Tyler Dunne story on McDermott - 3 parts, 25 interviews, one damning conclusion

[Arkady Renko]

13 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Let me be the naysayer who gets smacked around for a divergent view...

 

I like Dunne.  And he says he talked to 25 people for this article.  That's an impressive number.  

 

But I wonder who he talked to and which ones he quoted?  Coaches who were fired?  Players who were cut?  

 

It would be nice if he sought out a random sample.  Both McD detractors and fans.  But he seemingly didn't do that.  

 

I'm not arguing McD is perfect and doesn't do any wrong.  I just don't think Dunne's article is the final word.  We've heard a lot of players talk about how much they love the culture of the Bills.  Things aren't all bad.  

 

It would help if didn’t seem to have an agenda against McDermott from day one.  I suspect it dates to how McDermott got Whaley replaced. 

[JoeF]

16 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

When players were upset by this edict, center Mitch Morse actually drew a Jordan logo on one of his sharkskin cowboy boots...

 

  

Mitch is the man!  Hysterical...

 

So the Bills head coach is a egotistical ####### who has led the team to playoff berth 6 out of 7 years after a 17 year drought.  If the Bills fire him he will be on the market about a day before getting another offer.  Hope they have a solid plan B if this is the route they take.  Letting Josh hand pick his head coach is not a strategy.

[KDIGGZ]

15 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

In sorry but that whole thing sounds like a complete lie. 
 

McD wanted his OL to wear work boots instead of Jordan’s during a walk through? What? 

I'm sure he was just joking and a disgruntled OL (Spain) is using this absurd story as ammo. I saw Torrence at Lowe's yesterday and he was wearing shorts and flip flops in a snow storm, no Carhartt 

[LABILLBACKER]

Tell me something I didn't already know. McD is toxic to this team's future. 

[JohnNord]

45 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Even as someone who wants McD gone, I'm clicking this link with a grain of salt.

 

Dunne is a decent writer, but trying to do his own thing independently makes him a little more desparate for clicks than even the normal sports media. Plus, his main source into the NFL is Doug Whaley.

 

So whatever damning piece he write about this regime needs to be tempered a bit.

 

That said, fire McD.

 

 

 

Firing Dorsey was the right move tho.

 

Maybe an incomplete move as ownership probably should have fired the HC too. But Dorsey needed to go, regardless of the politics behind it or how we feel about McD.

 

 

The Offense was sputtering. The Offense was going the first 3 quarters of games without scoring while the D held on for dear life allowing only 10 points. The Offense was the main problem.

 

Now that has been addressed, Josh is "back", and we've scored over 30 points each game since Dorsey was let go. Time to address the Defense.

 

Hand the whole thing over to Brady at this point.

 

 

I like Dunne as a writer and think he does a very good.  But he does seem to be heavily biased and he doubles down on those biases quite a bit.  We saw this with his coverage on Aaron Rodgers which many GB dismissed as pointed…and now we see this with McDermott.  

33 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

When players were upset by this edict, center Mitch Morse actually drew a Jordan logo on one of his sharkskin cowboy boots...

 

  

Why would anyone care about this?

[Mr. WEO]

49 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Even as someone who wants McD gone, I'm clicking this link with a grain of salt.

 

Dunne is a decent writer, but trying to do his own thing independently makes him a little more desparate for clicks than even the normal sports media. 

 

 

 

 

what does this mean--he's too independent??  He  talked to too many people for this article and it made him desperate?

 

How does this make sense?

[JohnNord]

39 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

If everything said in this piece about McD is true, then no way he just decides to give up what he wants and let's Brady run loose.

 

Dorsey sucked as an OC. It doesnt need to go deeper than that.

 

Dorsey is gone. That problem has been addressed. On to the next issue: Head Coach.

This is where the “meddling” narrative never made sense.  If he is so controlling, wouldn’t he micromanage Joe Brady the same way he “micromanaged” Dorsey?  

I don’t buy that Dorsey was a scapegoat at all.  We saw 6 weeks where the offense struggled badly.  Over the past two weeks, it’s looked better.

[Billsfan1972]

26 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

This is one of those articles that ultimately does absolutely nothing to move the needle for anyone.

 

Those that don't like McDermott will take the majority of this as fact because it "proves" their own thoughts and provides them a piece of that oh so comforting "echo chamber"

 

Those that like McDermott will be quick to brush it off as gossip from players/coaches who have clashed with McDermott or feel they have been wronged and have an axe to grind. 

Whatever.....  what I read and I do agree with the article, but is undeniable is that he has never explained 13 seconds, taken accountability and allowed 12 men to be on the field and lost the Denver game.

 

And yes he has thrown the offense under the bus multiple times this year and then proceeded to back over them all the while praising his defense.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Billsfan1972

[MJS]

These are the worst types of articles. A bunch of unamed sources who are mad they got fired for sucking at their jobs.

 

Just a bunch of garbage.

[Warriorspikes51]

"Confirmed"  Diggs "beef" was with Sean when Sean made comments about one of his outfits ahahahahahhahahaha 

doesn't seem too far fetched if the Jordan shoes thing is actually real 

[GoBills808]

58 minutes ago, yall said:

Anyone willing to summarize the parts that were behind a paywall would be appreciated.

 

The part that I could read, I can't disagree.

It's a hit piece, but crazy if even only half is true

 

Says McDermott doesn't put in the hours, leaves early but demands other coaches stay late/postpone flights and vacations

 

That he took over defensive playcalling in the AFCCG and possibly last drive of 13seconds game

 

Claims Diggs hates him

 

and basically makes the case that he's inevitably going to fail in the biggest moments

[DrDawkinstein]

4 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

what does this mean--he's too independent??  He  talked to too many people for this article and it made him desperate?

 

How does this make sense?

 

You're smart enough to figure this out.

 

I said "doing his thing independently", not as you said "too independent" which doesnt even make sense. So don't confuse yourself.

 

It means he isnt backed by a larger organization, or collecting a regular paycheck. He only eats what he earns. And with smaller(no) budgets for advertising his site and getting his name out there, the easier way to do it is to be more controversial and baiting.

[BritBill]

22 minutes ago, JoeF said:

Mitch is the man!  Hysterical...

 

So the Bills head coach is a egotistical ####### who has led the team to playoff berth 6 out of 7 years after a 17 year drought.  If the Bills fire him he will be on the market about a day before getting another offer.  Hope they have a solid plan B if this is the route they take.  Letting Josh hand pick his head coach is not a strategy.

 

Although he is good at picks. 

[yall]

Just now, GoBills808 said:

It's a hit piece, but crazy if even only half is true

 

Says McDermott doesn't put in the hours, leaves early but demands other coaches stay late/postpone flights and vacations

 

That he took over defensive playcalling in the AFCCG and possibly last drive of 13seconds game

 

Claims Diggs hates him

 

and basically makes the case that he's inevitably going to fail in the biggest moments

That all seems to pass the sniff test save for the leaving early bit. That doesn't seem to align with what we hear about his level of commitment, narcissist or not.

 

 

[BBFL]

Winning cures all. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

5 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Whatever.....  what I read and I do agree with the article, but is undeniable is that he has never explained 13 seconds, taken accountability and allowed 12 men to be on the field and lost the Denver game.

 

And yes he has thrown the offense under the bus multiple times this year and then proceeded to back over them all the while praising his defense.

And that kind of proves my point, so thank you. 

[Sherlock Holmes]

53 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Don't forget the WR's coach who mysteriously left.

Chad Hall

[Ralonzo]

47 minutes ago, boyst said:

Let journalists learn to code

Paywall fixed. 

 

Appreciate, but looks like just the truncated versions.

[pocoboy]

This stuff was clear as day for anyone who isn't enamored with meager playoff football. McDermott's narrative sculpting? Maybe he's hiring one of his various puff piece supporters in the media to help him with that. Or maybe he's just made a career of taking credit for everything good and shucking the blame onto others once they tire of his feel good clapping and locker room cliches.

 

I'd have to believe one of those sources might be QB1 himself. It's pretty clear this season is a throwdown dragout between McDermott & Allen. Allen's the only guy that's gonna wedge between McDermott and Pegula. So it's pretty transparent when McDermott, as soon as the Jets 2nd half meltdown hits, he's going after the source of the lack of "complementary football."

 

Bottom line - this team is 6-6, and it may be more dysfunctional than all those Drought Era teams that needed the big "culture change" McDermott sold.

[Captain Hindsight]

39 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Let me be the naysayer who gets smacked around for a divergent view...

 

I like Dunne.  And he says he talked to 25 people for this article.  That's an impressive number.  

 

But I wonder who he talked to and which ones he quoted?  Coaches who were fired?  Players who were cut?  

 

It would be nice if he sought out a random sample.  Both McD detractors and fans.  But he seemingly didn't do that.  

 

I'm not arguing McD is perfect and doesn't do any wrong.  I just don't think Dunne's article is the final word.  We've heard a lot of players talk about how much they love the culture of the Bills.  Things aren't all bad.  

 

Yup. I bet I could find a bunch of people that have been fired from organizations have bad things to say about the people that fired them.

 

I remember at my last company, they fired a few PMs right before this big getaway trip for the whole company. A few days later on Glassdoor, there was a scathing review of the company culture and work environment. I wonder who wrote it?

[Low Positive]

All head coaches are control freaks. It's part of the job description.

[Yobogoya!]

I mean if the point of this article is that McDermott is a control freak with an ego, I'd be more interested in the number of NFL head coaches who aren't. 🤷‍♂️

 

Belichick has been a "my way or the highway" grouch his entire career. But he had Brady for 20 years, and won a maddening amount of games/championships, so everyone put up with it. 

 

If McDermott had a championship or two under his belt by now, no one would care how controlling or egotistical or micro-managing he was.

 

The problem isn't that McDermott is running the team his way-or-the-highway. A head coach is responsible for the whole team, and that's his prerogative...

 

The problem is that his way isn't leading to trophies and rings, despite having a top 3 quarterback. But yeah I don't really consider this article to be "news" per se. It's just what you might assume about most NFL head coaches. 

 

I mean if McDermott was super nice and never fired anyone would the 6-6 record be somehow more palatable? lol

[Don Otreply]

3 hours ago, Roundybout said:

A lot of these quotes do sound like sources who were fired and are still jaded. 

Or they are just saying what happened, the truth is in the middle somewhere, that we all know, 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Don Otreply

[Ralonzo]

Just now, pocoboy said:

This stuff was clear as day for anyone who isn't enamored with meager playoff football. McDermott's narrative sculpting? Maybe he's hiring one of his various puff piece supporters in the media to help him with that. Or maybe he's just made a career of taking credit for everything good and shucking the blame onto others once they tire of his feel good clapping and locker room cliches.

 

I'd have to believe one of those sources might be QB1 himself. It's pretty clear this season is a throwdown dragout between McDermott & Allen. Allen's the only guy that's gonna wedge between McDermott and Pegula. So it's pretty transparent when McDermott, as soon as the Jets 2nd half meltdown hits, he's going after the source of the lack of "complementary football."

 

Bottom line - this team is 6-6, and it may be more dysfunctional than all those Drought Era teams that needed the big "culture change" McDermott sold.

 

Never really thought about the Jets game this way because it's such an outlier for Allen - by far the worst game he's played since he was a rookie. Was that a message, like when there were rumors of Hank Bullough getting fired with another loss and Bruce Smith telling the d huddle "I catch one of you ****er****ers making a tackle, I'm gonna kill you"

[Man with No Name]

34 minutes ago, boyst said:

 

See my quote above

That is a very specific lie. Lies in stories are either completely fabricated or too specific with a manufactured backstory. That passes my sniff test of truth but the accuracy could always be off - as a joke. McChump could have said in a joking manner that his OL needs to be tough and not wearing Jordans. They should be wearing cowboy boots, and carharrts, and drive f650's, and dip Redman... All in a analogic metaphor. 

whatever it was, it's a nothing burger. He probably was just trying to set a theme and building some kind of unity with the linemen. Maybe it didn't work, but he probably meant well enough. 

 

I want him fired, but this is just a dumb anecdote to add 150 words to a story, and somehow people get bent out of shape about it, as if McD acts like a corrections officer with his players. 

[PBF81]

44 minutes ago, Arkady Renko said:

Dorsey was a pretty natural pick.  You often promote from within for a successful offense.  Allen pushed  hard for him. 

 

Right, but still McD's pick.  

 

Otherwise, why is Allen choosing the OC.  

 

It's rhetorical, but anyone that isn't in a state of denial fully realizes that McDoesn'tKnow doesn't know offense, and that if it ever came down to a popularity contest between him and Allen, he wouldn't stand a chance, in any way, shape, or form.  He's catering to Allen.  

 

It's also my position that the reason why he won't hire a noted OC capable of making this offense run on all 8 cylinders optimally, is that he doesn't want to be replaced by that person after his defenses continue to fail us in the playoffs while the offense shines.  That position is very much in line with this piece by Dunne.  

 

And BTW, Dunne is typically incredibly well researched.  He doesn't just float garbage for clicks as some have speculated.  

 

Either way and no matter how much it's discussed and dissected, it's a dysfunctional mess right now.  

 

McD came first.  Then Allen.  

 

McD wouldn't even be here right now had Allen not skyrocketed in terms of performance in 2020.  He was already taking "hotseat" heat after 2019 and out playoffs debacle there.  

 

Had Allen been here before McD was, not a chance that McD would have landed the job.  

 

And now this nonsense with Von Miller.  As O'Halloran said in his piece, Pegula just fired two people for having a sincere and normal relationship with one another within the organization.  But he's endorsing Von Miller playing.  The hypocrisy reeks.  

 

That befalls McD and his "character" mantra as well.  

 

He's a dead-man walking, it's just a matter of how long Pegs keeps him around.  Beane's in no position to fire him on his own.  He'll likely be the one that delivers the pink-slip, but he's not going to stab the guy that gave him the job under the unlikeliest of circumstances.  

 

 

[Dick_Cheney]

1 hour ago, Roundybout said:

 

 

Hahahahahahhaa 

We absolutely have to fire this weirdo.

[bouds]

52 minutes ago, yall said:

That is so absurd. It can't be true right?

 

Because if it is.... 

It reads more like a joke taken in seriously there's no context other than the short blurb.

 

Like I could say that to someone off the cuff for a laugh.  "How can you guys wear Jordans?  You guys are the heavy equipment movers, I want boots and carthart. LOL"

 

I'm not defending it, just seems like we have 0 context and I honestly want to read the other stuff more than this small excerpt.

Edited December 7, 2023 by bouds

[JohnNord]

9 minutes ago, yall said:

That all seems to pass the sniff test save for the leaving early bit. That doesn't seem to align with what we hear about his level of commitment, narcissist or not.

 

 

“Pass the sniff test?”  WTF…who talks like that?

[boyst]

8 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Appreciate, but looks like just the truncated versions.

copy and paste the link to the removepaywall.com site and it lets you do the full thing and click at the bottom to page two and 3

 

[Mister Defense]

1 hour ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

If everything said in this piece about McD is true, then no way he just decides to give up what he wants and let's Brady run loose.

 

Dorsey sucked as an OC. It doesnt need to go deeper than that.

 

Dorsey is gone. That problem has been addressed. On to the next issue: Head Coach.

 

Now, with two excellent games of offense in the books, have you reconsidered your analysis of this?

 

It seems Brady is doing his things, as he wants to, and yes, implementing the things McD has wanted, but in a dramatically better way than Dorsey ever could--running the ball, making it not just something to do on occasion but as integral part of the game, using their personnel better, being dramatically better at the details of game planning (and execution of those details), and using the entire field, including what was a barren wasteland under Dorsey, the entire middle, including throwing the ball to the backs... etcetera

 

Don't you like the immediate and dramatic turn around in the offense, into a creative, diverse, and dramatically less predictable and more productive offense? It seems McD got exactly what he wanted and now we'll see if it continues. I think it will and become more creative, more diverse.

 

I just wish McD had insisted on the OC following his philosophy more last year--and then fired him before the season when he realized Dorsey either could not or would not (and I lean heavily to could not). Huge mistake, and yeah that is on McDermott. 

 

And I think McD insisted on similar changes after the 7-6 start two years ago, as that is what happened, with the bills running game becoming the best in the league after that and Singletary at the top of the league.  Those changes too had McD's handprints all over it, and a very good thing too, just like this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Mister Defense

[Dick_Cheney]

Just now, JohnNord said:

“Pass the sniff test?”  WTF…who talks like that?

This is an incredibly common phrase.

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, bouds said:

It reads more like a joke taken in seriously but there's no context other than the short blurb.

 

Like I could say that to someone off the cuff for a laugh.  "How can you guys wear Jordans?  You guys are the heavy equipment movers, I want boots and carthart. LOL"

 

I'm not defending it, just seems like we have 0 context and I honestly want to read the other stuff more than this small excerpt.

full quote

 

One ex-player recalls McDermott getting upset that the offensive linemen wore Jordans on Saturday walkthroughs because Jordans didn’t seem very lineman to him. Didn’t seem tough. He preferred the big men on his offensive line walk around the facility in work boots and Carhartt jackets. When players were upset about this edict, center Mitch Morse actually drew a Jordan logo on one of his shark cowboy boots. One source cited an assistant coach with kids who’d typically arrive for offseason hours about five minutes early (7:55 a.m.) and leave no more than five minutes late (4:05 p.m.) simply to help out as much as he could back home as a father. McDermott, quite perturbed, decided to add an hour to the workday. In his mind, if his coaches weren’t going to give him the “extra,” he was going to get the “extra” out of them. He started requiring coaches to stay from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., instead of 8 to 4. Even if there was a chance he wasn’t so punctual himself.

[Einstein]

Wow. Tyler Dunne held no punches in that one.

 

I feel bruised just reading it.

[JohnNord]

2 minutes ago, Dick_Cheney said:

This is an incredibly common phrase.

It’s incredibly  odd…

Edited December 7, 2023 by JohnNord

[Governor]

Fire this hick!

 

I didn’t have time to read it yet. Can’t wait!

[The Firebaugh Kid]

1 hour ago, Buddy Hix said:

13 secs exposed McD's inability to be accountable, I knew it would turn out like this...right down to Pegula being unwilling to do what is needed. The next 2-3 seasons are going to be rough, and I bet it will take at least that many years for Pegula to actually make the right call.

It still bothers me that they never came out and said exactly what happened. However, dismissing the ST coach says it all. Scapegoat or guilty? We'll never know. 

[JohnNord]

8 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Right, but still McD's pick.  

 

Otherwise, why is Allen choosing the OC.  

 

It's rhetorical, but anyone that isn't in a state of denial fully realizes that McDoesn'tKnow doesn't know offense, and that if it ever came down to a popularity contest between him and Allen, he wouldn't stand a chance, in any way, shape, or form.  He's catering to Allen.  

 

It's also my position that the reason why he won't hire a noted OC capable of making this offense run on all 8 cylinders optimally, is that he doesn't want to be replaced by that person after his defenses continue to fail us in the playoffs while the offense shines.  That position is very much in line with this piece by Dunne.  

 

And BTW, Dunne is typically incredibly well researched.  He doesn't just float garbage for clicks as some have speculated.  

 

Either way and no matter how much it's discussed and dissected, it's a dysfunctional mess right now.  

 

McD came first.  Then Allen.  

 

McD wouldn't even be here right now had Allen not skyrocketed in terms of performance in 2020.  He was already taking "hotseat" heat after 2019 and out playoffs debacle there.  

 

Had Allen been here before McD was, not a chance that McD would have landed the job.  

 

And now this nonsense with Von Miller.  As O'Halloran said in his piece, Pegula just fired two people for having a sincere and normal relationship with one another within the organization.  But he's endorsing Von Miller playing.  The hypocrisy reeks.  

 

That befalls McD and his "character" mantra as well.  

 

He's a dead-man walking, it's just a matter of how long Pegs keeps him around.  Beane's in no position to fire him on his own.  He'll likely be the one that delivers the pink-slip, but he's not going to stab the guy that gave him the job under the unlikeliest of circumstances.  

 

 

He is well-sourced.  Also very biased.  See his work on Aaron Rodgers.  

[Negan]

24 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

This is where the “meddling” narrative never made sense.  If he is so controlling, wouldn’t he micromanage Joe Brady the same way he “micromanaged” Dorsey?  

I don’t buy that Dorsey was a scapegoat at all.  We saw 6 weeks where the offense struggled badly.  Over the past two weeks, it’s looked better.

I have strong inkling that McDermott called those awful one yard run plays on first down in OT to Murray that just wasted downs.

[bouds]

7 minutes ago, boyst said:

copy and paste the link to the removepaywall.com site and it lets you do the full thing and click at the bottom to page two and 3

 

Normally I use the bypass paywalls clean extension but that doesnt work on substack.

 

Tried using your link not working for me.  Insert Part 2/3 urls and still seems locked out.