The Buffalo Bills have reinvented their roster since head coach Sean McDermott was hired. In fact, only one player on the team hasn’t signed a contract since McDermott took over (Shaq Lawson). Despite all that overhaul in two-plus seasons, McDermott has found a way to win. It’s built him considerable goodwill in the fan base and the locker room.
McDermott won his head coaching debut in 2017 and never dropped below .500 en route to the team’s first playoff appearance since the Bill Clinton administration. Despite a three-game slide to fall to 5-5, McDermott’s team won four of their last six games to finish 9-7 and make the postseason on a tiebreaker.
In 2018, there were more bumps as quarterback Nathan Peterman quickly gave way to rookie Josh Allen. They started the season 0-2, leaving McDermott once again at a .500 winning percentage. He finally fell below that mark a few weeks later in the middle of a four-game losing streak. The Bills finished 6-10, leaving McDermott two games under .500 on his career.
After winning two games in 2019, he is back to even; 17 wins and 17 losses.
He’s not a perfect coach by any means, and we’ve been tough on him for his game day decisions of switching to Peterman in 2017, punting at inopportune game moments, playing too conservatively, thinking 21 points is enough, and a whole lot more. But those alleged flaws pale in comparison to what he’s done in the positive column. He has completely re-shaped the roster while building a winning culture.
Let’s juxtapose that with the Miami Dolphins. New coach Brian Flores came in to reboot the franchise much like the task McDermott handled. Miami has been shellacked 102-10 in their first two games under Flores and there was talk of mutiny after their Week 1 loss. It could really turn south for the southern-most team in the AFC East very quickly and Flores may have already completely lost the locker room by trading away players and generally turning the smoldering team into a tire fire.
McDermott has seemingly threaded the needle; he rebuilt the team he wanted while going to the playoffs and building a winning culture. It’s truly not as easy as it has looked, and Flores is the poster boy for that right now.
With only three of their remaining opponents at 2-0—the New England Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Baltimore Ravens—Buffalo has a chance to make a run at a second playoff berth in three seasons under McDermott. Coach also has a chance to build towards a winning record in his third year, something Flores will likely struggle to achieve.