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The McDermott Problem: Blame Game
The Bills are ****ing reeling.
This is a Pioli-level expose. We better beat this shit****ed culture.
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When the clock ticks closer… and closer… and closer to triple zeroes, all viewers of the Buffalo Bills have been conditioned to expect calamity. Seven years of torture will do that. The sight of Sean McDermott whispering into a headset has become synonymous with impending doom.
The 2023 season is caving.
The Super Bowl window is closing.
Those who’ve worked with the head coach on a day-to-day basis predicted all of this — months in advance — because they’ve seen how McDermott operates on a day-to-day basis. How tangibly nervous he gets in close games. How he has never truly appreciated his gift from the football gods: Josh Allen. How he’s quick to blame everyone but himself in defeat. That’s why one coach — in June — began by asking a simple question: “If they fail again this year? What does ownership do with Sean?”
Three seconds later, he answered his own hypothetical.
“Next year if they fail, you know who’ll be the first person he serves up? Ken Dorsey.”
The coach wasn’t quite sure how McDermott would manage to put Dorsey’s head on a stick. After all, it’s the head coach’s beloved defense that has melted in four straight postseason losses. The honeymoon period with fans ended a long time ago — pointing a finger at his breadwinning quarterback, again, surely wouldn’t work. Yet even back in June, this assistant knew his old boss would find a way to deflect blame.
“Watch,” he said, “if they sputter at all during this year, the narrative’s going to be the offense.”
On cue, seeds of blame were planted loss, to loss, to an agonizing 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos on Nov. 13. McDermott didn’t lament the jailbreak blitz that teed up a game-winning field goal. Nor did he take ownership for 12 men being on the field, a penalty that gifted the Broncos another field-goal attempt. He gushed over the defense, trashed the offense and canned Dorsey the next day. A card he probably didn’t expect to throw on the table so soon. All the ensuing 37-point offensive outburst in Philadelphia did two weeks later was further brighten the blinding spotlight on the real problem in Buffalo.
A problem that began long before the Bills devolved into a 6-6 team loitering In The Hunt.
The great mystery of the 2023 NFL season — What happened to the Buffalo Bills? — is no mystery at all.
It’s McDermott. It’s always been McDermott.
He’s a coaching relic routinely paralyzed by fear late in games. He never imagines what could go right with 20 seconds left in regulation, instead forever horrified of what could go wrong. Oblivious to the reality that he employs one of the sport’s most talented quarterbacks. The word you’ll hear constantly from those who’ve been around McDermott is “tight.” He’s so incomprehensibly tight, they say, players cannot help but stiffen up themselves. As if the head coach uses the 2-minute warning to administer mass lobotomies on his team.
He’s an unnatural communicator, a “robot.”
He’s described repeatedly as a “blamer.” Coaches see a boss who preaches accountability while taking none himself. As the Titanic inches toward an iceberg, this captain shoves passengers aside to secure his own lifeboat.
He has never managed to truly connect with the most important player on the team: Josh Allen.
This is the man who ended the team’s 17-year playoff drought, who restored order and discipline to the moldy frat house Rex Ryan left behind. McDermott also guided the Bills through the near-death of a player. Damar Hamlin’s heart stopped, a football game was cancelled, a nation was forced to reconcile with its love of football. He deserved every rose of praise for navigating a team through such a surreal moment in time.
But if the goal is to win a Super Bowl, the Bills have one option: Fire the head coach before its too late.
This three-part series is the culmination of 25 extended interviews with coaches, players, personnel men and other team sources who’ve passed through One Bills Drive. Many were granted anonymity to speak freely without the fear of retribution.
Most know exactly when the McDermott Era broke: Jan. 22, 2022 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Adversity reveals character in any field. Not only did McDermott insult the public by writing off 13 Seconds as an “execution” error. He never owned the defeat privately. He allowed it to linger, and that’s the danger with any trauma. There’s no way for anyone involved to move on unless it’s dealt with head-on. Unless the guilty party takes accountability. McDermott, as Go Long detailed, was the culprit. Yet when his decision to kick a touchback and his defense doomed Buffalo against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, there was zero accountability. To delusional proportions. One assistant coach remembers McDermott saying in the locker room that the offense scored too fast and left the Chiefs too much time.
“It was such a ludicrous statement,” the coach said, “that it didn’t move the needle.”
The next day, McDermott continued to point the finger. “You guys need to get away,” the assistant recalled the boss saying. “Recharge, reflect, and figure out what you can do better to avoid that happening again.” With that, he walked out of the room.
“It’s narcissism,” said this coach. “Because narcissists are a unique conundrum. They want the attention, but they’re so insecure at the same time. And that’s him. The issue with the team is the guy at the top. It’s really nothing else. There are so many examples of his insecurity — and his bizarre leadership — that you could talk for days.
“He never takes accountability. For anything.”
One quick reporting note because I always want to be upfront with our readers. While Go Long is based in Western New York, the Bills are one of the few teams that have chosen to deny us credentials and, hey, that’s fine. That’s their prerogative. We were told a while back to grab quotes from press conferences online for stories. Of course, that’s a disservice to you. So, in the interest of covering this team to the best of our ability, we’ve brought you the “Isaiah McKenzie Show,” connected with many Bills players independently for longform profiles and, now, it’s time to sift through the rubble to figure out why everything’s going south.
The shame of it all is that this should have been the Buffalo Bills’ golden age. The hierarchy of most important employees should’ve been obvious that fateful night in KC: 1) Allen, the human buffalo of a QB; 2) Brandon Beane, the driving force behind drafting that QB; 3) McDermott, the man who ended the drought.
Rings are missing. But it’s not too late. Owner Terry Pegula can either operate in fear of the playoff-less wilderness or act now while there’s still time, while Allen is still a 27-year-old in his prime.
Complacency will only lead to more torment for all involved.
And that is what’s most telling about these 25 conversations. People who aren’t even working in Buffalo anymore empathize with the torment. Thrilled as they are to move onto greener pastures — as players, as coaches — they’re universally exasperated and saddened for those still in Western New York.
“This job’s too hard to fight from within and that’s what you do there,” one ex-Bills assistant explained. “You’re fighting against the head coach. You’ve got to overcome the head coach. This job is already hard enough. You’ve got to overcome all your opponents, all the dynamics. You’ve got to overcome so much shit. But then you’ve got to overcome the guy who’s supposedly steering the boat.”
Hold on tight.
The iceberg nears.
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That's just the intro. The rest of this shit is LONG AS ****, so here are the highlights. I encourage everyone to pay the $8 and read it all yourself.
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One ex-Bills assistant said he’s been hearing from players and coaches alike who want out.
“It’s all a persona,” this coach said. “You wouldn’t have players and coaches asking — begging — to get out of there if the culture was so great. That’s a good team that’s won a lot of football games. It’s hard to win games in this league. It’s not easy. Players and coaches would rather go somewhere else than be there and be miserable.”
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The coach apparently said that he often sleeps in the office and wants to show his three kids how important it is to go all-out to win a championship.
This assistant was flabbergasted by what he labels “a flat-out lie.”
If the Bills lost, sure, the head man might burn that midnight oil until 3 a.m., but he claims McDermott never stayed the night.
He couldn’t remember McDermott ever being in the building when he left.
“Not once,” he added. “and I never speak in absolutes.”
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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.
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The next year, 2020, McDermott faced the man who hired and fired him in a primetime spot. The Kansas City Chiefs, the defending champs, came to town and one veteran player remembers McDermott swiping defensive playcalling from Leslie Frazier for this showdown.
His master plan? Invite the run with light boxes in a concerted effort to eliminate big plays. Andy Reid was much obliged as the Chiefs rushed for 245 yards in a breezy 26-17 win. Patrick Mahomes went a cool 21 of 26 with two scores. KC converted 10 of 15 third and fourth downs.
“Sean took over the coaching on defense that week,” this player said, “and then f--king blamed Leslie Frazier.”
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Multiple sources use the word “bizarre” in recalling how McDermott viewed the relationship between assistant coaches and their players. He appeared jealous.
The Bills receivers loved Chad Hall so much that they bought him a truck for Christmas in 2020. An objectively touching moment that Isaiah McKenzie shared via Instagram.
But Sean McDermott? Oh boy. Sean McDermott was not pleased. One source described this as “a dark day at One Bills Drive.”
Said one assistant: “I thought it was cool as shit. And he made it into the biggest negative ever. That’s him. He couldn’t take that. He couldn’t handle that. He couldn’t let that be. He couldn’t let that stand. And there’s cases of that more so on the offensive side of the ball than the defensive side. He has zero relationship with the offensive players. Zero. None. Absolutely zero. He’s insecure. He wants the relationship that he can’t have with the players. Because he’s not physically, mentally, or socially able to.”
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The bigger the game, the tighter McDermott gets. When Tom Brady was still in the AFC East, he’d appear exceptionally tense ahead of matchups with the New England Patriots. Ever since the Bills morphed into a Super Bowl contender, he’s been on edge ahead of dates with Reid and the Chiefs.
Anxiousness that becomes infectious.
“The players feel him being so uptight,” one coach said. “You go, ‘Uh oh. Sean’s doing it again.’ It shows during the week. It shows in his playcalling. That’s his downfall — he’s just so uptight. It takes a toll on him. … He’s a nervous wreck. The players can sense it just in his voice, his demeanor.”
All of which is reflected when it’s nut-cutting time. The sight of defensive backs lined wayyy off the ball in crucial late-game situations is as common as the ridiculous number of Tim Horton’s coffeeshops in WNY.
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One team source said McDermott treats his support staff — those who are not coaches — like “grains of sand underneath his feet.” He added that McDermott “brutalizes” the head trainer in that he’s constantly in his ear saying the trainer must get an injured player ready to play. If a player was unable to suit up, McDermott could blow a gasket: “What the f--k! You said he could play!”
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No wonder the coaches who’ve had the opportunity to leave don’t merely walk to the door. They sprint. The mass exodus of coaches doesn’t make any sense to outsiders. Typically, those attached to a Super Bowl contender — in any capacity — want to stay with that Super Bowl contender until a juicy promotion presents itself.
Not here.
“Everybody,” one ex-coach states, “wants out of that place.”
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And, of course, there’s Leslie Frazier. The team’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator departed under shadowy circumstances.
Sources close to Frazier indicated that your suspicions are true: McDermott wanted Frazier out.
Removing the defensive coordinator conveniently pins recent playoff failures on the coordinator.
Outright firing the coach, the team realized, would’ve been horrible optics. Frazier’s defenses have statistically ranked amongst the NFL’s best and you’d be hard-pressed to find coaches more beloved across the entire league.
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At St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., McDermott’s morning address began innocently enough. He told the entire team they needed to come together. But then, sources on-hand say, he used a strange model: the terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
He cited the hijackers as a group of people who were all able to get on the same page to orchestrate attacks to perfection.
One by one, McDermott started asking specific players in the room questions. “What tactics do you think they used to come together?” A young player tried to methodically answer. “What do you think their biggest obstacle was?”
A veteran answered, “TSA,” which mercifully lightened the mood.
No one could fathom this insanity.
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Connecting with stars is a problem. The public was supplied a brief peek behind the curtain last spring when McDermott admitted he was “very concerned” by Stefon Diggs’ minicamp absence.
One ex-coach said Diggs flatly “can’t stand him.” One former Bills wide receiver believes the relationship started poorly because the head coach thought he could tell Diggs what to do — a big mistake — but believes the relationship improved.
One newcomer to this year’s team went on an impassioned defense of Diggs, calling him “the coolest f--king dude on the team.” A class clown who’ll pop the phone out of your hand in the hallway if you’re not paying attention. His take: Players are thankful for Diggs because he’s got the balls to say out loud exactly what they’re thinking.
One ex-teammate on offense said he knows for a fact that Diggs does not enjoy playing for McDermott.
“I know Diggs,” he said, “and Diggs wants to be able to do what he wants to do — with OTAs and shit like that. Diggs is going to get his work in. The organization I’m at now understands the great players don’t need you to babysit them to be great. Diggs wants to be great for Diggs. And when you question that, Diggs gets pissed off. Because that’s testing his integrity and what he wants to be. And I definitely think that’s where Sean f--ks up.”
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While visiting another team for another story, I asked one ex-Bill what made his new team different than his old one. There was no pretense. I had never spoken with this player before in my life.
His eyebrows jumped and he nodded his head toward his new coach: “That guy.” Asked to elaborate, he noted the direct correlation between McDermott being high-strung 24/7/365 and the team’s playoff failures.
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This former starter crystallizes the strange dichotomy between those coaches who view McDermott as a tyrant and the players who find him personable. He knew how horribly McDermott treated his staff.
He knew what the head coach was saying specifically about players behind their backs. That’s why he, too, uses one word to describe McDermott: “Fraud.”
“In front of the player, Sean will be nice,” he said. “But then, behind the doors, he’s screaming at the coaches: ‘What the f--k is this guy doing? This guy f--king sucks.’ Blaming. Just yelling at the coaches and kissing your ass in front of you. That’s when you’re on his good side. He is the biggest hypocrite.
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Adding full playcalling duties to the plate has obviously backfired. People on both the coaching and personnel side cite McDermott as a slow processor in tight situations. An assertion backed up by the numbers.
He’s 7-22 on challenges for his career and his Bills are 7-5 since 2021 (including playoffs) when leading by 1-to-8 points in the final 2 minutes, the worst winning percentage in the league.
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13 seconds:
what three team sources told Go Long: McDermott flat-out seized playcalling from Frazier those final two plays.
Once Hill took a quick-hitter 19 yards — to the KC 44-yard line — one coach on that staff believes McDermott’s thinking changed. “
Now,” he said, “he’s worried about losing. In his mind, overtime is OK.” So, the Bills lined up in another prevent coverage. One safety was 31 yards off the ball; the other 26.
Cornerback Levi Wallace was instructed to line up with outside leverage, vs. Travis Kelce, and the tight end accepted this free release to get KC in field-goal range.
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Said one coach: “Imagine not being the playcaller all year long and then at a critical moment, ‘Hey, let me take the wheel.’”
Added one defensive starter: “When shit hits the fan, I’ve seen him take over.”
And one ex-Bills front office man: “That’s why the big game hasn’t been won there. In big games he definitely gets tight.”
In overtime, the Bills never saw the ball again. Reid dizzied his former assistant with a clinical eight-play, 75-yard drive.
Game over. Season over. Inside the locker room, players remember Diggs yelling “Every f--king time! Every single f--king time!”
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McDermott was the Carolina Panthers’ defensive coordinator. One of many individuals to directly benefit from Newton throwing for 3,837 yards, rushing for 636 and scoring 45 touchdowns in leading Carolina to the Super Bowl. In 2016, the Panthers went 6-10. In 2017, McDermott was named the 20th coach in Bills history.
This did not stop McDermott from bashing Newton in staff meetings.
One of the Bills assistants Go Long spoke to for this series said that McDermott’s “frame of reference” as a coach was watching Newton — in his mind — “ruin” the Panthers. “He used to come into offensive staff meetings,” this source said, “and just motherf--k Cam Newton.”
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When Allen decided to put roots down and build a house with his then-girlfriend in Western New York, his boss was livid.
Inside staff meetings, one source said McDermott would bark: “Tell Josh to stop worrying about that f--king house! We’ve got the season coming up. When the season starts, that needs to be Brittany’s issue and not f--king his.”
Coaches, understandably, were stunned. They shared What the…? glances of disillusionment and moved on.
That’s all you can do usually: Shake your head. Move on.
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One running joke in Buffalo is that McDermott rigs competitive drills in the defense’s favor.
The defense always seems to get the extra vote because he’s the head coach. “Everything was always favored towards them,” said one former captain. “He definitely catered more towards the defense.”
It only got worse after he took over playcalling duties. Which players find funny because it quickly became obvious to everyone that Allen is the one carrying the team.
“Sean is so strong-willed that he doesn't want to admit to it and adhere to that,” that player continued. “He’s like, ‘No, man. We’re still a defensive football team.”
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One ex-coach believes McDermott didn’t like the fact that Daboll, a Buffalo native, could engage in natural conversation with Terry and Kim Pegula.
“Sean couldn’t,” one coach added. “He envied that. He was deathly afraid of, ‘Shit. What if ownership goes, I’m the problem, fires me and promotes him?’”
He wasn’t vocal about it. But as the head coach takes veiled shots at Allen in press conferences, assistants cringe. It doesn’t make sense to them because — at some point — the owners would surely realize they’ve got a lot more money invested in Allen, than McDermott.
One ex-Bill starter put it perfectly: “There’s so many coaches that you can just name and plug in there and they won’t be worse.”
This player’s “dream scenario” is for the Bills to fire McDermott, keep Beane and see Beane trade for Daboll. He’d win a Super Bowl and retire.
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This Sunday, the Bills return to Kansas City where Reid, 65, and Mahomes, 28, have a realistic chance to surpass Belichick and Brady as the greatest combo this sport’s ever seen. OK, it’s very difficult to strike gold to that degree.
Thus, it’s impossible not to ask one longtime Bill who’s close with all three individuals (Allen, Daboll, McDermott) one question:
Did Buffalo keep the wrong coach?
There’s nothing but dead air on the other end of the phone for 13 seconds.
“Do I need to continue my silence,” this player said, “or are we good?”
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12-07-2023, 02:32 PM
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The McDermott Problem: Blame Game
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