hit rate draft picks and FA signings. The Bills simply are not as good of a group of individual talents as the Eagles are. Despite that, the Bills are right there at the top of the NFL. 

 

The type of players that Beane and McDermott draft needs to shift.  Whether or not they can do that remains to be seen. 

 

 

Roseman has permission from his owner the bankrupt the future to win today, which I doubt Beane has such permission. Currently the Eagles have 200+ million of void years set to hit in 2029, we have nothing like that. I hope Pegula give permission to do that this year, rewrite Josh contract to be similar in structure to Hurts, go get Dexter Lawrence(I can dream) along with Maxx Crosby(because Myles Garrett will cost too much).

[cgg716]

3 hours ago, zow2 said:

I think McDermott is OK,  i'm starting to think he just doesn't have the tools on defense.  The Eagles DLine just came in and said we're better, we are dominating you.  The Bills have no ability to do that no matter how well McDermott coaches them up.  Even when Mahomes got a pass off, the Eagles DB's were aggressive and not giving them anything easy until it was garbage time.

Beane is on the clock to make this a Super Bowl level defense.

It's the scheme not the tools

[billsfan714]

1 hour ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

Roseman has permission from his owner the bankrupt the future to win today, which I doubt Beane has such permission. Currently the Eagles have 200+ million of void years set to hit in 2029, we have nothing like that. I hope Pegula give permission to do that this year, rewrite Josh contract to be similar in structure to Hurts, go get Dexter Lawrence(I can dream) along with Maxx Crosby(because Myles Garrett will cost too much).

The Eagles have over 20 million in cap space and just won the SB.   We had 70 million in dead money this year and we are still over next season.   Yeah Beane can restructure but that just pushes money out to future years.   Jesus 2 key pieces on offense need to be signed(Cook and Shakir), where is this imaginary money coming from to sign some stud DL?   Get use to more underwhelming Beane signings like Smoot and Toohill.

[billsfan89]

6 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

The 1 thing I saw tonight was a defensive front that constantly pressured Mahomes in spite of not blitzing. afaik that's McD's philosophy but ourfront hasn't been good enough to bring the pressure. 

 

It's the same formula the Giants used twice to beat Brady and a lot of other top QB's in the playoffs. Have an elite D-line that can consistently generate pressure with the front 4. The Bills issue is that they consistently have a "good" but not elite D-line. McBeane made a move in 2022 to add Von who was averaging a sack a game until he got hurt. The Bills need to make a big trade to get a "war daddy" pass rusher. Slot every DE down a slot. Groot as your lead DE, that's decent, but Groot as your DE2? That's very good. I think it is going to vastly improve the Bills offensive line if they can find a big nasty DT in the draft and if they can get an elite edge rusher like a Maxx Crosby added via trade. 

[billsfan89]

17 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

“no idea why” - because fans of this franchise have been waiting 64 years now to win a Championship. 
 

You have a window with Josh Allen. Next year in no.8 for him in Buffalo, he’ll be 29. You think he’ll stay this athletic for another 8-years? 

 

Next year will be Year 9 with McDermott at the helm.

 

What exactly are we holding onto here? A 17-3 win against the Ravens in the 2020 AFC Divisional and the 2024 AFC Divisional? 
 

A part of this job is that you win the Super Bowl. This man hasn’t been able to get to one yet with the best QB this franchise has ever had. 
 

Part of the profession is the acceptance that if you can’t get it done it’s your time to go. 
 

Lindy Ruff said the first time around in Buffalo that Darcy Reiger came to his office and he just said “I know”. 
 

He got the pass in 2019 because Allen was young despite being up 16-0 in that game, got the pass for the 2020 AFCCG because the team wasn’t ready to beat the Chiefs, survived the 13-seconds debacle, got the pass for the team being emotional spent with Damar in 2022, got the injury pass last year against the Chiefs, what is the excuse this year?

 

When have you suffered enough gut wrenching losses to where you say hey we gave it our best scheme, you’ve given your best speeches, it’s just not enough?

 

It’s crazy to me that fans of this organization cling to Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane for that matter. 
 

They both have been given ample time here. 

 

The Bills massively overachieved this season despite eating a lot of dead cap via gutting a lot of veteran talent. Seems like McBeane proved this season they deserve a shot to take a roster that is already very good and add the final pieces to get over the top. This team was in the middle of a 17 year playoff drought in McD's first season and McD broke that drought with a team that was massively undertalented. The Bills showed prudence as an organization and didn't over invest in repeating those results and gutted the team so that in 2019 they could give Josh more talent. In 2020 they added a big piece in Diggs and the Bills were contenders. 

 

There will come a point where McD needs to go, but I think this season shows that McBeane may know what they are doing more so than fans who just want to fire coaches and GM's with great track records because they can't think of any other legitimate reasons why teams don't win a Super Bowl so just fire the coach and replace them with someone else who they will just blame for arbitrary reasons. 

 

Another big reason I don't see the need to move on from McD just yet is because McD has adapted as a coach. He was too conservative he's now one of the more aggressive coaches on 4th down and other in game decisions. He was too loyal and he has since proved he's willing to move on from coordinators and assistants not getting the job done. He's even brining in coaches from other organizations and schemes to expand his coaching staff. Even in 2023 when that article came out he adjusted his coaching style to be different and the team rallied around him to rattle off 5 straight to end the season and win the division and two seed. 

 

If McD was doing the same thing over and over again being too conservative and unwilling to move on from assistants while also being very ridged in his approach I would say your point might be taken. But I just don't think that's been the case at all.