Will McD ever have a coaching tree?

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Buffalo Boy said:

Bill Walsh

Maybe before your time but he was THE guy in that era and so many guys came from him or someone under him.

 

As I said above, only Mike Vrabel of the 32 Head Coaches that started this season does not have lineage that can be traced back to Walsh.

[Buffalo Boy]

3 hours ago, Wolfgang said:

Coaching tree?

 

Doubt it...

 

Coaching shrub?

 

Maybe someday...

 

 

 

Wahdjer the shwubber 😂😂😂

[SoonerBillsFan]

8 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Some of the better leaders I have worked with have told me, you being an expert or great is not a sign that you’re doing your job well. How we perform when you aren’t there and how well you duplicate yourself with employees is. I think this logic clearly extends to coaches. To me it’s easier to validate who the very best are based on the number of future leaders and coaches they have been able to develop. 
 

Plenty of critical McD threads out there. I was hoping to focus this conversation on if anybody thinks McD will develop a coaching tree or has the capability of doing so, and if yes or no, how much does that matter in evaluating his success? 
 

Hypothetically, who would that tree consist of? I don’t consider Dabs, Frazier, or Brady as part of that tree. Does anybody here feel that is the case or could be in time? Maybe some influence? From my view this relevant as far as a different angle to evaluate his performance vs the standard stuff we hear on the board. 

No.

[Returntoglory]

[Sweats]

8 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Some of the better leaders I have worked with have told me, you being an expert or great is not a sign that you’re doing your job well. How we perform when you aren’t there and how well you duplicate yourself with employees is. I think this logic clearly extends to coaches. To me it’s easier to validate who the very best are based on the number of future leaders and coaches they have been able to develop. 
 

Plenty of critical McD threads out there. I was hoping to focus this conversation on if anybody thinks McD will develop a coaching tree or has the capability of doing so, and if yes or no, how much does that matter in evaluating his success? 
 

Hypothetically, who would that tree consist of? I don’t consider Dabs, Frazier, or Brady as part of that tree. Does anybody here feel that is the case or could be in time? Maybe some influence? From my view this relevant as far as a different angle to evaluate his performance vs the standard stuff we hear on the board. 

 

 

 

 

 

..........this is the only McD coaching tree i could ever imagine

[Gregg]

[uticaclub]

53 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

As I said above, only Mike Vrabel of the 32 Head Coaches that started this season does not have lineage that can be traced back to Walsh.

Vrable was an assistant under Bill O’Brien who is part of Bilichick’s tree

[GunnerBill]

Just now, uticaclub said:

Vrable was an assistant under Bill O’Brien who is part of Bilichick’s tree

 

Correct, but Belichick isn't from the Walsh tree either. Belichick was from the Parcells tree and there was a point 15 or so years ago where that tree and the Walsh tree were equally as influential in the NFL Head Coaching ranks. And while there are crossover guys - Sean Payton, Brian Daboll, Dan Campbell etc - who feature on both trees the Parcells tree is now a poor second to the Walsh tree in terms of influence over NFL Head Coaches in 2025. You can trace a dozen or so back to Parcells in some form. But 31/32 to Walsh. 

[henry jones]

Found his tree

[uticaclub]

24 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Correct, but Belichick isn't from the Walsh tree either. Belichick was from the Parcells tree and there was a point 15 or so years ago where that tree and the Walsh tree were equally as influential in the NFL Head Coaching ranks. And while there are crossover guys - Sean Payton, Brian Daboll, Dan Campbell etc - who feature on both trees the Parcells tree is now a poor second to the Walsh tree in terms of influence over NFL Head Coaches in 2025. You can trace a dozen or so back to Parcells in some form. But 31/32 to Walsh. 

Oh wow, I guess you are right. I misread and thought it said Walsh or Belichick. I wonder if there will be another HC that is influential for a while. 

[Chaos]

9 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

curious why you wouldn’t consider Dabs or Brady as part of his tree? 

Daboll had a lot of coaching experience including stints as an offensive coordinator before joining for the Bills.  I am not sure there are formal rules for “coaching tree” but I don’t think Daboll himself would credit McDermott as his biggest influence.  

[dave mcbride]

8 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

Coaching trees would be 

 

Holmgren 

Reid

Belichick

 

who else?

You are missing the biggest ones. Walsh and Parcells.

34 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Correct, but Belichick isn't from the Walsh tree either. Belichick was from the Parcells tree and there was a point 15 or so years ago where that tree and the Walsh tree were equally as influential in the NFL Head Coaching ranks. And while there are crossover guys - Sean Payton, Brian Daboll, Dan Campbell etc - who feature on both trees the Parcells tree is now a poor second to the Walsh tree in terms of influence over NFL Head Coaches in 2025. You can trace a dozen or so back to Parcells in some form. But 31/32 to Walsh. 

But not in terms of winning. Sean Payton, Tom Coughlin, and Belichick all won Super Bowls - 9 in total. And Payton certainly considers himself a Parcells guy if you have any doubts (even though he didn’t start with Parcells). In terms of actual winning, Parcells remains the ultimate boss.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

I wonder if reliance on analytics and modern technology has stunted the growth and development of coaches, who could work their way up the coaching progression.  

[billsbackto81]

9 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Damn, beat me to it. 🤣

[gjv]

McDermott has his work cut out for him this year. I think this years Bills team is rostering the worst secondary in the last 25 years.

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

 

But not in terms of winning. Sean Payton, Tom Coughlin, and Belichick all won Super Bowls - 9 in total. And Payton certainly considers himself a Parcells guy if you have any doubts (even though he didn’t start with Parcells). In terms of actual winning, Parcells remains the ultimate boss.

 

Yea, I consider Payton more of a Parcells guy too, even though he is a crossover. It is a fair point about the Superbowls, but Reid and McVay have definitely tilted that balance back a bit since the last Belichick one. 

[djp14150]

9 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

Coaching trees would be 

 

Holmgren 

Reid

Belichick

 

who else?

Walsh 

[boater]

I've seen McDermott Bashing threads start in many stealthy ways, but this may be the most creative approach yet.

[BeastMaster]

McDermott never lets the branches get long enough to find out what they could potentially become

 

He sacrifices them to preserve himself

[GroteStreet]

35 minutes ago, boater said:

I've seen McDermott Bashing threads start in many stealthy ways, but this may be the most creative approach yet.

all roads lead back to bashing McDermott.  Except for the roads that lead to bashing Beane.