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Will McDermott surpass Marv Levy as best Bills coach of all time?


Will McDermott surpass Marv Levy as best Bills coach of all time?  

132 members have voted

  1. 1. Will McDermott surpass Marv Levy as best Bills coach of all time?

    • Yes
      112
    • No
      20


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Marv won a lot of games for us.

Players loved to play for Marv.

Marv was a gentleman.

Marv was a teacher, philosopher and selfless leader.

Marv would say, if he had the chance, about this question.

"Where would you rather be than right here right now".

We hope that McDermott will be better, and we hope that Josh is better than Jim, and we wish we could find someone better than Bruce, Thurman and Darryl. None of those desires lessens the greatness of those greats players. 

 

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12 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

Marv won a lot of games for us.

Players loved to play for Marv.

Marv was a gentleman.

Marv was a teacher, philosopher and selfless leader.

Marv would say, if he had the chance, about this question.

"Where would you rather be than right here right now".

We hope that McDermott will be better, and we hope that Josh is better than Jim, and we wish we could find someone better than Bruce, Thurman and Darryl. None of those desires lessens the greatness of those greats players. 

 

Agreed, but perhaps Marv could have been a better 'hall monitor / chaperone' on prom weekend? 🤔

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😁

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Well Marv is 112-70 in his Bills career and 11-8 in the playoffs

 

Sean is 38-26 so far and 2-3 in the playoffs

 

So he needs 74 more wins in the regular season and 9 more in the playoffs

 

Can we revisit this in 5 or 6 years?

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2 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

A parade through downtown Buffalo ends this debate...as Allen quite frankly can do things no other QB in the history of this franchise has had the talent to do 

 

Absolutely. The Bills win a Super Bowl with McDermott as coach ( I believe they will) then not only does he move ahead of Marv on the Bills coaching list but Josh also moves ahead of Jim as the best Bills QB in franchise history. If their was ever a team and region where winning a championship would lead to an epic celebration its the Buffalo Bills and WNY.

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35 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Agreed, but perhaps Marv could have been a better 'hall monitor / chaperone' on prom weekend? 🤔

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Agreed...but strangely one if the habits that made this era such a great team was in the end, a downfall. 

But, now, many years later, even with the result known from 4 SB, I have nothing but respect and admiration for guy who developed and lead them through an era. I even forgive Marv for coming back and hiring Jauron, the era had passed and Marv came to help in a crisis, as any leader would have.

 

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6 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Levy is overrated and should not be in HOF. That said McD has has a ways to go to even get close to Levy, Knox, or Saban. It’s just too soon to know.

 

The Bills should have beaten the Giants. Washington just physically dominated them and Dallas was the better team. That was back when the NFC won something like 12 or 13 Super Bowls in a row. People used to say the NFC championship game was the real Super Bowl. That Giant game though was the one that got away. That was the year the Bills should have been Super Bowl champions.

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32 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

The Bills should have beaten the Giants. Washington just physically dominated them and Dallas was the better team. That was back when the NFC won something like 12 or 13 Super Bowls in a row. People used to say the NFC championship game was the real Super Bowl. That Giant game though was the one that got away. That was the year the Bills should have been Super Bowl champions.

It’s a testament to Marv to get the team to keep coming back. But it was a weak AFC and he was out coached by Parcells and Belichick in the most important game of his career. Washington was too physically dominant to compete against even with an average QB. Dallas could have been beaten the second game. Bills had half-time lead but played scared and choked.

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4 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:


You’re such a wisears.  Probably one of the reasons I like you’re posts.  He’s bored.  That’s all.  Levy was a good coach and a better guy, but not a great coach.  I don’t think he could’ve done much about the last three SB’s as those teams were just better than us.  The Giants one was a sin.  I just moved to Tampa a few days before the game.  It was so painful being across the street at the Tampa mall with 15,000 other folks.  The local radio station similar to 97 rock in Buffalo put a movie screen on the side of Macy’s.  They had vans with monster radio speakers.  I had the unfortunate luck of being with friends who were all for the Giants.  Ughh!

 

McD will probably end up as the top Bills coach someday, but not today.  To the OP, this will be a great conversation for us to have in seven years or so.  I have a great deal of confidence he will get us past the finish line, and may end up the winningest coach in Bills history, and he does have something in his corner.  Beane like Polian will go down as one of the best GM’s we’ve ever had, and like Polian has a vision for what he sees for our team.

 

I agree.  Marv was not a great coach (SB 25 laid that bare) , but a great man.  

 

I wish Bean's vision would include (at some point) a larger or smarter investment in TE-1

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1 hour ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Agreed, but perhaps Marv could have been a better 'hall monitor / chaperone' on prom weekend? 🤔

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😁

 

Do grown men really need to be told to “rest up, you have a big day tomorrow!”.

 

No. No they do not.

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I voted no in consideration of  a scenario where the Bills would have that one magical SB season where it'd all come together. 

 

I think a one off SB win doesn't top sustained success and dominance like the 1990s Bills had.   

 

Is Doug Pederson the best coach in Eagles history because he hit pay dirt one year?  

 

I think the McDermott era would, at minimum, have to have the Bills of the 2020s stringing together division titles and AFC division and championship games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, dpberr said:

I voted no in consideration of  a scenario where the Bills would have that one magical SB season where it'd all come together. 

 

I think a one off SB win doesn't top sustained success and dominance like the 1990s Bills had.   

 

Is Doug Pederson the best coach in Eagles history because he hit pay dirt one year?  

 

I think the McDermott era would, at minimum, have to have the Bills of the 2020s stringing together division titles and AFC division and championship games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What those Bills teams accomplished starting in late 80's thru the early 90's was amazing. Bill, Marv, Jim, Thurman, Bruce, Andre and those teams are legends and will always be looked at favorably. But if the Bills win a Super Bowl even if its just one Super Bowl that will have a greater impact than what those Bills teams in the 90's accomplished. The celebration in WNY would be legendary if/when the Bills win it all.

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McDermott is off to a great start but this is insanely early. Say what you want to about Marv as an X and O, but he still led a team to 4 straight Super Bowls and countless division titles. To get a team to rebound after those losses (in which 3 of them, the Bills were the less talented team) and hold the team together during the bickering bills, is an insanely impressive coaching job. 
 

the league is so different with the cap so McDermott won’t need to make 4 straight SBs. But one would be a good start.  But it’s an impressive start no doubt. But I think this is when it gets really challenging. Real expectations and a much tighter cap. 

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Correction on the Super Bowl coaching comments about Levy... Marv was NASTILY out coached in SB25 (Thurman only 15 carries in the game v.s a 2-5-4 defense) but those 91 Redskins and the 92 Cowboys were 2 of the leagues all time great teams and in no way did the Bills have a chance. The final Cowboy game was lost on turning the ball over and the inability to stop the run on D, not coaching.

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16 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

Already has imo...But then again, I don’t really view Marv as a great coach...sorry guys...

 

"Coach" is a loaded definition IMO

 

McDermott's ability to develop a staff and develop players is unquestionably top notch
His ability to create and drive the organizational direction and also uphold this standard is also second to none.

 

Will this translate into winning a super bowl? I think it will. And don't I think this even be close debate once all the chips have fallen.

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1 hour ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Lol dsmn never saw Marv fired up, I'm a little young to remember him actively coaching. What the hell was the question 😳

If memory serves, this was during the 1996 season...Kelly was having kind of a rough season, showing his age a bit at times, fans were calling for Kelly to get benched.  At some point in the season Kelly was mysteriously injured in practice and missed 3 games.  There were lots of crazy rumors going around about what "really" happened.  People saying it was really an in-house suspension by the team.  There were lot of unsavory rumors going around.

 

 

 

Edited by Buftex
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Levy was over rated IMO.  Yes he got to 4 straight Super Bowls, and can never take that away from him as it may likely never be done again, but he was terrible in those SB’s IMHO.  
 

I feel like he was a product of an insanely talented roster, to have never won a SB in 4 years was where I feel his short comings as a coach contributed to that.  
 

I don’t think I will ever forgive him for the last drive against the Giants to basically not even attempt to advance the ball despite having the time to do it.  He made his mind up he was gonna settle for a long FG kick rather than use the insanely talented offense to try and at least get that FG try closer.  It was the ultimate scared and wussy move.  
 

I know it’s not fair comparison, but I already prefer McD who has the bravado to be aggressive and isn’t afraid to take risks.  I feel like that McD’s makeup is more inline with a champion coach than Levy’s was.  
 

Clearly Levy still has him dominated in the resume department, but I fully believe McD is going to be a SB Champion HC here and ultimately surpass Levy and break all his franchise records as a coach.

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20 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Simple as that. I think the Allen and McDermott combo will win at least 2 Super Bowls when it’s all said and done which is a much greater achievement than 4 losses in a row IMO. I know it’s early, but just trying to get some off-season discussion flowing.

Marv was awesome but I do believe McD can surpass him.

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All good will that Marv generated with me as HC of the Bills got pissed away with the clown show that started in 2006...

so it may not be fair but I would have to say yes, GO McD!

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On 3/9/2021 at 3:55 PM, Greg S said:

It was before my time but wouldn't Saban be considered a better coach than Levy? He did coach the Bills to back to back AFL championships in 64 and 65.

Saban might be better on game-day, maybe.  Overall Levy was much more consistent, steadfast, dedicated and loyal. 
 

Saban was also very involved in player acquisition and building his teams.  Levy worked with Polian and Butler.  

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15 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I agree.  Marv was not a great coach (SB 25 laid that bare) , but a great man.  

 

I wish Bean's vision would include (at some point) a larger or smarter investment in TE-1


We man, it’s funny you say this as I was listening to WGR this morning and the two were debating whether they release Brown, and use the $8mil, to make a run at Jonnu Smith from the Titans.  He’s one of the best young durable TE’s available right now.  They didn’t tag him, and spotrac has his value at $ 8 mil.  I’d love to have the option of 12 personnel at times.  Losing Brown was predictable, but they can get a speed guy somewhere in the draft, and we have Hodgins for another possession guy.

 

As far as Marv., one small vignettes I appreciated was that I take my kids to Buffalo every September for a game as my Dad is a snowbird so we try and go up before he comes back to FL.  Well, we’ve made a thing of it where between my siblings, cousins, nephews, we’d have 18-20 people at the game, and of course the bug Irish Catholic family reunion.

 

Long story short we saw Marv in the airport on Monday morning, and he was so gracious taking a pic with my boys.  He was kind and made small talk with my guys when he was ina. Rush to get to his plane.  I’ll never forget such a small, but very kind gesture.

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8 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:


We man, it’s funny you say this as I was listening to WGR this morning and the two were debating whether they release Brown, and use the $8mil, to make a run at Jonnu Smith from the Titans.  He’s one of the best young durable TE’s available right now.  They didn’t tag him, and spotrac has his value at $ 8 mil.  I’d love to have the option of 12 personnel at times.  Losing Brown was predictable, but they can get a speed guy somewhere in the draft, and we have Hodgins for another possession guy.

 

As far as Marv., one small vignettes I appreciated was that I take my kids to Buffalo every September for a game as my Dad is a snowbird so we try and go up before he comes back to FL.  Well, we’ve made a thing of it where between my siblings, cousins, nephews, we’d have 18-20 people at the game, and of course the bug Irish Catholic family reunion.

 

Long story short we saw Marv in the airport on Monday morning, and he was so gracious taking a pic with my boys.  He was kind and made small talk with my guys when he was ina. Rush to get to his plane.  I’ll never forget such a small, but very kind gesture.

 

I saw Marv at the Ralph once, scurrying up to the booth to call the game.  He was all smiles to everyone who was within sight.  Great guy.

 

Jonnu is a great idea.  swapping out his cost for what they were paying Brown (who Josh had clearly lost confidence in) would be a fantastic move.

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On 3/9/2021 at 4:56 PM, ChronicAndKnuckles said:


Completely forgot about him.

How can you forget the guy who made "they're killing me Whitey, they're killing me" famous (albeit while he was with the Bronco's)?

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4 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I saw Marv at the Ralph once, scurrying up to the booth to call the game.  He was all smiles to everyone who was within sight.  Great guy.

 

I met Marv when I was waiting tables way back, probably 2001ish.

 

It was mid afternoon, really slow time between lunch and dinner. Wasn’t my table, so I waited until he and his wife finished their meal and paid their check.

 

They were getting ready to leave and I approached, extending my hand for a handshake, told him thanks for all the good memories in Buffalo and that he was truly someone that I had looked up to. He shook my hand and said “Thank you young man, that’s quite a compliment!” in that unmistakable booming Marv voice.

 

I was on cloud nine. I had never been that “starstruck” in my life. A very fond memory of a very fine gentleman.

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