Bills HC Sean McDermott details a specific challenge he'll face in 2023
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott admitted on Tuesday that there are some adjustments he'll need to make as a head coach in 2023. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McDermott was asked about how he'll approach being a head coach now that he'll also be calling defense plays with Leslie Frazier stepping away from coaching […]
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott admitted on Tuesday that there are some adjustments he'll need to make as a head coach in 2023.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McDermott was asked about how he'll approach being a head coach now that he'll also be calling defense plays with Leslie Frazier stepping away from coaching for the 2023 season.
McDermott admitted that he'll need to wear two different hats moving forward. And that could certainly be a challenge.
"I wouldn't be able to do this without a really strong staff on the defensive side in particular in this case," said McDermott. "So but yeah, it's almost you've got to have kind of a two-track mind — one as a head coach and then also as a defensive coordinator. But it's been great to this point. You know, I was excited yesterday to get in the room a little bit. I just spent a little bit of time with them yesterday as a group — the defense that is — and kind of rolling up my sleeves and getting back to wearing that hat again. And so I'm excited about it."
McDermott has extensive experience as a defensive coordinator. And he's handled defensive playcalling at times while serving as Buffalo's head coach (such as the second half of the Bills' early season loss against the Los Angeles Chargers in early 2018).
But operating full-time as the head coach and the defensive coordinator will stretch McDermott pretty thin. It's one thing to call plays, but it's another challenge entirely to not even have a defensive coordinator to help with game planning and running the defensive meetings.
It helps that McDermott has guys on his staff with defensive coordinator experience, but it's still a puzzling decision to not hire a defensive coordinator.
We'll see how it works out this season — I don't think it'll be the downfall of the team even if McDermott struggles to manage his time — but it could prove to be quite taxing on the seventh-year head coach.
