Was there a defining moment you remember being sold on McDermott’s process?

[North Buffalo]

20 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

The Thanksgiving at Dallas.

Yes this was where I thought we make have something here.

[tempaccount]

When he showed he is not Rex Ryan.

 

And when multiple players said that sharing their life stories in team meetings was so meaningful to them.

[warrior9]

14 hours ago, BTB said:

Bottom line...Josh’s play has a lot to do with the “process” looking good.  If the Bills had ended up with Rosen and more 6-10, 7-9 and 8-8 seasons, then how would the “process” look?

Bottom line, the coaches brought him in and followed a "process" of development to turn him in to the budding superstar he is becoming. 

 

It doesn't matter how the process WOULD look but how it DOES look. Also, who is to say if we had Rosen, we wouldn't have brought him along in the same way? 

 

I think you're missing the entire point. THIS staff did their due diligence on Josh, did draft him, and followed correct development for THIS particular player. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

 I know people get cranky when I say it but the hardest part for Beane and McDermott is sustainability. A lot of teams have had 2-3 year runs only to fall apart. While the arrow is pointing up, the defining moment for me is still to come. 

[Big Blitz]

15 hours ago, Reader said:

I think it was the first year during the Raiders game where one of the receivers, a one year guy for us, got a first down and the entire team celebrated with him on the sideline.

 

 

5:45 mark after that play and celebration I knew.  It was Brandon Tate

 

 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

[Shaw66]

On 6/1/2021 at 12:55 PM, Another Fan said:

I was impressed with Sean his first year for sure but still not necessarily sold.  If I recall the division was weak that year and the team finally got some breaks in order to squeak into the playoffs.  Long overdue.

 

In reality the last game of 2018 against Miami is when I started to really believe in what he was going for.  It said a lot too me the team was still growing and trying hard until the bitter end.  Yes I know we’ve seen the Bills win numerous meaningless week 17 games before but that week felt different.  For one thing Josh had his best game of the season that day...  not enough to completely sell me on him but enough for me to feel comfortable with him going forward.  
 

There was a lot of debacles that year and growing up done as well.  But hey growing up typically ain’t easy and full of growing pains. 

This is a good question, and I don't have a good answer for me.  To be honest, I think being sold on the process was, well, a process.  For me, there wasn't an "ah, ha!" moment.

 

At his first press conference, I was impressed by how clear, direct, and committed he was.  I liked that.   There was no BS, no predictions, just "we're going to get to work."  But I'd heard a lot of first press conferences, and I remember thinking that no matter how impressive he may seem, the proof is very much in the pudding.  

 

For me, the second big event was when Beane was hired.  I watched his first press conference, and read a little about him and McDermott.  It was clear that there was coordination here, two guys on exactly the same page about where they're going.  

 

That first year we began to hear about their principles - 24-7-365, continuous improvement, love of competition, commitment to team and to family.   Then Watkins and Dareus were gone, and it was clear that they meant what they said - they were looking for a certain kind of guy.   I could see the process at work.   That first year, I could hear some of the players mouthing McDermott's mantras.  I liked it, but it seemed a little hokey, like they were buying into a cult. 

 

The 2018 draft was perhaps when I first was sold on what was going on.   McBeane just had this air of certainty about them - it was clear that they knew what they wanted to do, and they knew how to do it.  They explained how they were building, how they were going to keep players so that year after year they knew more about how the team worked together, so that there would be continuous improvement.   It didn't hurt, of course, that a few months later Josh Allen jumped over a linebacker for a first down - that was the process at work. 

 

In fact, it was the 2018 season that I become sold.  In part, I could hear it in Allen - Allen was a natural practitioner of the process.  Allen just wanted to get better, and he loved his teammates.   It wasn't a cult.  What McBeane understood was that there were guys out there who just lived the process - that's who they were.  McDermott wasn't going to teach the process; McBeane just were going to continue to acquire guys who lived the process.   When they had a team full of process guys, they would take off.  

 

A defining moment for me was when Kyle retired.    Kyle is a process guy.  It came to him naturally.  The Bills filmed and showed the team meeting where McDermott introduced Kyle and Kyle announced he was retiring.   I think it was in that introduction that McDermott said that he first saw Kyle at a Pro Bowl practice, and he stood out among all the players there.  He stood out because of his commitment and his work ethic.  Kyle was the one guy in Buffalo when McDermott arrived whom he knew he could build around.  The fact that McDermott made a team event out of the retirement, that he elevated Kyle as the example of what a Buffalo Bill should be, finally got me to see the process.  

Edited June 2, 2021 by Shaw66

[Bob in STL]

The very first season he showed the ability to prepare and get the team ready.  He showed the ability shore up exposed weaknesses from week to week.  Right off the bat he showed he was no nonsense and had a vision for the players he wanted on the team. 
 

“Earn the right to win” - he wanted players that believed in that and were willing to do the work.  

[MJS]

18 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Benching tyrod even if it meant throwing Nate to the wolves. That was absolutely heartless and I loved it

Yeah, I think it was the right decision to bench Tyrod. He had been just horrible, refusing to throw the ball or take any risks. Too bad Peterman was so epically terrible.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I ve said it before but bears repeating.

 

When he said he took notes on himself everyday and reviewed himself to see how he could improve i knew he was the guy. Somebody like that can only get better and will make those around him better.

 

Plus he's a wrestler and a champion and those guys are a special bunch of crazy and dedicated on a whole other level.