Bills head coach Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator of the Panthers before getting the top job in Buffalo this offseason, so his natural inclination is to hang around the defense when the Bills are practicing at training camp this summer.
McDermott’s new job calls for him to work against that inclination, however, and he says that’s just what he will do during his first training camp with the team. He said that he’ll be in meetings with position groups so that he can be both a learner and an instructor as time goes on.
“You can’t just be a one-sided head coach and be effective,” McDermott said, via the Buffalo News. “I want my influence to be felt in all three phases. Certainly, the defense comes naturally for me, but that said, I’ve had ideas for what I want the offense and special teams to look like as well. I think the tendency for some is when you get into the special-teams periods and things like that to just, ‘Hey, that’s an off period for coaches sometimes.’ And special teams is where you win games. You’re going to win or lose sometimes two or three games a year on special teams or situational football.”
McDermott has spent his entire time in the NFL working for Andy Reid and Ron Rivera and said both men have influenced his approach to building his own approach to running a team. It promises to be different than the one Rex Ryan took and the Bills hope that’s only the start of the differences.