Polian - McD, "he's Marv-like".

[QuoteTheRaven83]

Talk is cheap. I want results.

[teef]

Culture changes take time. Like seasons. No way can anyone say McD has changed the culture yet. He may have started to put his foundation in place but he isn't even close to changing anything yet. If this was a building he'd still be digging for the footers. Culture changes start at the top and work their way down to the janitor mopping the floor. It takes time to change culture. Combine that with a business where you need to win now and it's hard to predict the outcome so I will wait and see

this is a great statement. i'm with ya on this.

[QuoteTheRaven83]

Culture changes take time. Like seasons. No way can anyone say McD has changed the culture yet. He may have started to put his foundation in place but he isn't even close to changing anything yet. If this was a building he'd still be digging for the footers. Culture changes start at the top and work their way down to the janitor mopping the floor. It takes time to change culture. Combine that with a business where you need to win now and it's hard to predict the outcome so I will wait and see

 

Tell that to Jim Harbaugh.

 

If you have the pieces in place, it shouldn't take all that long.

[Fan in Chicago]

You mean as in Marv was a delegator who let his coordinators run both the offense and defense themselves and let his GM get him players just like McD wants total control and runs his defense and wants to be in the offense and demands he picks his players himself?

was my first reaction too. I dont see how McD's demeanor is anything like Marv's. We will have to wait and see the on-field performance. Also, how he handles an off-field player situation such as weed, DUI etc.

 

There's the overreaction I was waiting for when I started reading this thread...

Where was the 'over' reaction ?

 

Tell that to Jim Harbaugh.

 

If you have the pieces in place, it shouldn't take all that long.

You are talking about behavior change. Culture, on the other hand, is embedded in everything a team does. That takes time to develop, internalize and become second nature.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

I haven't heard a Bills head coach compared to Marv since Dick J!

[KDIGGZ]

let's just hire Marv again. what is he like 92? i bet he's still got it

[I'm Spartacus]

Just win, and all speculation about McD will end.

[Ron Burgundy]

I like him so far but some of the rumors are concerning. IF the rumors that he had a lot of control of the draft are true will that continue with the next GM?

 

Would strong candidates want to share what is typically GM power with their coach? Maybe it will stop and that was only because Whaley was on his way out but it'd be something i would question if i were interviewing.

[Figster]

I thought HC McD taking time out to visit with the leaders of the team that went to 4 straight superbowls showed just how far McD is willing to go in search of a Champion.

 

The attention to detail, the demand for respect, the high priority in obtaining players of good character, all very Marv Levy like in my humble opinion.

 

but is McD as good in the X's and O's department is the question...

[BillsVet]

Talk is cheap. I want results.

 

I think everyone wants results.

 

At the same time, the first evidence is there to show this isn't the same old same old. This isn't status quo packaged as new. This isn't Marrone pointing at the lifers 3 years ago and Russ stepping in to protect them. It's the closest to real substantive change there's ever been at OBD.

 

It's going to be a new regime both in terms of coaching AND in the front office next season. Sure, McD could be unsuccessful. But he won't be unsuccessful because RW cronies were still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He's the first HC in some time who'll control his own destiny. He wouldn't have taken this job without that assurance.

[CanadianFan]

This is a retort to the person who "can't see McD being a good Bills HC".

 

Bill Polian, who has been very reluctant to endorse anybody over the years for the Bills' HC position has clearly endorsed Sean McDermott. He believes that McD is basically a younger version of Marv Levy......and he thinks the world of the HOF Bills HC who he hired when he was the Bills GM way back when.

 

Polian says that McD is "cerebral, low key, and right on the money". He said that McD has a pretty good pedigree having learned under Andy Reid (Phily) and Rivera (Carolina).

 

Here's the link: http://buffalowdown.com/2017/03/05/buffalo-bills-bill-polian-sean-mcdermott-marv-levy/.

 

That's a pretty hefty endorsement if you ask me.

 

From what I've seen thus far I would think you would have to be impressed with McD. He basically ran the 2017 draft and likely picked up three 2017 starters by trading up and down the board and may have found Buffalo's QB of the future in Nate Peterman. Even the ESPN analysts (Kiper & McShay) have raved about Buffalo's draft.

 

McD has also won the power battle with former Bills GM D. Whaley. With Whaley now gone it's likely that McD will be able to hand pick the next Bills GM. That's a very rare occurrence.

 

McD is likely to push for someone he knows and trusts very well.....and that may turn out to be the best way to rebuild this team.

 

I know that coach Levy is highly revered. But when I hear Marv Levy and I think "old school". He didn't change nor adapt during that 4 year run. So sorry no, that's a bad analogy. And their personalities are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. I don't see it. The man sounds like a detail oriented control freak. We can best hope for Belicheat.

Edited May 3, 2017 by CanadianFan

[Kelly the Dog]

 

I think everyone wants results.

 

At the same time, the first evidence is there to show this isn't the same old same old. This isn't status quo packaged as new. This isn't Marrone pointing at the lifers 3 years ago and Russ stepping in to protect them. It's the closest to real substantive change there's ever been at OBD.

 

It's going to be a new regime both in terms of coaching AND in the front office next season. Sure, McD could be unsuccessful. But he won't be unsuccessful because RW cronies were still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He's the first HC in some time who'll control his own destiny. He wouldn't have taken this job without that assurance.

Yep. He's the man now, and even though anyone may not like the way he is acting, or it's too much to bite off, or other guys and teams it hasn't worked for, he is our guy and this is how he works and the buck stops here and we don't know how it's going to turn out yet. No one does. But the best thing in the world for a Bills fan to happen is if this guy is right. And that's yet to be determined. So go McD!

[eball]

You mean as in Marv was a delegator who let his coordinators run both the offense and defense themselves and let his GM get him players just like McD wants total control and runs his defense and wants to be in the offense and demands he picks his players himself?

Maybe McD has a large vocabulary?

[Kelly the Dog]

Maybe McD has a large vocabulary?

He has all the best words.

[Wayne Arnold]

I like him so far but some of the rumors are concerning. IF the rumors that he had a lot of control of the draft are true will that continue with the next GM?

 

Would strong candidates want to share what is typically GM power with their coach? Maybe it will stop and that was only because Whaley was on his way out but it'd be something i would question if i were interviewing.

 

Considering it is McDermott who will basically be choosing the GM, I don't see it being a problem. Communication will be open and honest in the interviews.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

Considering it is McDermott who will basically be choosing the GM, I don't see it being a problem. Communication will be open and honest in the interviews.

Yep. McD is just going to say, "We are are team here, no ego, we don't have a leader, so do what I say."

[BuffAlone]

I also like the fact that he is McOppositeOfRex.

Cheese is extra...and not worth the cost.

[Fan in Chicago]

 

I think everyone wants results.

 

At the same time, the first evidence is there to show this isn't the same old same old. This isn't status quo packaged as new. This isn't Marrone pointing at the lifers 3 years ago and Russ stepping in to protect them. It's the closest to real substantive change there's ever been at OBD.

 

It's going to be a new regime both in terms of coaching AND in the front office next season. Sure, McD could be unsuccessful. But he won't be unsuccessful because RW cronies were still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He's the first HC in some time who'll control his own destiny. He wouldn't have taken this job without that assurance.

I guess you and I have flipped personalities here, but you dont see the continued presence of Brandon as a hindrance to the execution of this plan ? That Brandon wont keep his sticky fingers out of the football operations ? Also, we dont have confidence that the new GM wont be a McD puppet in effect reversing the structure of the past but with pretty much the same power problem.

[ChanOverChin]

At some point, the Bills are bound to get it right.

 

At the very least it is very encouraging to see someone with Polian's NFL acumen say the things that he has about McD. McD has a LOT to prove, no doubt about it.

 

He does seem to be on the right track. He's made a lot of very good moves. He's even convinced the Pegulas to go with him over Whaley.

 

Let's give him a fair chance to do things HIS way.

[TPS]

This is a retort to the person who "can't see McD being a good Bills HC".

 

Bill Polian, who has been very reluctant to endorse anybody over the years for the Bills' HC position has clearly endorsed Sean McDermott. He believes that McD is basically a younger version of Marv Levy......and he thinks the world of the HOF Bills HC who he hired when he was the Bills GM way back when.

 

Polian says that McD is "cerebral, low key, and right on the money". He said that McD has a pretty good pedigree having learned under Andy Reid (Phily) and Rivera (Carolina).

 

Here's the link: http://buffalowdown.com/2017/03/05/buffalo-bills-bill-polian-sean-mcdermott-marv-levy/.

 

That's a pretty hefty endorsement if you ask me.

 

From what I've seen thus far I would think you would have to be impressed with McD. He basically ran the 2017 draft and likely picked up three 2017 starters by trading up and down the board and may have found Buffalo's QB of the future in Nate Peterman. Even the ESPN analysts (Kiper & McShay) have raved about Buffalo's draft.

 

McD has also won the power battle with former Bills GM D. Whaley. With Whaley now gone it's likely that McD will be able to hand pick the next Bills GM. That's a very rare occurrence.

 

McD is likely to push for someone he knows and trusts very well.....and that may turn out to be the best way to rebuild this team.

I assume he's the one you have to credit for managing the cap better than in the past couple of years. By passing on Gilmore, the Bills can more easily go after people cut (for cap reasons) by other teams between now and Week 1.