Leslie Frazier "taking a year off from coaching" per Bills PR

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, SoMAn said:

Could be health-related. 

Could be McDermott wants to call the shots himself for the defense and the ‘year off’ thing is just a very diplomatic way of giving Frazier an ‘honorable discharge’.  In a year Frazier can attest to how much he’s enjoyed the break at which time he decides to retire. 
 

Or maybe he’s just burned out and needs the rest but isn’t ready to commit to retirement. 

 

 

I suspect McDermott feels comfortable enough on the sidelines now to also be creating the defensive game plan himself and taking control of play calling when he wants to.........which probably wasn't the relationship he had with Frazier.   

[Buffalo Barbarian]

We fired him without firing him

 

 

[The Red King]

Injuries did not cause Frazier to be unable to make adjustments.  We got lit up in the first Bengals game, yet he proudly stated he was stayng with the plan...and then got shredded twice more before Cincy took their foot off the gas.

[WideNine]

1 hour ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

We fired him without firing him

 

 

 

Could be exactly what it looks like.

 

Frazier just needs time away from the game to let the batteries recharge.

 

We can all agree that last season was just a very tough season. It was tough logistically, AFC East was more competitive, lofty expectations, and emotional roller coaster with injuries on that side of the ball and then the fallout from the flat outing against the Bengals.

 

Other coaches take sabbaticals to sit in broadcast booths and be guest analysts, I would not be surprised if Frazier really just needs some time away from the game.

 

On the flip side, it would not go well if Frazier had been retained for another season and he did not have the juice for what the team was going to need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BillsFanSD]

Reading Tim Graham's latest article in The Athletic bothered me more than it really should have.  It feels like there's a growing conflict between Bills fans and Bills reporters, where beat reporters are barely able to disguise their contempt for fans.  The reporters are always the ones who come out of these sorts of conflicts looking small.  

 

I mean, I like Frazier.  I didn't want him to leave, and I wish him well in whatever comes next.  But if some fan was a little more agitated than me about the status of our defense and they wanted a change, fine.  I don't see why Tim Graham feels obliged to tell that fan what an idiot he is.  That fan probably has a more stable and lucrative career than Tim Graham.  If we're going to question one another's wisdom as human beings, let's talk about what drives a college-educated person into a field like sports journalism, and the life decisions that led you to that point.  Let's start with second-guessing Tim Graham, and then we'll move on to random fans.

[Alphadawg7]

10 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I didn't want Frazier fired (and he wasn't he stepped away) because I think he is a really good DC. Has the defense struggled in the last 3 playoff exits? Yes. Is some of that about gameplan? Sure. But they have failed to execute in some big moments too and I think fans are way to quick to jump to coaching. Coaches coach. Players play. I think his guys have let him down to a large extent. 

 

I don't disagree about the resource allocation point. Or that the offense last year got let down badly. But my point against Cincy the Bills were a ***** show from start to finish in all phases. They played their worst game of the season by far in the divisional round of the playoffs. You do that and you are getting beat. I think the Xs and Os are kinda secondary at that point. It's about the Jimmies and the Joes. 

 

When evaluating his personal performance, the rest of the team doesn't get to be his excuse.  Case in point, on what was a critical 3rd and 4, and the team desperately needing to hold Cincy to a FG to keep this game within reach, he lines up our DB's 10 yards off the LOS against the murderers row of Bengals WR's.  That has nothing to do with the offense or anyone else on the team.  It was not a mistake by the players or failed execution.  That was absolutely 100% on Frazier and a terrible decision.  

 

McD himself was reportedly yelling on the sideline prior to the play when he saw this stupidity.  So while I agree, our offense wasn't at its best either, and I felt Dorsey got grossly out coached in that game too, it does not excuse one bit the undeniable mistakes Frazier once again makes in a critical moment of a win or go home game.  

 

And you can go back to KC the year before and literally look at other terrible decisions and play calls by Frazier in the final 2 minutes of regulation and OT to give away a game we should have won if not for the defensive failures.  

 

While I am not going to say he is a terrible DC, he clearly isn't given the Bills D has managed to finish with some high rankings.  But, in big games in the playoffs, he has shown he has no idea how to slow down teams like KC and Cincy.  And I can confidently say that because no one who has beat us in the playoffs the last 3 years has won their next game and it was a direct result of their offenses being slowed down, mostly by much lower ranked defenses.  I have also watched Hughes average 8 sacks a game without Frazier (5 seasons) and only 4.4 sacks a game with Frazier (also 5 seasons).  

 

At some point, something has to change.  I welcome someone new calling the defensive plays.  McD already proved him calling the plays over Frazier got better results once before, I look forward to seeing if he can do that again.  

[Brand J]

The reporter was certainly correct in that neither Beane nor McD seemed overly concerned or bothered by Frazier’s “request” for time off. Beane hedged when asked if he’d be back with the team next season. Add in the fact that McD was non-committal about both coordinators returning in 2023 and I think it’s clear to see he was pushed out rather than just wanting time away.

We as fans will never get the full story, of course. Neither will the media or the players on the team. The full reasons for his exodus will be as secretive and off-limits as the “13 seconds” debacle.

[FCATSurvivor]

3 hours ago, BillsFanSD said:

Reading Tim Graham's latest article in The Athletic bothered me more than it really should have.  It feels like there's a growing conflict between Bills fans and Bills reporters, where beat reporters are barely able to disguise their contempt for fans.  The reporters are always the ones who come out of these sorts of conflicts looking small.  

 

I mean, I like Frazier.  I didn't want him to leave, and I wish him well in whatever comes next.  But if some fan was a little more agitated than me about the status of our defense and they wanted a change, fine.  I don't see why Tim Graham feels obliged to tell that fan what an idiot he is.  That fan probably has a more stable and lucrative career than Tim Graham.  If we're going to question one another's wisdom as human beings, let's talk about what drives a college-educated person into a field like sports journalism, and the life decisions that led you to that point.  Let's start with second-guessing Tim Graham, and then we'll move on to random fans.

First time I’m posting here, because man do I agree wholeheartedly with how inept Tim Graham has been lately as an Athletic Bills beat writer. That article damn near made my blood boil.

 

I get the sentiment that no one wants us to go back to the drought era years, but is this new phase THAT much better that we have to stand by coordinators who clearly needed to leave?

 

We don’t need to be mired in the playoffs also-ran/always the bridesmaid never the bride status; that’s just the next level of soul-crushing mediocrity. If McDermott is on board with a shift to a more aggressive, attacking defense like he’s stated recently, then hell yes bring on the changes.

[FireChans]

7 hours ago, uticaclub said:

The Bills defense is built for regular season football. Offense gets a lead, crappy QB has to play catch up and makes mistakes. Playoff QBs don't make those mistakes and they get shredded in the playoffs. In a close game we can't stop the run and to me 150 yards on the ground is twice as bad as 300 yards in the air even though it's only half the yardage. Remember the wind game last year, one of the most embarrassing Bills regular season losses of this regime. We lost a game where the opponent threw the ball 3 times, looked great of the stat sheet but anyone watching couldn't comprehend why they didn't make adjustments.

Like I said. You go down the list of who was playing defense and it’s impressive we didn’t get shredded MORE. 
 

We lost the wind game on offense, not defense.

7 hours ago, RichRiderBills said:

 

The defense was extremely productive with Von. Then, we treaded water well for a few games with Groot playing solid and some weaker opponents. Secondary and team got healthy. 

 

I think the vulnerability only came late, where the DL could not maintain consistent rush and Groot lost steam. 

 

I still say turnovers were our defense biggest issue. Offense put them in bad spots.

 

This whole season is thrown off by the aberration that is the Bengals game. I don't know why our DL had no push and got dominated. I don't have the answers for the soft coverage. 

No one showed up vs the Bengals. The worst possible time for both units to lay an egg but that’s football.

[BillsFan130]

14 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I didn't want Frazier fired (and he wasn't he stepped away) because I think he is a really good DC. Has the defense struggled in the last 3 playoff exits? Yes. Is some of that about gameplan? Sure. But they have failed to execute in some big moments too and I think fans are way to quick to jump to coaching. Coaches coach. Players play. I think his guys have let him down to a large extent. 

 

I don't disagree about the resource allocation point. Or that the offense last year got let down badly. But my point against Cincy the Bills were a ***** show from start to finish in all phases. They played their worst game of the season by far in the divisional round of the playoffs. You do that and you are getting beat. I think the Xs and Os are kinda secondary at that point. It's about the Jimmies and the Joes. 

Bills players were awful that game and it’s not just on the defence, I will acknowledge that.

 

But Frazier gave them no chance to win. When you sit in a soft zone essentially all game, it’s too easy for Mahomes and burrow.

 

They are “taking what the defence” gives them, and Frazier gave them easy yards all game . 

If they challenged the bengals, played man to man/pressed their receivers and still got crushed, I would have 0 problem with frazier.

 

It’s the fact that he literally didn’t even give them a chance.  This passive game plan has now been exposed 3 years in a row by great QBs, and he failed to make any adjustments. Inexcusable 

[GunnerBill]

26 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

Bills players were awful that game and it’s not just on the defence, I will acknowledge that.

 

But Frazier gave them no chance to win. When you sit in a soft zone essentially all game, it’s too easy for Mahomes and burrow.

 

They are “taking what the defence” gives them, and Frazier gave them easy yards all game . 

If they challenged the bengals, played man to man/pressed their receivers and still got crushed, I would have 0 problem with frazier.

 

It’s the fact that he literally didn’t even give them a chance.  This passive game plan has now been exposed 3 years in a row by great QBs, and he failed to make any adjustments. Inexcusable 

 

If they had sat in soft zone all game I'd agree with you. They didn't. And they did adjust. That isn't to say the defensive gameplan was good. It wasn't. But when people say stuff like "they sat in soft zone all game" it makes me think a) they haven't actually watched the game properly or b) they don't understand what they are watching. 

 

There was some soft zone. That is part of the Bills plan. There were defensive calls that I hated too. But they didn't just don the same thing all game. That is just not true. Nothing they did worked though. It was a ***** show.

[BillsFan130]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

If they had sat in soft zone all game I'd agree with you. They didn't. And they did adjust. That isn't to say the defensive gameplan was good. It wasn't. But when people say stuff like "they sat in soft zone all game" it makes me think a) they haven't actually watched the game properly or b) they don't understand what they are watching. 

 

There was some soft zone. That is part of the Bills plan. There were defensive calls that I hated too. But they didn't just don the same thing all game. That is just not true. Nothing they did worked though. It was a ***** show.

They adjusted when it was what, 14-0?

 

Look at the stats in the 1st half.

 

Against zone burrow was like 16-19 for 2 TDs.

 

And against man he was like 2 for 7.

 

You can’t just spot a team 14 points in a bad weather game.

 

When I said “adjustments “, I meant game plan going in

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by BillsFan130

[Brand J]

10 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

They adjusted when it was what, 14-0?

 

Look at the stats in the 1st half.

 

Against zone burrow was like 16-19 for 2 TDs.

 

And against man he was like 2 for 7.

 

You can’t just spot a team 14 points in a bad weather game.

 

When I said “adjustments “, I meant game plan going in

 

 

Especially when the same game plan was looking shoddy only a few weeks prior, but no, let’s not try to emulate anything the Ravens did to slow down Burrow. Off coverage in nickel will get it done!

[BillsFan130]

7 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Especially when the same game plan was looking shoddy only a few weeks prior, but no, let’s not try to emulate anything the Ravens did to slow down Burrow. Off coverage in nickel will get it done!

Yep thank you.

 

Basically every D coordinator in the playoffs knew how to play the bengals except Frazier.

 

Ravens, chiefs the week after.

 

Only Frazier would go into the game with a soft zone plan in wet and slippery surfaces. 

[John from Riverside]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

If they had sat in soft zone all game I'd agree with you. They didn't. And they did adjust. That isn't to say the defensive gameplan was good. It wasn't. But when people say stuff like "they sat in soft zone all game" it makes me think a) they haven't actually watched the game properly or b) they don't understand what they are watching. 

 

There was some soft zone. That is part of the Bills plan. There were defensive calls that I hated too. But they didn't just don the same thing all game. That is just not true. Nothing they did worked though. It was a ***** show.

I’m just to the point where if we don’t get there with our past rush, I expect that we’re going to have to score a lot of points to win
 

And no, that doesn’t mean that I want to draft another D lineman in the first round again I’d actually like to see a veteran brought in to help out groot and be that much stronger when Von Miller does come back

[Richard Noggin]

23 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I didn't want Frazier fired (and he wasn't he stepped away) because I think he is a really good DC. Has the defense struggled in the last 3 playoff exits? Yes. Is some of that about gameplan? Sure. But they have failed to execute in some big moments too and I think fans are way to quick to jump to coaching. Coaches coach. Players play. I think his guys have let him down to a large extent. 

 

I don't disagree about the resource allocation point. Or that the offense last year got let down badly. But my point against Cincy the Bills were a ***** show from start to finish in all phases. They played their worst game of the season by far in the divisional round of the playoffs. You do that and you are getting beat. I think the Xs and Os are kinda secondary at that point. It's about the Jimmies and the Joes. 

 

They were probably gonna get smoked in the regular season matchup, too. No way to know that for sure, but we can reverse engineer a reality where the Bengals had our number. 

[LyndonvilleBill]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:49 AM, John from Riverside said:

I wonder if people understand that whenever you make an entirely new defense often you need entirely new players, which means that the defense is going to take a step back for a year while they get those players in position
 

Just something to think about

True. But, could we switch to more man coverage and base 4-3? Less nickel with current players and only some minor changes?

 

More than likely we are losing Edmunds and Poyer. So we need to do something to replace them anyways. Draft/FA still ahead...

 

Elam and White can play man. We have Bernard and Milano (will&slb) already on contract. Just need a good/true MLB and a Great saftey.

[jahnyc]

I don't think we have heard from Frazier yet, have we?  Will be interesting when we do, assuming it happens.

[jethro_tull]

This is really messed up and puts the Bills in a quandary on a few different levels.  

If taking a year off is not in his contract the Bills are basically being accommodating and will likely plan on his return, which screws them for a true DC hire.  

McDermott can certainly do the job but may be overloaded. 

 

How often is a coach successful if he does double duty as a Head coach and DC?  

 

[Bubba Gump]

Pretty sad day in Pats nation when they make this a story. Marshall says without Leslie Frazier, the Bills are finished. Also says he Expects Stefon Diggs to be traded. 

 

Welp, I'm convinced. Time to give up my season tix I guess.

 

https://nesn.com/2023/03/good-news-for-patriots-ex-nfl-star-says-bills-dominance-is-over/

[Doc]

Brandon off the meds?

[HOUSE]

It was fun while it lasted 

 

[PBF81]

33 minutes ago, Bubba Gump said:

Marshall says without Leslie Frazier, the Bills are finished. Also says he Expects Stefon Diggs to be traded. 

 

Well, one thing's for sure, that's that we'll know more about the team leadership and coaching after if not during this upcoming season.  I'm sure that will spawn some things one way or another and that some questions will be answered.  

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by PBF81

[Brand J]

1 hour ago, jethro_tull said:

This is really messed up and puts the Bills in a quandary on a few different levels.  

If taking a year off is not in his contract the Bills are basically being accommodating and will likely plan on his return, which screws them for a true DC hire.  

McDermott can certainly do the job but may be overloaded. 

 

How often is a coach successful if he does double duty as a Head coach and DC?  

 

I didn’t get that sense at all listening to both pressers. 

[H2o]

1 hour ago, Bubba Gump said:

Pretty sad day in Pats nation when they make this a story. Marshall says without Leslie Frazier, the Bills are finished. Also says he Expects Stefon Diggs to be traded. 

 

Welp, I'm convinced. Time to give up my season tix I guess.

 

https://nesn.com/2023/03/good-news-for-patriots-ex-nfl-star-says-bills-dominance-is-over/

I'm convinced that Brandon Marshall has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. The defense will be different, but better imo. Diggs will still be here for the 2023 season. Our window is open as long as we have Josh Allen. 

[GoBills808]

2 hours ago, H2o said:

I'm convinced that Brandon Marshall has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. The defense will be different, but better imo. Diggs will still be here for the 2023 season. Our window is open as long as we have Josh Allen. 

Hard to take Brandon Marshall seriously after he screwed Fred Taylor out of that podcast deal tbh

[LABILLBACKER]

23 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

They adjusted when it was what, 14-0?

 

Look at the stats in the 1st half.

 

Against zone burrow was like 16-19 for 2 TDs.

 

And against man he was like 2 for 7.

 

You can’t just spot a team 14 points in a bad weather game.

 

When I said “adjustments “, I meant game plan going in

 

 

You can't spot a team 14 points in a playoff game that quickly.  The Bills looked flat even before the opening kickoff. Having Hamlin revisit the locker room probably didn't help.  Burrow likes to get rid of the ball quickly.  The only way we were staying competitive was to emphasize man press early.  Hopefully Sean takes over defensive play calling with consulting from Holcomb. This laying off 12 yards by our dbs is embarrassing. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by LABILLBACKER

[LABILLBACKER]

6 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

This is really messed up and puts the Bills in a quandary on a few different levels.  

If taking a year off is not in his contract the Bills are basically being accommodating and will likely plan on his return, which screws them for a true DC hire.  

McDermott can certainly do the job but may be overloaded. 

 

How often is a coach successful if he does double duty as a Head coach and DC?  

 

I think McD calling defensive plays should improve the teams capacity to be more aggressive.  I also expect man press to tick up some. IMHO I don't think Sean gets that involved with the offense anyway.  He let Dabs run it for 4 years. And when a true rookie OC took over, the offense didn't have the pop of the previous 3 years. My biggest beef with McDermott is his lack of surrounding Josh with the offensive weapons/ protection he's deserved. 

[BarleyNY]

18 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

This is really messed up and puts the Bills in a quandary on a few different levels.  

If taking a year off is not in his contract the Bills are basically being accommodating and will likely plan on his return, which screws them for a true DC hire.  

McDermott can certainly do the job but may be overloaded. 

 

How often is a coach successful if he does double duty as a Head coach and DC?  

 

I think Al Holcomb was brought in to help McDermott with the defense. Notably this was done BEFORE Frazier left the building. That’s one of the reasons I am of the belief that Frazier was fired (in the nicest possible way). If he had a year left on his contract the Bills would pay him out and he’d have to keep quiet as part of that agreement. That’s standard practice. So I doubt we will hear from him publicly until next offseason when he will be interviewing for jobs with other teams.

[Livinginthepast]

I'm shaking my head on all the apologists for Frazier on here. He didnt get it done when it mattered. Great stat line for his defenses but without a SB who cares? Frazier's defensive mentality always seemed to go back to his days as a Bear where talent and tenacity was all you needed to get the win. Strategy and special game planning for a particular QB or offense seemed to have been overlooked. Great for the most part in regular season but not in the playoffs and not after the Bills had sustained all those injuries. Now going forward the next focus will be on McD. If he truly ran the defense and Frazier was just a figurehead then he will be exposed unless he brings in a genuine DC who operates independently.  I sincerely hope that McD wasnt running everything on the D because if so he should be out the door too for the Cincy debacle.

[nucci]

16 minutes ago, Livinginthepast said:

I'm shaking my head on all the apologists for Frazier on here. He didnt get it done when it mattered. Great stat line for his defenses but without a SB who cares? Frazier's defensive mentality always seemed to go back to his days as a Bear where talent and tenacity was all you needed to get the win. Strategy and special game planning for a particular QB or offense seemed to have been overlooked. Great for the most part in regular season but not in the playoffs and not after the Bills had sustained all those injuries. Now going forward the next focus will be on McD. If he truly ran the defense and Frazier was just a figurehead then he will be exposed unless he brings in a genuine DC who operates independently.  I sincerely hope that McD wasnt running everything on the D because if so he should be out the door too for the Cincy debacle.

they all should have been fired after " 13 seconds" after with no explanation or discussion about what happened...from the kick out of the endzone to the no coverage defense

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

When people come at you for saying Fraizer has been the problem all along….Not everyone here ONLY watches the Bills. I hated this guy’s defense in Minnesota. It was always going to be that all over. It’s so unbelievably predictable and passive aggressive. I want my defense to make you react. Not sit back and hope for boredom and mistakes. For all the people that want to go for the throat on offense. That’s double for my defensive mindset. Make THEM uncomfortable. The only reason it ever “worked” here was because we had incredible talent on the backend. 21/27/23 were just flat out erasers. And If we played less than good QBs, we were going to embarrass them. This guys scheme is atrocious. Whatever we were, it would have been even better with an aggressive modern defensive mind in control. This move was 2 years too late but I’ll take it. So happy.

[Livinginthepast]

1 hour ago, nucci said:

they all should have been fired after " 13 seconds" after with no explanation or discussion about what happened...from the kick out of the endzone to the no coverage defense

I agree on that as well. Bad enough not to squib kick it to kill 3-4 seconds but the resulting D was insane. Even if Frazier/Mc D had ordered their defense backs to firmly hold all the receivers on the Chiefs 1st down play and draw a penalty, we would have probably killed enough time to stop a FG try and win that game. Just inexcusable ! For Frazier "13 seconds" should be his epitaph.

[Zag20]

5 hours ago, nucci said:

they all should have been fired after " 13 seconds" after with no explanation or discussion about what happened...from the kick out of the endzone to the no coverage defense

They did basically fire the ST coach for the kick. And Levi Wallace more or less took personal responsibility for the coverage debacle. 

[Chaos]

55 minutes ago, Zag20 said:

They did basically fire the ST coach for the kick. And Levi Wallace more or less took personal responsibility for the coverage debacle. 

We all know the buck stops at Special Teams coach in the closing seconds of a playoff game. 

[Brand J]

1 hour ago, Zag20 said:

They did basically fire the ST coach for the kick. And Levi Wallace more or less took personal responsibility for the coverage debacle. 

Levi was and always has been a standup guy, so I’m not surprised he took the blame. With that said, the coverage on both offensive plays was horrendous. Essentially if Levi played up on Kelce, got his hands on him, whatever, you’d still be looking at single coverage on the Chiefs best or 2nd best weapon. Hill and Kelce should’ve been doubled both plays at a minimum.

[nbbillsfan]

Elite Qb’s and offenses are too good for the Frazier defense. It is incredibly effective against the majority of teams, but when the games count, against often elite QB play, the scheme gets torched.

 

Give me an attaching defense. We have the offense (and QB) to play that style. We can score if we give up the occasional big play in pursuit of pressures/sacks/interceptions and overall confusion. 

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, nbbillsfan said:

Elite Qb’s and offenses are too good for the Frazier defense. It is incredibly effective against the majority of teams, but when the games count, against often elite QB play, the scheme gets torched.

 

Give me an attaching defense. We have the offense (and QB) to play that style. We can score if we give up the occasional big play in pursuit of pressures/sacks/interceptions and overall confusion. 

We should've played man press more and stop blitzing guys named Edmunds. Elite qbs will toy with our adorable Tampa 2 zone.

[RunTheBall]

Not holding KC’s receivers right off the line during 13 seconds was complete coaching malpractice and even if McD didn’t call that play he’s responsible for not overruling Frazier.

 

Frazier is done. I don’t care what the regular season looks like. Getting destroyed in 3 straight playoff games is more than enough evidence he can’t get us over the hump.

 

[TheWei44]

49 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

Not holding KC’s receivers right off the line during 13 seconds was complete coaching malpractice and even if McD didn’t call that play he’s responsible for not overruling Frazier.

 

Frazier is done. I don’t care what the regular season looks like. Getting destroyed in 3 straight playoff games is more than enough evidence he can’t get us over the hump.

 

 

He's done in Buffalo for sure - Unclear whether he'll coach again.