CaliBills Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 With McDermott up for COTY. I felt compelled to start a discussion solely based on the ability of our coaches to coach players. We all know they do a great job of getting the team ready each week. We all know there has been some problems with Clock management/challenges. But one thing I don't see mentioned very often is the ability of the coaching staff to take players that haven't necessarily been stars for other teams, some even backups. And coach them to be better players over by only doing their 1/11th. The defense is naturally ahead of our offense based on the strength of the coaching staff. But in my eyes, the offense has improved. Not drastically but enough to be a 10/11 team this past year. It will need to continue to improve in order to win another 10/11 games next season with a schedule that seems stronger. I am excited to see what happens in year 3. Especially with Mcdermott at the helm and pegulas allowing beane and company to do their thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 1 minute ago, CaliBills said: We all know there has been some problems with Clock management/challenges. I know this wasn't the focus of you post, but I do question this mentality. I see a lot of criticism for McDermott in clock management. But I also see the same criticism for virtually every other coach in the league. Seems like nobody is good at it. I think the game is extremely complex and it's impossible to plan for every scenario. Over the course of a game and season any coach is bound to make "mistakes". They are snap judgements and often they are deemed good or bad based on the outcome of the play or series. If the team scores, you are a genius and made the right decision. If not, you are an idiot and managed the clock poorly. I don't particularly think that McDermott is any better or worse than other coaches in the league on that aspect. I've seen Bill Belichick make questionable decisions with managing the game. As for the other stuff, I agree. McDemott seems to be good at developing players and getting the most out of them. In 2017 making the playoffs with THAT roster and THAT QB speaks volumes. That team had no business making the playoffs. They were seriously talent starved. Even getting the 2018 team to 6 wins was mildly impressive given how limited they were with the cap and devoid of talent on offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 My only complaints about the coaching are the screen game and blitz pickup. Screens are a critical tool to have in your toolbox and we don't have it. We had a few successful screens, enough to show just how potent they can be when you can pull them off. For the most part though, our screens get blown up before they start, forcing Josh to ditch the throw into the dirt to avoid a disaster. As for blitz pickup, too often there were way too many free runners. The QB can be responsible for one free runner; to either make him miss or get rid of the ball to a hot read but you can't expect him to do much with two and three free runners coming through. I think we have the players to be effective in these areas though I doubt Singletary will ever be much of much use in pass-pro. Our coaches have to figure out why our screens are so sickeningly bad and get it fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliBills Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) I agree with your take on clock management/challenges. I was simply acknowledging some of the gripes towards him. I do not agree it is a fair gripe though. The couch coaches out there usually aren't put in highly stressful and impactful situations where they have to make a important decision in such a short amount of time and be right 100% of the time like they hold the HC standards too. I agree on Screens/Blitz pick up. I think that shows the lack of offensive coaching/evaluation in game calling. I do believe this falls on OC. I do believe Mcdermott gives the offensive reigns to the offensive coaching staff. The so called experts in that field. Edited January 30, 2020 by CaliBills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rc2catch Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 They have flaws as most staffs do. I am confident they’re aware and Mcdermott strikes me as the kind of guy who is constantly trying to improve in everything he does in life. I expect he watches his film, I expect he’s not surrounded himself with YES men who won’t call him out on stuff. As our offense grows and gains his trust I think we’ll see more aggression 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 They were up 16-0 in the wildcard round playoff game against the Texans, and lost. The offense and Daboll's play calling have problems, that is not a surprise. What shouldn't have happened is the defense going into prevent mode and allowing the Texans back in the game, that is a coaching decision. Until McDermott and Frazier change their minds about playing soft zone / prevent defense with a lead, the likelihood of this happening again is very present. Posters can point out poor execution on the players' part, and that has validity, but winning coaches continue to attack and/or go with what got them to that point. There needs to be a mindset/style change with McDermott, which needs to be pushed to Frazier. As far as offense, Daboll shouldn't be calling plays; it is not his strength. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoTom Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 2 hours ago, MJS said: I see a lot of criticism for McDermott in clock management. But I also see the same criticism for virtually every other coach in the league. Seems like nobody is good at it. With all the money that flies around in the NFL, I wonder if anyone ever considered hiring an entry-level coach whose sole responsibility is to advise the HC on clock management, like they have someone in the replay booth advising him on challenges. During the week, they'd study film with a focus on clock management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boco357 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 I think game/clock management just takes game reps. I was impressed with end of playoff game and having Boroquez spike the ball, it seemed they have went over that exact situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 3 hours ago, Mickey said: My only complaints about the coaching are the screen game and blitz pickup. Screens are a critical tool to have in your toolbox and we don't have it. We had a few successful screens, enough to show just how potent they can be when you can pull them off. For the most part though, our screens get blown up before they start, forcing Josh to ditch the throw into the dirt to avoid a disaster. So a couple of us were chatting about this in another thread. Do you know of a source summarizing any data about the Bills attempts at screen plays game by game? I just don't remember us trying to run that many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 The points in this thread which is what I think he was trying to promote is how much this coaching staf has developed these players so well and get the most out of them. On that point, I appreciate you’re sentiments. There are too many other points in this thread to discuss. It’s going in several different directions, and that is ok. That’s why it’s a message board. I enjoyed the reading though. One last thing is I know it’s a long time to September, but excited to what we do in this off season and put together for the fall. Go Bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I wonder what role coaches have with fundamentals. Poor tackling is a common complaint. Is coaching mostly emphasizing plays, coverages, responsibilities, etc. rather than fundamentals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuvian Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) I think we have a great coaching staff. Our defense is among the leagues best. On offense we're just a little better than OK. It still feels like we're playing not to lose much of the time. Yet our coaches squeezed everything out of these players. We don't have the horses at offensive skill positions yet. This is a crucial year in Josh Allen's development. Despite his arm strength we had nothing in the deep passing game down the stretch. None of our TEs ever got in synch or found their mojo. Edited January 31, 2020 by stuvian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: So a couple of us were chatting about this in another thread. Do you know of a source summarizing any data about the Bills attempts at screen plays game by game? I just don't remember us trying to run that many. No I don't but if you have game pass, check out the play at 14:24 in the second quarter of the Giants game and you'll see what I mean. It was a screen to Knox with 4 blockers on the right side. The 4 lineman are at the 30, all going after the lone defensive lineman in the area creating a mass of 5 large bodies between Josh and Knox who was just beyond that group at the 33. There was a DB bearing down on Knox ready to nail him. Josh wisely ditched the ball as he couldn't get it past all those bodies without lofting it which would have sent Knox to the hospital. Horrible design. We had a receiver and 4 lineman against 2 defenders and yet the play was impossible. I don't know if Knox was supposed to be behind that group or if the lineman were supposed to fire out ahead of him. No idea if the play failed because Knox didn't know what he was doing or if the play design asked to much of the lineman to get that far out quickly enough to get in front of Knox. As it was, with Knox well beyond his convoy, the play was dead. Edited January 31, 2020 by Mickey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I view Coach McDermott as a great leader of men. He makes the team function at a much higher level than the sum of it's parts. This is HUGE. I do question his player evaluation skills. Thinking Nasty Nate was an NFL caliber STARTER 2 years in a row. Thinking a 36 year old RB can last the whole season and be productive with only one other active RB. And he gets FULL blame for the ineptness of the offense. He IS the head Coach after all. The buck stops with him and he says the same. Oh, and he IS a conservative coach and likely always will be. Learn to love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Otreply Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 21 hours ago, Happy Gilmore said: They were up 16-0 in the wildcard round playoff game against the Texans, and lost. The offense and Daboll's play calling have problems, that is not a surprise. What shouldn't have happened is the defense going into prevent mode and allowing the Texans back in the game, that is a coaching decision. Until McDermott and Frazier change their minds about playing soft zone / prevent defense with a lead, the likelihood of this happening again is very present. Posters can point out poor execution on the players' part, and that has validity, but winning coaches continue to attack and/or go with what got them to that point. There needs to be a mindset/style change with McDermott, which needs to be pushed to Frazier. As far as offense, Daboll shouldn't be calling plays; it is not his strength. Very well stated, gotta agree with your thoughts here. Go Bills!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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