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

[Reader]

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.

[LabattBlue]

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?

[Buffalo716]

When he was willing to cut bait with tyrod Taylor .

 

Even after our first playoff appearance in 17 seasons

 

 

[Don Otreply]

24 minutes 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?

Ah, but the process includes making as many good decisions as one is able to, so the selection of Allen is part and parcel of said process. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[Talley56]

I might have to say either the Thanksgiving win at Dallas or the win a few weeks later at Pittsburgh.  Those were just the types of games Buffalo seemed to lose in he past even during the few "better" years like 04 and 14.  Those two games just seemed to prove more than any others prior to last year that this was a coaching staff more committed to winning than others in the past.

[TBBills]

I got sold when they decided to move on from Tyrod after making the playoffs. It showed they wanted more unlike old staff that would have been happy to keep him.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

5 hours ago, Buftex said:

Of course that is all true...but at the time, I really didn't think some of them were necessary...I didn't really understand the "process", all I saw was some of our best talent getting shipped out, and being replaced by second-tier, journeymen types.  I was of the belief that were closer to being a playoff team than we were to the bottom. I was convinced that Ryan was the biggest obstacle to breaking the drought, followed by a better QB. I thought Taylor was good and steady enough to be QB for a playoff team built around the run game, and a stout defense. Turns out he was. 

 

Of course it all worked out much better, and faster, than I believed it could. Glad I was wrong...glad it worked out the way it did...but just giving my thoughts on why it took me a little longer to come around to Beane, than it did McDermott. 

I think the issue was - they were also never going to compete for a super bowl without a QB.  

[Buftex]

1 hour ago, dneveu said:

I think the issue was - they were also never going to compete for a super bowl without a QB.  

Very true...but at that point, I was just looking for a wild-card spot!  

[chongli]

When McD actually arrived in Buffalo and signed his contract. They literally rolled out the red carpet for him. I just had this weird feeling.

 

 

 

[JMF2006]

Yeah the moment they hired him

 

I was so happy Wrex was gone and we had a 4-3 guru back in the building.

[TBBills]

10 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?

They made the playoffs with Tyrod... The process looked pretty good accomplishing that.

[Dr. K]

18 hours ago, Buftex said:

I remember how much grief he took for that move. I wasn't a Tyrod-hater, but it was abundantly clear by that time, they weren't really going anywhere with him at QB.  The Peterman gambit, as disastrous as it turned out that week, showed that McDermott was willing to think outside the box.  Up to that point, I couldn't really read him. It was obvious from that move, as bad as it turned out, he wasn't somebody who was going to stand pat and settle for mediocre, and he wasn't afraid to take a chance.  We had been so conditioned, to that point, to that sort of "old school" approach by our head-coaches...you know, the guys who say "they have to earn their time in the lineup" when you knew damn well, they were just going to stick with the vets...

 

I pretty much liked McDermott from the outset.  It took me a little longer to warm up to Beane. Early on, I wasn't really sure who was responsible for what, even though McDermott, for all intents and purposes hired Beane.   At the time, I didn't feel like the roster that they inherited from Rex/Whaley needed a major overhaul...they just needed a QB, and to add some better talent at some positions.  I thought Ryan's teams were just massive underachievers, more than untalented.  

This was pretty much my take s well. I think McDermott took too much heat for trying Peterman when clearly Tyrod could not consistently move the team through the air.

 

I just watched that Atlanta game. The Bills played a disciplined game. What hit me was how bad some of the players, like Tolbert, were. And Zay Jones, who back then for some reason I thought had promise, was a liability. He just could not win any sort of contested catch and stood out as a guy without heart. The receivers on that team were just plain bad. 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Dr. K

[Dr. K]

17 hours ago, Buftex said:

Of course that is all true...but at the time, I really didn't think some of them were necessary...I didn't really understand the "process", all I saw was some of our best talent getting shipped out, and being replaced by second-tier, journeymen types.  I was of the belief that were closer to being a playoff team than we were to the bottom. I was convinced that Ryan was the biggest obstacle to breaking the drought, followed by a better QB. I thought Taylor was good and steady enough to be QB for a playoff team built around the run game, and a stout defense. Turns out he was. 

 

Of course it all worked out much better, and faster, than I believed it could. Glad I was wrong...glad it worked out the way it did...but just giving my thoughts on why it took me a little longer to come around to Beane, than it did McDermott. 

Again, what you say here was exactly what I thought back then. I hated Rex from day one and thought he was the problem with the team's performance. I hated McDermott shipping out what I thought were better players for a bunch of stiffs. I thought "the process" was woo-woo hype. 

I was wrong.  

[thenorthremembers]

20 hours ago, TroutDog said:

Year one, for me. Taking that team as far as he did was just shy of a miracle. 

Agreed.   You could tell pretty early on he wasnt a different sort of guy.   He was less talk more action, where as many of the coaches before him were all talk no action.

[blacklabel]

His first season showed a lot of promise but you knew the team was going to be retooled across the board so it was cool to see him take a team he didn't build to the playoffs. 

 

The 2018 season sold me. Week in and week out you'd hear the analyst weenies talk about how ready and amped up McDermott had the team and how they probably shouldn't have even won the 6 games that they did. The fact that he had his guys playing hard in meaningless games is a testament to a good coach who has a good connection with his players. 

 

2019 I remember thinking, "I guess the style of ball he wants to play is score just over 20 and play super tough defense." Then 2020 happened and showed me how wrong I was on that notion. 

 

So yeah, impressed in 2017 and really bought in throughout 2018. It's so nice to see where they are now. 

[Stanley Lombardi]

It was at St. John Fisher,  the second or third training camp practice under this new coach.  It got hot and things got lackluster out there.  The players were going through the motions.

 

McDermott blew his whistle and ran from position group to position group, directing everyone to the center of the field.  We couldn't hear what was said, but you could tell by McDermott's gesticulations that he was reading them the riot act.

 

The players then hustled back to their position groups with palpably improved purpose and focus.  Some of us in the crowd, who had regularly attended training camp during the relaxed Rex Ryan years, sensed that we had just witnessed the changing of the guard.

 

 

[WhoTom]

I took it as an omen when this came up in a crossword puzzle:

 

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

The most impressive thing for me is his willingness to embrace a pass first offense. Crucify me if you want but I’m still not sold on McD. This is still the same guy that started Peterman and Murphy. He is still the same guy that has seen his defense get shredded from time to time. He is still the same guy to be out coached by Andy Reid twice last year.  
All that said, one of the biggest plays in franchise history was made by Taron Johnson dropping back in a McD zone defense while rushing four guys.  His scheme produced one of the great wins in franchise history. 

[corta765]

Three moments as it built in legitimacy with him.

 

2017: Win in ATL. This was a game Buffalo forever last during the drought and he had the guys pull it out against a really good Falcons squad that was in the SB the previous year. It felt like the type of statement game that marked a new day.

 

2018: Jags. That game felt like a playoff game for two teams not going to the playoffs and I was impressed with how hard he had them playing for a team going nowhere.

 

2019: Jets opener. This to me defined the current era of the Bills being resilient and what he wants. They got some bad breaks early on and some teams would've mailed it in. Instead his belief to follow the process to the end paid dividends in the comeback. I wonder honestly if they would've had the same season if they lost. I think that game was incredibly important to setting the tone for being a winning playoff team year in year out.

[Buftex]

13 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?

Josh Allen=The 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.