Did "The McDermott Problem" Backfire? Or Work to Perfection.

[AuntieEm]

19 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

You'd have to be so finely tuned into your body to know what the difference is between 98 and 99% effort. Maybe because I'm fat(ish) and suck at most of what I do, I just can't wrap my head around those close percentages. Speak to me in quarters lol. 

 

Sounds like you speak quarter pounders.  

[nedboy7]

Terrorism support?  This is one dumb thread. 

[SectionC3]

21 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

McDermott might really benefit from that hit-piece.  It's basically a published personnel review (albeit a negatively-biased one) spelling out for McD the specific flaws he needs to work on to repair his relationships with his players and fellow staff members, and directing him to loosen up his approach during gameday.   If McD is truly interested in self-correction and self-improvement (and Pegula is willing to be patient with him), the article is kind of a gift.

 

And honestly, as much as the article rang true to me and as much as I don't love McDermott, it was totally over the line and unfair to him.  He's got serious flaws but he's not a bad person and he truly wants to be great and help his team win.  Dunne went totally overboard.  I hope it does become a positive for McD, that would be beautiful irony.

Didn’t read it,  not sure if McD can get us where we need to be, but totally agree.  
 

I have to say, on a human level it was very cool to see McD smile postgame.  He’s wound way too tight and to be too stressed in general, and it was nice to see him 

maybe relax a little bit.  Good for him and perhaps good for the team. 

[finn]

I had the same thought as the O.P. The article and ensuing brouhaha might have lanced the boil, so to speak, exorcising what might have been simmering resentment and helping to focus the team for the stretch run. 

 

(Sorry about the mixed metaphors!)

[Goin Breakdown]

2 hours ago, AuntieEm said:

 

Sounds like you speak quarter pounders.  

Yessir haha

[AuntieEm]

2 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Yessir haha

 

  Nothing wrong with that.

[Goin Breakdown]

29 minutes ago, AuntieEm said:

 

  Nothing wrong with that.

Exactly

[FilthyBeast]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:32 AM, theRalph said:

Tyler Dunne is a Bills fan. Did his 20,000 word screed just cement the Bills tighter than any team in the league? 

 

Well if this team were to go on and win the superbowl, all I know is that Terry Pegula better build a giant Dunne statue at the new stadium.

[JohnNord]

On 12/11/2023 at 1:07 PM, Beck Water said:

 

Could fool me.

 

I think first and foremost, Tyler Dunne is a businessman trying to make a living as an enterpreneur selling subscriptions to his blog

I think he acted in his interests as a businessman first and foremost

I’ll go a step further - I think Dunne saw this article as on opportunity to grow his subscriber base in Buffalo but it did the opposite.  
 

Dunne knows that Buffalo and Green Bay are his most fertile areas for growth.  He also has the most connections having lived, worked and covered both pro teams.  What Dunne was saying about McDermott from a football standpoint echoed what the majority of Bills fans were saying…McDermott:

- is to blame for :13

- meddles in the offense

- refuses to accept blame

- is wasting Allen

- sucks in clutch situations 

 

My guess is that Ty thought the majority of Bills fans, already upset with McDermott, would latch onto his article and think “ugh this McDermott is so horrible.” They’d subscribe and share the article, maybe gift subs for the holiday season.   This is why I think he went in so hard on him, to say he’s not only a bad coach but also questioned his character.  Almost like a scathing article on a political figure like Trump or Biden.  The more dirt the more the detractors love it.  

 

But the opposite of this actually happened.  Fans, players, and the media read the article (rightfully IMO) as a character attack on McDermott.  They might not want him as a coach but he’s shown he’s a decent person.  I think it also pissed off the team like “he’s a hard ass coach,  but he’s our hard ass coach!”

 

As for Dunne, I don’t really think it got him the acclaim wanted.   His peers praised him but he was already highly regarded.  Many news outlets picked up on his article but the story didn’t have legs and I’m doubting it led to many conversions.  
 

I don’t think he’s loving the scrutiny either, as he’s been keeping a very low profile on Twitter.  Not really basking in the glow of controversy or having his ethics questions.  
 

In the end, I don’t see Dunne hurting his reputation with the football community at large but I he did some damage among the fans who would play $8 that are arguably more important.  

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[JohnNord]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:40 PM, JTown said:

I don't believe that McClappy is a bad person.  However, I no longer believe in "his process and truly believe that he is a narcissistic and has refused to change his frequently flawed game management and defensive strategies.   None of that makes him a bad person, just a bad HC and defensive coordinator. 

 

Did anyone else notice him smiling on several occasions during last night's broadcast?  I was caught off guard as I have NEVER noticed him smiling during his half-time interview.   He is always very stoic I it seemed weird to me that since he was personally called out, he was going out of his way to portray a pleasant smiling persona.  

Even when the Bills have blown out opponents,  I have never seen McClappy portray a happy demeanor during a game or even in a press conference.   

Did anyone else notice this behavior?  

 

This would be consistent to what has already been reported.  He’s very stoic and serious about football.  He background is wrestling so he has that disciplined, soft-spoken, scrappy mentality.
 

I think the criticism of his “process” is warranted this year especially when it comes to closing out games. I also think some of it unwarranted like blaming his for the offensive struggles 

6 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

Well if this team were to go on and win the superbowl, all I know is that Terry Pegula better build a giant Dunne statue at the new stadium.

If Dunne is rooting for any storyline this season.. it should be this one.  It would do wonders for his business 

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[Wayne Arnold]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

I’ll go a step further - I think Dunne saw this article as on opportunity to grow his subscriber base in Buffalo but it did the opposite.  
 

Dunne knows that Buffalo and Green Bay are his most fertile areas for growth.  He also has the most connections having lived, worked and covered both pro teams.  What Dunne was saying about McDermott from a football standpoint echoed what the majority of Bills fans were saying…McDermott:

- is to blame for :13

- meddles in the offense

- refuses to accept blame

- is wasting Allen

- sucks in clutch situations 

 

My guess is that Ty thought the majority of Bills fans, already upset with McDermott, would latch onto his article and think “ugh this McDermott is so horrible.” They’d subscribe and share the article, maybe gift subs for the holiday season.   This is why I think he went in so hard on him, to say he’s not only a bad coach but also questioned his character.  Almost like a scathing article on a political figure like Trump or Biden.  The more dirt the more the detractors love it.  

 

But the opposite of this actually happened.  Fans, players, and the media read the article (rightfully IMO) as a character attack on McDermott.  They might not want him as a coach but he’s shown he’s a decent person.  I think it also pissed off the team like “he’s a hard ass coach,  but he’s our hard ass coach!”

 

As for Dunne, I don’t really think it got him the acclaim wanted.   His peers praised him but he was already highly regarded.  Many news outlets picked up on his article but the story didn’t have legs and I’m doubting it led to many conversions.  
 

I don’t think he’s loving the scrutiny either, as he’s been keeping a very low profile on Twitter.  Not really basking in the glow of controversy or having his ethics questions.  
 

In the end, I don’t see Dunne hurting his reputation with the football community at large but I he did some damage among the fans who would play $8 that are arguably more important.  

 

I think you're making a helluva lot of assumptions here.

 

The article got a TON of publicity. Dunne probably earned a load of money for it - maybe even more than anticipated.

 

Many people (including many Bills fans) found it intriguing and informative and supported Dunne for writing it.

 

When a writer has the balls to write articles questioning people in power, it's always going to be controversial and it's completely expected that there will be backlash and scrutiny. A certain percentage of people will get offended by it. And they're the ones who are the most vocal because they're the most emotional about it. They rush to the powerful person's defense because they somehow take it personally - as if it's an attack on them or a family member. In this case they see the head coach of the Buffalo Bills as some sort of hero figure or a representative of their community and/or own personal identity and they will defend him as such. I've seen it first-hand on this message board alone.

 

I'm sure Dunne hasn't receive any more scrutiny than he expected before releasing it.

[JohnNord]

6 hours ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

I think you're making a helluva lot of assumptions here.

 

The article got a TON of publicity. Dunne probably earned a load of money for it - maybe even more than anticipated.

 

Many people (including many Bills fans) found it intriguing and informative and supported Dunne for writing it.

 

When a writer has the balls to write articles questioning people in power, it's always going to be controversial and it's completely expected that there will be backlash and scrutiny. A certain percentage of people will get offended by it. And they're the ones who are the most vocal because they're the most emotional about it. They rush to the powerful person's defense because they somehow take it personally - as if it's an attack on them or a family member. In this case they see the head coach of the Buffalo Bills as some sort of hero figure or a representative of their community and/or own personal identity and they will defend him as such. I've seen it first-hand on this message board alone.

 

I'm sure Dunne hasn't receive any more scrutiny than he expected before releasing it.

“I think you're making a helluva lot of assumptions here.”

 

(Then proceeds to retort with a helluva lot of assumptions himself!”)

 

Considering how passionately you defended Dunne your response isn’t surprising.  
 

I think you failed to read or understand the part about conversions.  The only way he earns is people signed up for his newsletter.  I’m sure some did, I’m certain it’s not nearly the “load” you want to assume.  

 

Yes he got a lot of publicly when the story broke about 9/11 but really nothing else in the series.  I would imagine it hasn’t resulted as many new subscribers as you would think.   I think people read the lede about 9/11 but I’m certain Sean McDermott isn’t scandalous or interesting enough for the average Joe Six Pack non-Bills fans football fan to pay $8 to sign up.  
 
Plus the story is essentially dead a few days later.  

Now let’s talk about the audience who WOULD pay $8.   There is no way that you objectively can that the reception among Bills fans as a whole is positive.  
 

It’s not just the Bills fans.  Sal Capaccio, Eric Wood, Steve Tasker, Chris Brown, and Tim Graham all categorized the article as a personal attack.  

 

Check Ty’s mentions.  He is getting hammered so hard on Twitter/X he essentially stopped tweeting.  Out of 10 Bills fans, I’d be willing to estimate that 7 have a negative opinion of him.  
 

A SMALL to moderate group of Bills fans supported Dunne - but many of these were already paying him $8.   Go back and read the thread where you @Scott7975 and @PBF81 were begging people to read the article.  Most were hellbent about not giving him a meager amount of $8.  Even after I read the article and said it was interesting, no one gave a *****.  They didn’t want to give him their “load of money.”

 

Look at the engagement in his recent Substack posts compared to some of the older articles.   On his newest post about the response from McDermott, the engagement is a tick higher but nothing crazy.  Shouldn’t the engagement be much higher? 

 

Also I check the live thread he started last night.  It’s filled with about 10-15 people mostly talking about the Packers game.   Like I said, previous subscribers.  
 

So again, I’m sure he picked up new subscribers but I’m also pretty sure he alienated the fan base he was trying to attract and built a reputation (right or wrong) among that fan base as a guy who writes “hit pieces”

 

That’s why I feel overall this was not a net positive for Tyler and that his calculated approach backfired on him. 
 

Anyone is welcome to disagree

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[Ray Stonada]

Dunne needed Toney to line up onsides. 
 

Then he would have looked 100% accurate.

 

It’s a game of inches.

[JohnNord]

FWIW Dunne recently wrote a new article about the McDermott controversy and his retort is understandably defensive if not a little salty, as throws a bit of shade to Bills reporters.  And it wasn’t personal between Dunne and the Bills then….it clearly is now.  
 

He goes out of his way to defend himself, stands by every word and mentions no one has denied what he reported.  He throws a few jabs at people who criticized the series (Chris Brown/Steve Tasker/Eric Wood CBS - Romo, Nantz, and Wolfson) and praises the outlets who supported him.  There’s no one from Buffalo except the WGR hosts who praised him (Jeremy, Joe, Schopp & Dawg)  He also takes a pot shot at the Bills org for letting Von Miller play.  
 

Of course you get the whole “But…but…but..it can’t be a takedown because there were also positive comments” that his supporters LLLLLLOVE to bring up any time someone questions the article.  

 

The most fascinated dig IMO was at his fellow journalists.

 

First he says everyone in the local Buffalo ignored the content in the series for fear of the angry mob or the team and they instead waited until McDermott spoke to report anything.  
 

Then another shot to not only the local media - perhaps beyond as well.  He accuses them of sitting on negative stories until a coach, GM, or player leave town.   He calls not reporting this information “cowardly” and that NFL coaches and GM’s should expect criticism.  
 

The most interesting quote is here:

 

“There are reporters doing extremely good work — don’t get me wrong. But most, by and large, don’t view something like this worth the hassle or headache. The trend has been obvious in the 13 years I’ve covered the NFL full-time. Given the choice, most would rather not become embroiled in the Twitter/X crossfire for 48 to 72 hours. Threats aren’t necessarily fun. 

If that paycheck’s rolling in regardless, hey, why anger the mob? Why invite a wave of insults and threats”

 

He finishes by says he’s going to take an “old school” approach to reporting and that won’t consist of “15 seconds of players dancing at practice.”  

 

My takeaway, Dunne is unapologetic and defensive and feels somewhat slighted that no one in the Buffalo media had his back.   He also doesn’t seem to like the criticism he’s received by the Bills organization - an odd take considering his series essentially….criticized the Bills organization!  

 

With that being said, I think Dunne is a tremendous writer and storyteller.  But I do think he included some personal jabs at McDermott from disgruntled sources that weren’t necessary and became the bigger story than any of the news he broke.  
 

Also he talks about reporters being afraid of the Twitter mob, yet he chooses to share these comments behind a paywall only.

We all have opinions.

15 minutes ago, Ray Stonada said:

Dunne needed Toney to line up onsides. 
 

Then he would have looked 100% accurate.

 

It’s a game of inches.

Or Josh could have scored a touchdown in the final minute and ten seconds with 3 timeouts to take the lead as often usually does.  

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[Ray Stonada]

4 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Or Josh could have scored a touchdown in the final minute and ten seconds with 3 timeouts to take the lead as often usually does.  

Which would mean McD blew yet another lead and Josh saved the day again. Dunne’s point was Josh carries McD.

[JohnNord]

3 minutes ago, Ray Stonada said:

Which would mean McD blew yet another lead and Josh saved the day again. Dunne’s point was Josh carries McD.

Meh, no one would care
 

Josh wins that game and everyone is pumped he beat KC. No one is saying “buuuuut, the defense couldn't stop KC

on the final possession.”

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[Ray Stonada]

2 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Meh, no one would care
 

Josh wins that game and everyone is pumped he beat KC. No one is saying “buuuuut, the defense couldn't stop KC

on the final possession.”

Plenty of people would be saying exactly that.
 

If you think McDermott is a good in-game coach, I can’t help you.

 

Our record shows blatantly that he is not. 
 

He lucked into Allen.

[Mikie2times]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

“I think you're making a helluva lot of assumptions here.”

 

(Then proceeds to retort with a helluva lot of assumptions himself!”)

 

I always thought Wayne was a good feminine name. Him her he she has point about you it. 

[JohnNord]

4 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

I always thought Wayne was a good feminine name. Him her he she has point about you it. 

This entire message board is assumptions.  What’s your point Mickey?

5 minutes ago, Ray Stonada said:

Plenty of people would be saying exactly that.
 

If you think McDermott is a good in-game coach, I can’t help you.

 

Our record shows blatantly that he is not. 
 

He lucked into Allen.

You mean the record that shows he’s the winningest coach in Bills history.  Sure seems by his record that he’s “blatantly” not a good coach.  

Edited December 13, 2023 by JohnNord

[Mikie2times]

2 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

This entire message board is assumptions.  What’s your point Mickey?

You mean the record that shows he’s the winningest coach in Bills history.  Sure seems by his record that he’s “blatantly” not a good coach.  

I'm just playing around being dumb. 😄