TBD's Approval Rating for Sean McDermott As Bills Head Coach?

[blacklabel]

He has my approval right now. He's made some questionable decisions but he's a first time head coach. There's going to be some trial and error as he gains more experience which should serve him well to make better decisions in the future.

 

It's amazing that some people expect a first time head coach to come roaring out of the gate and win 642 straight Super Bowls. Even if a Buffalo coach did accomplish that there'd be a percentage of fans who wouldn't be happy with it. They'd find some menial mistake to pick on and use as their justification for why they think the coach sucks. 

 

It's also too early to tell. What's the golden rule with rookie players? Can't really make a true evaluation until they're three seasons in. Seems the same never applies for rookie head coaches. All fan blades are impatient and want their teams to succeed but it's as if Bills fans feel they're entitled to instantaneous success based on the drought...which this staff has nothing to do with. 

 

Based on the talent, the lack of consistency on offense and the roster turnover, McDermott has had a successful rookie season. He's had some blunders but again, he's learning. He seems to be intelligent and prepared enough to fix his mistakes going forward but no coach is perfect.

 

My only gripe would be the sense of how they wanna build this team. I understand wanting players who wanna win and put the team first, I understand wanting a strong locker room free of massive egos, that's all fine. But... I don't wanna see this regime go after *only* those types of players. I mean, if you've built a strong enough locker room with solid leadership then they should be fine taking some guys who may have a few character red flags because they can be mentored by the leaders in the locker room. I don't want a team full of strictly boy scouts. Hope they don't limit themselves in that fashion. A little attitude and swagger is never a bad thing as long as it's not keeping the player from reach his full potential. 

 

Other than that, McD's whole "earn the right to start" mentality should apply to his coaches as well. Because if we're using that logic then Rick Dennison hasn't earned the right to be the OC for the last 6 weeks. 

 

Edit: pardon the typos, mobile

Edited December 16, 2017 by blacklabel

[Adam727]

All of this with the caveat that 13 weeks is probably too soon to make a decision on a head coach....  

 

But I'm a "no" vote for McD.  

 

In his first year as head coach he made the worst player personnel decision I've ever seen as a Bills fan benching Tyrod for Peterman against SD while the Bills were in the middle of a playoff run.  (Think benching Flutie for Johnson, except if Johnson had never started in the NFL and was a 5th round rookie)  If he'd made the same move at a different point in the season it wouldn't have bothered me much, but he picked such a horrible time to make that move...  You make a move like that early in the season or after the season is over... not when your team has a winning record and is currently the 6th seed in the playoff hunt!  

 

He also made one of the worst in-game calls I've ever seen punting on 4th and 1 against the Colts last week.  Not only did he not appear to understand that by punting he hurt the Bills chances of winning the game, but what really is cause for concern is that after the game he did not appear very aware of where the Bills stood in the playoff hunt and how badly a tie would have hurt their chances to make it to the playoffs. In my opinion a good NFL head coach should have a better understanding of exactly where his team stands in the playoff picture in the final month of the season.  It's only through sheer luck that call didn't end the Bills' season right there..  

 

He's also made some poor choices over the course of the year when deciding plays he should/should not challenge.   Half time adjustments have been disappointing to non-existent during multiple games this year.  McD says he's a detail oriented coach but often doesn't seem to understand / be aware of important details.  Going forward it seems likely McD will cost us a game here and there each season with poor decision making, which the Bills cant afford if most years they're already going to drop 2 to the Pats to begin with.

 

I don't think he brought in the right OC for this team, and defense is up in the air this year.  (They've looked both really good and REALLY bad)

 

I will say that to his credit McD does seem to have this team overachieving in the W/L category based on the talent left on this team.  But I think partial credit for that goes to how bad the AFC is this year and the Bills catching a few lucky breaks this season that usually seem to bounce the other way.

 

I think some of this can be chalked up to this being McD's first year as a head coach.  And hopefully he improves over time since it's unlikely he's going anywhere anytime soon.  But the recent Bills head coach McD reminds me the most of is Dick Jauron and I wasn't a fan of his either..  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vorpma]

13 hours ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Great point. This 7-6, boring team won't have been helped by any of those players. Our run defense has gotten so much better without Dareus and our wrs look awesome since Sammy left.  Clearly, the Rams, Eagles, and Rams made huge mistakes signing these Whaley scrubs!!! Trust the process and Jordan Matthews/ Nate Peterman/ Cedric Thornton!!!

A lot of fans thought they could have made a playoff type/ 8-8 push if they kept those players. 

 

Also, the AFC is much worse than anyone thought it would be.

Like it or not, regardless of what is expected, the Bills are in an organizational rebuild due to 17 years of poor drafting, coaching, and FA signings; this team was going nowhere! I stand with those who are willing to give the new regime time to prove itself.

[CSBill]

The Peterman decision was foolish, but other than that, although some of the let-goes have been hard to understand emotionally, he has made this a truly competitive team.

 

I would add, his biggest overall leadership mistake has been the hire of Dennison. A real test of his ability to lead and make difficult decisions to make the organization better will be what he does with Dennison. It should be an early fire--no matter how or when the season ends--with a goal of hiring an OC that understands football in 2018+ .... Dennison is the OC version of Rex Ryan, had a good system that worked well at a particular point in time, but not now, not for the players and situation you have. And, unfortunate, neither was/is able to adapt.

 

At any rate, MeDermott's handling of this will be his first big test of visionary leadership.

Edited December 17, 2017 by CSBill

[BillsFan4]

This poll makes me happy to see. 

 

Reading this board sometimes, I sure wouldn't guess that this poll would be a landslide in favor of McD... 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

4 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

This poll makes me happy to see. 

 

Reading this board sometimes, I sure wouldn't guess that this poll would be a landslide in favor of McD... 

 

 

No kidding. But take heart. Most of the most vocal anti McDermott posters are also the worst posters TSW has to offer.

[Billsfan1972]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

This poll makes me happy to see. 

 

Reading this board sometimes, I sure wouldn't guess that this poll would be a landslide in favor of McD... 

 

He really has been that good?

 

OK at best and a master at controlling expectations.

 

This was a .500 team that is currently 7-6.

 

Wow COY!!!

[BillsFan4]

1 hour ago, Billsfan1972 said:

He really has been that good?

 

OK at best and a master at controlling expectations.

 

This was a .500 team that is currently 7-6.

 

Wow COY!!!

 

The poll was approve or disapprove, and so far I approve and am glad to see that most who voted do too. 

 

I dont think anyone had Buffalo as a .500 team before the season started, either. Everyone, even Vegas, had them as one of the worst teams in the NFL and gave them 4 wins, or maybe 6 wins at best. 

 

So yeah, I'd say that being 7-6 while currently in the tear down stages of a rebuild is pretty good. 

 

The main reason I was happy is because sometimes your perspective gets skewed when viewing these boards. Before this poll I would have guessed that there were many less posters that approved of McDermott. Shoot, I've seen numerous threads and posters calling for his firing already (which is just ridiculous). But I guess it's just more of a case of the people who dislike McDermott being more vocal than many of his supporters. 

 

So yes, I was happy to see his approval rating in this poll. 

 

Perosnally, I think he's done a lot of good things and am excited to see what the future brings when he has more talent to work with. I don't think he's a COY candidate or anything, but so far I'm happy with him. 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

I approve, but that is more about giving the first year coach a lot of rope than it is being impressed by anything. The rope shortens as time goes on though.

[CLTbills]

On December 16, 2017 at 12:32 PM, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

 

who was complaining about the win? who?

 

the win had nothing to do with what many thought to be a bad call, that was the complaint, a bad call. I bet if you looked closely enough you could see that.

 

can you show me a quote or link to those specifically complaining about the win?

 

no, you can not.

 

the reality is, McD got very lucky with that call and I have to ask you a serious question. had it not gone his way and they lost, would you of been complaining about the loss or the bad call that led to the loss?

 

don't come back with they won so it's irrelevant, just answer the question.

Oh, I'll be the first one to say that I was PISSED watching it in real time. NO WAY would I have punted it. But he had a plan - to let the defense get the ball back - and it worked - and we won. Had we lost? Of course we'd be looking at it much differently. But WE WON the game.

[Woodman19]

21 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

This poll makes me happy to see. 

 

Reading this board sometimes, I sure wouldn't guess that this poll would be a landslide in favor of McD... 

 

The vocal minority is always loudest.  

[Mrbojanglezs]

I like him but his game management is questionable.

[PromoTheRobot]

He tends to get conservative with a lead but you might too with this collection of talent. Still two thumbs up.

[Antonio]

I think & hope we have a keeper.

 

Of course there are some decision that I don´t like or I don´t understand, and I think a lot of us have these same unanswered questions (Duccase starting, Tobler playing time, the controvertial QB change, the melting of our team for 3 stright weeks, etc...) But he has earn my respect quickly. He is a great leader and I actually think he does learn from his mistakes.

 

[buffalobloodfloridahome]

The Jury is out but, unfortunately I see allot of the same old Bills philosophy in this team. Play good defense, run the ball, protect the ball and then when we get a lead don't take any chances on offense. Even though yesterday Tyrod actually took quite a few shots down field, this has not been the norm all season. We got lucky that Cutler was throwing picks or we would of lost yesterday.

I have noticed allot of the good teams are more offensively focused now and I wish the Bills would follow suit. Sure you need a defense, but it's been shown time and time again unless you have a once in a decade type defense it's been the good offenses that are winning and going to the playoffs. Hopefully next year our offense is completely revamped and I hope a new offensive coordinator and QB with a new lineman or two plus a few more weapons and then we will be fine. 

[Figster]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

He tends to get conservative with a lead but you might too with this collection of talent. Still two thumbs up.

true that,

McD tends to practice what he preaches by making decisions that are cool and calculated.

 

Formula for success, think smart, play smart.

 

One hot head can ruin everything the team is trying to accomplish so when building a team of high character players you had better weed out the trouble makers or its all for not IMO.

 

we can be one Buffalo strong...

 

...or one Buffalo stupid... 

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Figster

[Jasovon]

This team is massively overachieving. We will be in the mix for the wild card in week 17 and absolutely nobody saw that coming. With a win this week we could actually lock up the WC spot and rest our starters in week 17!

[Woodman19]

1 hour ago, buffalobloodfloridahome said:

The Jury is out but, unfortunately I see allot of the same old Bills philosophy in this team. Play good defense, run the ball, protect the ball and then when we get a lead don't take any chances on offense. Even though yesterday Tyrod actually took quite a few shots down field, this has not been the norm all season. We got lucky that Cutler was throwing picks or we would of lost yesterday.

I have noticed allot of the good teams are more offensively focused now and I wish the Bills would follow suit. Sure you need a defense, but it's been shown time and time again unless you have a once in a decade type defense it's been the good offenses that are winning and going to the playoffs. Hopefully next year our offense is completely revamped and I hope a new offensive coordinator and QB with a new lineman or two plus a few more weapons and then we will be fine. 

The difference between Tyrod and Rodgers is talent, not scheme.  I'm pretty sure you would see us more aggressive offensively if we had the horses. 

 

Fact is, we are 8-6 with bottom half ranked offense and defense with lots of promising young players getting better and a much more disciplined team in years.  Those are positive traits for a team looking to build through the draft with a boat load of picks.

[LeGOATski]

Approve.

 

He is similar to Marrone, but without being a douchebag.

[dulles]

On 12/16/2017 at 5:15 PM, C.Biscuit97 said:

A lot of fans thought they could have made a playoff type/ 8-8 push if they kept those players. 

 

Also, the AFC is much worse than anyone thought it would be.

I was not questioning his perspective on how the season would turn out.  I was questioning what he asserted about my opinion at the beginning of the season.  That is why I said he might be capable of writing a revisionist history of my life.