I think that overall, we are pretty pleased with Sean McDermott's performance over the past year. He's proven to be disciplined, organized, good with players, media, and team personnel. No one can question that reaching the playoffs in 2017 was an amazing accomplishment, due in no small part to his leadership and actual competence as a head coach (which we almost forgot what that looked like).
But I never felt last year that he was that great at in-game management. Yes, he had the team prepared most weeks - the game plans were well-structured, the players & coaches knew what they were doing, and it largely manifested on the field with fewer mistakes & turnovers, players were in the right spots, and the team at least looked better on a week-to-week basis, some stinker performances notwithstanding.
Having said all of these things, I don't yet see Sean McDermott as any more than an adequate game-day coach. I see this most in the area of aggressiveness - going for it on 4th down, risky play calls & gadgets, in-game adjustments, clock management. Too often, it felt like we were playing not to lose, instead of aggressively getting after it - dictating the flow of play, forcing the action, and making the other team prepare and respond to what we are doing, instead of the other way around. Don't get me wrong, I like the overall direction of the team, but I want my coach to be more like a Sean Payton - Mike Tomlin - Bruce Arians. Guys who aren't afraid to push the envelope and strategically try to play parts of the game differently. These guys are good at forcing their coordinators to be innovative, and enabling creativity within their teams. I'm not saying that everything they do is successful, but I like that they're on the AGGRESSIVE end of the spectrum.
I know that our last buffoon of a head coach was aggressive, but I'm not including him in this discussion. You also have to be intelligent and have a measure of self-control to qualify...
What I'm afraid of is that when things come to a point or when we face adversity or a rough season, that McDermott becomes more of a Ron Rivera, or a Marvin Lewis, or a Jim Caldwell. These guys all were somewhat competent in their own way, but they were never going to out-coach the good/great coaches, the true innovators. Most of the time, they just rolled over, maybe because they didn't get enough "breaks" to win the game. The point is that I want McDermott to coach in a way that we make our own breaks, that we push the envelope, that we try new things and make other teams respond to us, instead of always having to be the reacting team.
Can he take the next step? Can he overcome his basic conservative nature? Can he get the best of his coordinators and position coaches?
That's what I'll be watching for in 2018, regardless of the other big factors (like a new QB, overall talent, etc)