One of the league’s significant offseason surprises came from the Bills at the start of the scouting combine a month ago, when the organization announced defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier would be taking the 2023 season off from coaching.
Frazier had been Buffalo’s defensive coordinator since head coach Sean McDermott arrived in 2017.
But as the club moves on without Frazier, McDermott will be adding a significant role to his duties as Bills head coach.
“It’s heading toward me — and really, at this point, I’m going to be the play-caller,” McDermott said on Monday, via Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. “But at the same time, I have tons of confidence in the guys that we have around me that if I need to toss it to them from time to time, I can do that.”
McDermott added that the defensive staff has been working well together and he’s “very encouraged by that.” McDermott also had no plans to look outside of the organization for a defensive coordinator.
McDermott was the Panthers defensive coordinator from 2011-2016, before the Bills hired him to be their head coach.