Bills hiring new special teams coordinator Chris Tabor

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Doc Brown said:

As we get further removed I think the loss of Frazier had a negative net impact on the defense when many thought it would be a positive net impact.  Credit McDermott or whoever made the decision to pry Daboll from Alabama.  He messed up with the Dorsey hire but made the tough but necessary in season move to promote Brady.  This kind of turnover isn't unusual over an eight year period with one head coach.

 

And the run with McD, Frazier, Daboll was at the time equalled only by the 49ers and the Saints for continuity at HC-DC-OC. Four seasons with the same three guys is pretty rare in the NFL these days. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

The Bills have 2 position coaches that were promoted to interim HC, Kromer and Tabor. Says a lot about these coaches. Hopefully they remain in buffalo a long time. Good teams tend to keep their OL coach and special teams coach for a long time. Pay them well and make them happy.

Edited February 12 by Buffalo_Stampede

[T master]

16 hours ago, 3rdand12 said:

Here is my take

 McD wants to grow his People and culture. That's a fine thing.

He is learning

 Maybe he needed more Teachers

 

And fans with a little more patients ... Just saying .

[Jerome007]

18 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Ranked as the 2nd best ST coordinator via a poll conducted by the NFLPA after the 2023 season

Yet out of the league in 2024. Weird!

[3rdand12]

22 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I'm willing to forgive McD for 13 seconds.  I don't know what really happened.  And, in any case, we took the world champions to overtime in a tightly contested game that could have gone either way so obviously we did a lot of things right.  As head coach, he deserves the blame for whatever went wrong in those 13 ticks of the clock but he likewise deserves credit for the many things we did right that season and game.  

 

Where I find fault with McD is with coordinators.  We only have three, and it seems we replace one every year.  It'd be better to find good ones (like Reid finding Spags) and then stick with them until they're hired away to be head coaches.  But McD seems to have trouble finding good ones.  

 

Offense:  Dennison, Daboll, Dorsey, Brady

 

Defense:  Frazier, McDermott, Babich

 

ST: Crossman, Farwell, Smiley, Tabor

Lets us pray he has found the holy trinity here.
and a full set of highly qualified Angels in supporting roles and advisors 😇

20 hours ago, US Egg said:

So this is a good thing?

Not sure. just as a I see it and what I wish for.

So yea  

?

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, davefan66 said:

Daboll left to become a HC. Not fired by McD….

 

Dorsey was kept for “continuity”…  happy McD realized he was over his head and let him go. Brady isn’t going anywhere unless he becomes a HC…again, not McD’s fault.

 

People clamored for Frazier to go…“Mutual decision”.  McD took control of the D after that with emphasis on getting Babich ready to be DC.  No issue here either.

 

Has lot had a good run on ST coaches, just happy he recognized the need for change. 
 

Could he have done better?  Yeah. But at least he makes the effort to better his staff.  Can’t fault him for that.

Thanks for the more nuanced take with some detail dave

The last lines , I agree hugely !

 

Still learning from errors , big positives and experience. I feel Beane is doing the same.

Slow grind

But they did say they wanted to be competitive post season every year. They succeeded ! Its the next step. Likely the hardest. Finish the job

8 hours ago, T master said:

 

And fans with a little more patients ... Just saying .

No small task. 😋

 Even me at times 

[billsfan89]

On 2/11/2025 at 6:08 PM, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Terry Pegula is opening the wallet to upgrade the coaching staff.

 

Bills mean business this offseason.

 

This hire plus the cornerbacks coach from NE that the Bills added to the staff seem like good hires. Have there been any other significant hires? 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

46 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

This hire plus the cornerbacks coach from NE that the Bills added to the staff seem like good hires. Have there been any other significant hires? 

All the defensive hires. There’s been 3 defensive hires and a special teams hire. All experienced coaches.

[billsfan89]

5 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

All the defensive hires. There’s been 3 defensive hires and a special teams hire. All experienced coaches.

 

From my understanding of these hires a lot of these new coaches aren't coaches McD has worked with before? 

[nedboy7]

Would you trade him for a 4th rounder? 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

21 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

From my understanding of these hires a lot of these new coaches aren't coaches McD has worked with before? 

I think the closest thing is Ryan Nielsen was a player in Philadelphia when McDermott was a coach there.

[jwhit34]

Coordinator churn is a fact of life in the NFL. Current offensive coordinators by year hired:

2025: 13

2024: 7

2023: 8

2022: 4

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_NFL_offensive_coordinators

 

Defensive coordinators by year hired:

2025: 11

2024:11

2023: 6

2022 2

2019: 1 (Spags)

 

The 32nd is Todd Bowles, who is head coach of TB but still listed as DC

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_NFL_defensive_coordinators

 

Wiki didn't have a similar list for STC.

 

Given this reality, the Bills have fared pretty well. 

[Richard Noggin]

14 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

The Bills have 2 position coaches that were promoted to interim HC, Kromer and Tabor. Says a lot about these coaches. Hopefully they remain in buffalo a long time. Good teams tend to keep their OL coach and special teams coach for a long time. Pay them well and make them happy.

 

I have grown fairly obsessed with the idea that much of Brady's success since he took over can be attributed to his willingness with his assistant coaches and players to collaborate and delegate; I primarily assume he took over for Dorsey and immediately sought out Beach Chairs for more guidance on weekly gameplans, probably akin to Kromer being a run game coordinator. Really seems like we've been watching Bills offensive linemen increasingly be put in position to do what they're good at it, which has always been a very Kromer thing: tailoring techniques and plans to best suit what his guys can actually do. 

 

(Remember during Kromer's first stint when Jordan Mills at RT handled JJ Watt by lining up tight to the LOS and being super aggressive even in pass pro? Very counter-intuitive/innovative way to help a replacement-level but physical/competitive tackle win an unfavorable matchup.)

[billsfan89]

2 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I think the closest thing is Ryan Nielsen was a player in Philadelphia when McDermott was a coach there.

 

Not that much of a connection. My entire argument about why fans calling for McD to be fired is foolish is largely due to how much McD has adapted his coaching. He was previously very conservative and now he is one of the most aggressive in game coaches. He was overly loyal to coaches he's made aggressive moves to move on from coaches when needed. His players thought he was too tight and ridged after that article came out in 2023 he adjusted his personality. He hired a lot of former Carolina staff and other coaches he worked with and now he has been expanding his coaching base. McD isn't doing the same thing and expecting different results which is a major reason why I think he deserves a couple more seasons here at a minimum.