Bills head coach Sean McDermott speaks on the season that was for his team in Western New York.
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00:00:00I would like to start, if everyone doesn't mind, just with acknowledging what unfolded
00:00:05the tragic event today with the plane crash.
00:00:08I'm not going to pretend I know all the details, but just a true reminder of how fragile life
00:00:15is and puts things into perspective awfully quick.
00:00:20I know when I woke up and found out about it.
00:00:22So our thoughts, our prayers are certainly with everyone that are going through that
00:00:27tragic situation right now.
00:00:32Moving forward, I thought we had a good season, and I would like to thank a number of people,
00:00:37starting with Terry and the Pagoula family, for all their support that they give.
00:00:41Brandon, myself, Pete, and the entire organization on a day-to-day basis.
00:00:46That is huge from a leadership standpoint, top-down, giving us what we need to win, and
00:00:52the support beyond just the financial support.
00:00:56And then everyone in our building, staff, players, just an incredible year in a lot
00:01:03of ways.
00:01:04Yeah, you're good, Mark.
00:01:05I act like I didn't hear it.
00:01:15And then you go to the fans, and this journey we experienced together this year was as good
00:01:23of a journey as we've experienced.
00:01:26A lot of highs, certainly some lows, but being 10-0 at home, incredible.
00:01:34The fans were a big part of that.
00:01:36But then the way that they travel every week to Detroit, to different places that we play,
00:01:43that does not go unnoticed or underappreciated.
00:01:47It's just incredible to experience the journey every season together like we do.
00:01:54But I thought the year was a good year in a lot of firsts, in a lot of ways.
00:01:59We were able to take a team that there were a number of new players, young players, players
00:02:04that had never been in a Bills uniform, players that had never played in an NFL game prior.
00:02:09And we counted on a lot of those guys, and they did a phenomenal job.
00:02:12The coaches had a hand in that as well in terms of their ability to develop players
00:02:18or work through some of the injuries, maybe more so defensively, perhaps in the beginning
00:02:23of the year.
00:02:26So I applaud those guys.
00:02:28The leadership, overall, the players group that have led this football team, led by Josh,
00:02:34I couldn't do my job if they didn't do what they did this year, in particular this season
00:02:40and the way that they went about their business.
00:02:42And when you deal with adversity like you do every season, you need that leadership,
00:02:47that player-driven leadership piece to steer the ship in the right direction or to take
00:02:52direction from me and connect it to the locker room and the individual position groups.
00:02:59And so that, I just am so grateful for those guys and the way that they handle themselves.
00:03:06So overall, again, good season.
00:03:11Came up a little bit short, and that feeling never goes away.
00:03:15I know some people say it goes away, at least for me it doesn't ever go away until you get
00:03:21to a spot where you can say, hey, we were the best in the world.
00:03:25And that is a lofty goal, but it's our goal every season, and that's what we look forward
00:03:29to doing every season.
00:03:32And we were just short of it this year in terms of a couple plays here and there, and
00:03:38that's what happens in the playoffs.
00:03:39Every play gets magnified.
00:03:41You go back to the Ravens game, and you're saying, hey, a couple of those plays go the
00:03:46other way, and we're not in that game, but they went our way.
00:03:50And then fast forward a week to last week, and you're saying, hey, a couple of those
00:03:54plays didn't go our way, but if they did, maybe we're working again this week in preparation
00:04:00for the Super Bowl.
00:04:01So with that, I'll turn it over to you and your questions.
00:04:07Sean, how do you square, with all the success that you've had here at Buffalo, branding
00:04:15yourself over the eight years, how difficult is it knowing that there's a narrative out
00:04:22there that this team just keeps on coming short?
00:04:24I know there's differences per season, but there's that narrative out there that this
00:04:27team can't get over that hump.
00:04:29How do you address that?
00:04:32Well, until you get over the hump, right?
00:04:35There's always going to be a hump.
00:04:36Where does the hump start, though, right?
00:04:37Or where does it end, right?
00:04:39And I think that's just perspective of, that's the easy narrative.
00:04:45And if you kind of get too far down into the weeds of that kind of negative connotation
00:04:51or negative mindset, you forget all the success that you have had.
00:04:56However, no one in this building, myself included, is comfortable or content with where we're
00:05:02at.
00:05:04And I think that's the greatest thing about the people in this building, Brandon, myself,
00:05:10Pete, certainly Terry, and our mindset is that it doesn't stop.
00:05:17We continue every year to try and start from scratch, put a team together, develop a team,
00:05:25get everyone to be on the same page, and put us in a position to win in the playoffs.
00:05:33And if you look at the last two years against a really good football team who are the two-time
00:05:39defending champs, we had the ball with a chance to win, down three, both of these last two
00:05:47years.
00:05:48And it didn't happen.
00:05:52So I don't think there's any consolations in that, but perspective is important as it
00:06:00relates to where we're at as a team, where we're at as an organization, and then are
00:06:06we giving ourselves a chance to win?
00:06:08Are we putting ourselves in position?
00:06:10And we were in a position, however we got there the last two years, to be in a position
00:06:17to win those games.
00:06:18And I think that's part of what we have to look at also, quite frankly, is on the last
00:06:23drive of the game, we came up short in figuring out why.
00:06:28When we have the ball in a position to tie or win the game, we weren't able to get it
00:06:35done.
00:06:36And so now getting into the weeds on it, defensively we have to perform better than we did,
00:06:44and that's real.
00:06:47And so there's a lot that you look at.
00:06:50I'm sure we'll get into it.
00:06:52But I would say that we're very aware of where we are in place and time and where our team
00:07:00is.
00:07:01It doesn't mean you start there next season, but you certainly feel good about the day-to-day
00:07:10and our methodology of what we're doing.
00:07:13Does that mean that you feel completely comfortable with where we're at and where we want
00:07:17to get to?
00:07:18No, not at all.
00:07:22And then I start with myself and say, right after the game, what could I have done better?
00:07:27And then you go into what I'm mostly responsible for, our coaching staff, what can we do better?
00:07:33And then we get into the different areas that have to all pair up to win at that level.
00:07:39And so that's really kind of the progression.
00:07:43But overall, you don't want to lose sight of the success we have experienced, knowing
00:07:49that we've won some big games.
00:07:51It's not, I mean, you tell me what isn't a big game in the NFL anymore, right?
00:07:54Week to week.
00:07:55But we go in this year, we beat a Super Bowl winning coach and Sean Payton and the Denver
00:07:59Broncos, who are a good football team, and do the same with the Baltimore Ravens, coached
00:08:03by John Harbaugh, who's also won the Super Bowl.
00:08:05So there's a lot of success and a lot of big games.
00:08:09What's left is to go win a world championship, which is a lofty goal, but one that we pursue
00:08:14relentlessly.
00:08:16If I may, just to flip that question around then, given what you said and knowing the
00:08:20success of this path, what gives you the belief, the confidence in knowing that the way you
00:08:28do things here will get you over that hump?
00:08:34Where do you want to start?
00:08:37If you look at, I'll give you as much time as you need, John.
00:08:45If you look at, and I should have mentioned you guys.
00:08:48I mean, the support that you guys give us during the year, I understand you guys want
00:08:52to win as well, and I get that.
00:08:55So I appreciate you guys as well for your support and all the stories you put out there,
00:08:59not even just about football, but about what happens off the field.
00:09:07So your question was about the belief that we can do that.
00:09:11I mean, number one, you've got to believe in yourself if you want to accomplish anything.
00:09:15So the self-belief is huge.
00:09:17If you want to be a great reporter, I'm sure it's the same way.
00:09:20If you want to be a great football coach, player, what have you, it's got to start
00:09:25with a certain level of self-belief.
00:09:28After that, it gets into, hey, the people you have around you.
00:09:31I'm extremely confident in the people that are behind me and behind these walls.
00:09:36And then you look at what have we been able to do.
00:09:40So what usually, some semblance of history is a pretty good indicator
00:09:45of what could happen in the future.
00:09:47One of the things we've done, been able to do, is not only the 17-year drought,
00:09:51but we got that turned around the first year.
00:09:54And listen, that is what it is.
00:09:56It's, to me, somewhat in the past, and I'll never forget it, the experience.
00:10:01But we have to continue to look forward and say, hey, what have we done?
00:10:05One of the things we've been able to do, I feel like, is sustain success,
00:10:10which is very difficult to do.
00:10:12There's a lot of teams that get to the AFC Championship game, let's say,
00:10:17but they're never to be heard from again.
00:10:20And I don't know what the narrative is around those teams.
00:10:24I probably can't say they come up short because they're never there again.
00:10:28So I'd rather be in the position we're in, where we're continually
00:10:31knocking on the door.
00:10:34But I'm also not, like I told you, I don't deal well with sitting right
00:10:38on the edge and being like, hey, well, it was a good season.
00:10:42Slap everybody on the back and say, we'll get them next year.
00:10:44That is the last thing that we're about, Brandon, myself.
00:10:52But I'm confident in who we are.
00:10:54I'm confident that over the years we've developed players who usually
00:10:57have played better here than elsewhere, whether it be college
00:11:02or going to another team on the pro level.
00:11:05Confident in that.
00:11:07And I think that's huge, right, that you can do that.
00:11:11And you can take a team this year where we lost a number of leaders,
00:11:16as you guys have documented.
00:11:17We lost a number of players who were significant in our journey
00:11:22to this point, making an impact.
00:11:24And we were able to put it together, form a team.
00:11:28The team came together.
00:11:29And then we were able to win at a level that, to me,
00:11:34you're getting to the AFC championship game, which is hard.
00:11:36It's difficult to do.
00:11:38So when you're in a position, you want to be there.
00:11:42And eventually, if you keep doing, I'll just say this,
00:11:44if you keep doing things right, not that we're doing everything right,
00:11:48but if you keep doing the right thing, eventually that door will open.
00:11:55I mean, I worked for a guy that went through something similar years ago,
00:12:00and he experienced something similar.
00:12:03Now he's in the position that he's in.
00:12:05So I've just learned that firsthand, that you've got to keep doing.
00:12:09Because if you don't do things the right way, you'll fall,
00:12:13and you won't be ever heard from again.
00:12:15Sean, when you say that you worked for Andy three straight years
00:12:19in the championship, then you finally got through.
00:12:21But this time, four out of the five years has been the Chiefs.
00:12:25Does it make it different that it's them in the way,
00:12:28and their historic run, and all those things,
00:12:31that you almost feel like it's inevitably got to be them
00:12:35and beating that team in order to get there?
00:12:37Does it make it any different what your approach is?
00:12:41You never want to build your team to be one team,
00:12:46because you never really know, in fairness to the Chiefs,
00:12:50you never really know that it's going to be them every year,
00:12:54although it has been them.
00:12:55And they're well coached.
00:12:59They don't beat themselves.
00:13:03They've got some star-level players,
00:13:07and you have to be at your best in order to beat them.
00:13:10And we weren't.
00:13:15And so, to me, I don't look at it like, hey, it's just this one team.
00:13:21I look at it like, how do we put a team together
00:13:25against whoever it is every year, whichever team shows up in these rounds
00:13:33and coach at a level and have the personnel at a level, all of us,
00:13:37starting with me, that we can beat them, whoever them is?
00:13:43And so there's a lot that goes into that, right?
00:13:46And like I mentioned earlier, from myself, coaching staff, personnel,
00:13:52all the things that training room, weight room,
00:13:55it all has to be at a level of, are we Super Bowl equivalent?
00:14:00And every area that we're operating in,
00:14:05those are the conversations that have to continue to happen,
00:14:09and they have to be, yes, filled with love, but also truth.
00:14:14And if not, we're wasting our time.
00:14:17I mean, that's the reality of the situation, right?
00:14:19So you don't get up at whatever time you get up to get in here and stay late
00:14:24to keep knowing going into the year that's not going to get there
00:14:29if you're not doing X, Y, and Z, right?
00:14:32So then you're living a lie, and that's, you know,
00:14:35your time and my time is better spent than that.
00:14:38John, can you talk about the defensive line play?
00:14:42I mean, again, the pass rush was a struggle the other night,
00:14:45and that's been a theme in these playoff losses through the years.
00:14:50And you've invested assets in that area.
00:14:52How do you get the most out of your pass rush moving on down the line here?
00:14:57You guys know what I believe in and how you build a team,
00:15:02and we have a quarterback.
00:15:04I think our offensive line has done a really good job,
00:15:06and in some cases our defensive line has done a really good job.
00:15:11The defense, a really good defense starts up front.
00:15:15Winning games, as you guys know, I talk about it,
00:15:18winning the line of scrimmage is critical.
00:15:21And, you know, I felt like we did that at some times this year, not enough.
00:15:28And so, you know, that's an area where I did see some of our players,
00:15:33maybe not statistically, but just overall factor-wise
00:15:38or performance-wise, you know, improve up front.
00:15:46And that's important, right?
00:15:48So I won't get into all those guys, but that's important.
00:15:51You've got to play well up front, and I'm just talking generally speaking.
00:15:57And to win the line of scrimmage, you can control the game.
00:16:03And I believe that, you know, moving forward, in order to move forward
00:16:10just as a team in the games where I've been in the Super Bowl,
00:16:16it's your front is what gets you there, right?
00:16:19I mean, you have to have a good quarterback, but the O-line, the D-line,
00:16:23they're the guys that are getting you there.
00:16:25And they impact the game more than any position, and I believe in that.
00:16:29You guys know I've talked about that since I've gotten here,
00:16:32since we've gotten here.
00:16:33So I know Brandon believes that also.
00:16:35So that's an important spot for us.
00:16:38If I could follow on that, do you need to get bigger on that defensive line,
00:16:43especially obviously tackle?
00:16:44Yeah, I mean, we'll look at everything.
00:16:47You know, it's, you know, how do you with –
00:16:51I believe we have some good players and pieces,
00:16:55and it's how we add around those guys, you know, Sal,
00:16:59to complement who they are and what they do already to, you know,
00:17:05as we look into the free agency period and the draft as well.
00:17:09Brandon talked a little bit about this.
00:17:11Chris Jones' don't – they're just not floating out there, right,
00:17:14like game-wrecking players.
00:17:16There's maybe two or three of those in the league.
00:17:18We saw what Will Anderson did the week before against Kansas City.
00:17:21How do you guys go about finding that player?
00:17:24In your eyes, do you need that player, somebody that can kind of change the math
00:17:29a little bit on that side of the ball against some of these,
00:17:31especially not just Pat, but, you know, all these quarterbacks, Joe Burrow,
00:17:35and the list goes on.
00:17:37Yeah, the AFC, I'll just speak for the AFC.
00:17:39I certainly know that better than I know the NFC.
00:17:42I mean, the AFC is just loaded with, you know, really good quarterbacks,
00:17:48really good coaches, and so the short answer is they are hard to find,
00:17:56like Brandon said.
00:17:58You do need difference makers, and, again, in my experience,
00:18:02you need two to three on each side of the ball that are difference makers like that.
00:18:06I'm not suggesting we have them, don't have them.
00:18:08I'm just saying that if you're just saying, hey,
00:18:10what gets a team to the Super Bowl philosophically for me,
00:18:15you look at it, you study it, you've got about two to three at least
00:18:18on each side of the ball that are top one to three,
00:18:21one to five at their position, that's real.
00:18:24Sean, how do you analyze Joe Brady's first full season on the job?
00:18:28Obviously, in the regular season, he scored a lot of points,
00:18:30second in the league, but the second half of the Ravens game,
00:18:33I think it was just six points, and then the Chiefs game,
00:18:36failures in short yardage situations that you had been good at,
00:18:39that fourth down at the end there that the play isn't made.
00:18:44So, holistically, how did you feel like Joe Brady did both all season
00:18:50and then in the most critical moments against Kansas City?
00:18:52Yeah, I'll take the first part in terms of all season.
00:18:55So, overall, I thought Joe did a really good job.
00:19:00He took what he had in this everybody eats slogan or whatever,
00:19:03and I think that was kind of the approach all year.
00:19:07Again, you look at what we were able to do in the pass game,
00:19:13but also in the run game, and keeping a team, a two-dimensional offense,
00:19:18is hard to do.
00:19:22I thought Joe did a really effective job with doing that
00:19:25throughout the course of the year and not really knowing,
00:19:30or the opponent knowing, who to try and take away.
00:19:34So, I think as a coach, just in general, when you can do that
00:19:39and take what you have, learn the strengths of your team,
00:19:43in this case the offense, and then use those strengths to form
00:19:48a good system year to year, I think that's a sign of a good football coach
00:19:54or a good coach overall.
00:19:56Specific to the Kansas City game, I thought we made some big-time plays.
00:20:03I thought we moved the ball.
00:20:04In fact, I think we outgained them.
00:20:06I don't know.
00:20:07I can't remember quite the numbers, but there were some plays
00:20:13that I know Joe wants back, like I do, in any game.
00:20:18Some of those are, you're talking about, in this case,
00:20:23a two-point play from the one-yard line.
00:20:25That turned out to be a very big play in the game.
00:20:29The next two-point play did as well.
00:20:33The six inches of a fourth-and-one, that's how razor-thin
00:20:41the margins are in these games.
00:20:45It's just, to me, I don't like it, but it's fascinating to me
00:20:48because of the level of detail you have to have
00:20:54to win a game like that against a team like we were going against.
00:20:59I know Joe and for sure myself, we don't run from that.
00:21:04That level of detail, that level of execution, the last drive,
00:21:07why did it go the way it did?
00:21:10If you look at the last drive, Josh scrambles, I think,
00:21:13for the first down.
00:21:14The very next play, I think we tried to screen and go to a screen pump
00:21:19to get the ball down the field a little bit more.
00:21:23Our level of execution was not high enough.
00:21:26The next play, I think, was, help me out here, batted down by number 90.
00:21:33So a defensive lineman made a big play in a big moment in the game
00:21:36where Curtis was coming open in a potential runaway, I think, from Reed.
00:21:42The next play was a check screen against a zero blitz,
00:21:46and we're this close.
00:21:48Carloftis makes the play on the edge just in a heck of a retrace effort.
00:21:52The last play was the last play.
00:21:55Again, I keep going back over those plays in my mind, along with others,
00:22:01of that's the level of detail.
00:22:03That's the level of execution, so on and so forth.
00:22:07I know Joe does as well and the whole offensive staff.
00:22:10Overall, Joe's wired the right way.
00:22:13I thought he did a really good job taking what he had in terms of finding
00:22:17the strengths of the players, connecting with them as people,
00:22:20keeping us on a pretty good path all season long,
00:22:23which was hard to do when you go through some ups and downs and whatnot.
00:22:27John, to stick with coaching for a second,
00:22:30how do you evaluate the job that Matthew's finally did this season?
00:22:33What's your level of confidence in him?
00:22:36Matthew's done a nice job.
00:22:38Listen, I know there's plays that have come up,
00:22:40and I know he doesn't feel great about them, nor do I.
00:22:45Those are learning pieces for a coach in his position,
00:22:49and one of the things that's interesting about a special teams coach
00:22:54or the position that they occupy is when you get some injuries,
00:22:59like we had in particular on the defensive side, unfortunately,
00:23:02we kind of started with them.
00:23:04They stayed with us, and they kind of disappeared a little bit
00:23:06towards the back quarter of the season, and they reappeared.
00:23:09But usually the special teams coaches feel the cumulative effect
00:23:14because what happens is the special teams players get slid up
00:23:17in the defensive roles, and then they are left with,
00:23:21hey, what's left in terms of how I can formulate a group
00:23:25to go out there and play effectively.
00:23:27So all that being said, I'm confident that Coach Smiley
00:23:31is going to learn from those situations and plays that came up this year,
00:23:35and he knows we can't give up some of those plays that we gave up,
00:23:38and we have to be better.
00:23:40Going back to the defense, they scored 32 points their season high for the year.
00:23:44They had 28 first downs, which was tied for their second most of the season.
00:23:47There were other numbers that were good, exceeded even their own standard,
00:23:53as good as they are.
00:23:55From a defensive standpoint, what from an evaluation standpoint
00:24:00do you need to do to keep them from having their best day of the year against you?
00:24:05Yeah, I think, Mark, and it's a fair question,
00:24:08we've played really good defense for a long time here.
00:24:11That's what we're used to doing.
00:24:13I would say this year, probably not as good as we've played in the years prior.
00:24:18One of the things, however, I thought we did a really good job at this year,
00:24:23which has also been a hallmark of our defenses, is taking the ball away.
00:24:27Part of this scoring on offense is from the defense taking the ball away.
00:24:32We did it again in the championship game, the AFC championship game.
00:24:37That being said, we didn't do enough.
00:24:40We didn't perform well enough in the Kansas City game.
00:24:44I would say, if you look back at it, we did make a key stop the year before,
00:24:51similar to allow us to go have a chance to win the game,
00:24:54which is prospectively an important piece.
00:24:58But to your point, we have to figure out a way
00:25:02to perform better against that football team.
00:25:05Sean, you've been supportive of Dalton, his teammates certainly have.
00:25:08It's commendable that he's played injured, I guess, which has come out now.
00:25:13How did you and the training staff arrive at the conclusion
00:25:17that he would be best served being out there, even if he was playing through an injury?
00:25:22After that part of it, how do you get him to be more consistently impactful going into year three?
00:25:30Dalton's a really good football player.
00:25:32I think sometimes what happens is some of these young players come in
00:25:36and they set the world on fire the first year.
00:25:39Then what happens naturally is expectations all of a sudden rise to a level of,
00:25:43okay, then the next year is going to be up here.
00:25:46I think that's just human nature for all of us.
00:25:50Dalton didn't have that next-step-up type of year.
00:25:53Some of it was he missed some games due to injury.
00:25:56Then he came back and was trying to play through some of it.
00:25:59As far as the last ball, Dalton makes those plays.
00:26:04It never comes down to just one play.
00:26:06I want to make sure everybody knows that.
00:26:08My confidence, our confidence in Dalton is extremely high.
00:26:14He knows and we know that he has to get to a level of health and strength,
00:26:20playing strength, so that he can remain healthy through the course of a full season.
00:26:24A lot of these tight ends are coming out that are built a little bit differently
00:26:28maybe than they were years ago in terms of they're a little bit more built like Dalton
00:26:32and some of these other guys that you know their names, these household names now.
00:26:36But the way he could set himself apart would be to add some of that strength,
00:26:41add some of that play strength and that durability would help him.
00:26:46I know Josh, myself, Brandon, offensive staff, all extremely confident in Dalton.
00:26:53On that, Brandon talked about how he was a little bit disappointed
00:26:56and how Keyon finished the season coming back from his injury.
00:26:59What was your perspective on Keyon's rookie year and how he ended things?
00:27:03I would say similar to the way Brandon described it.
00:27:07I thought Keyon really got off to a good start.
00:27:11I'm going back in my mind to the Seattle game.
00:27:14He was almost dominant in that game, both catching and blocking,
00:27:18and was really starting to get it.
00:27:21That's some of the journey for these rookies of getting them to understand the it,
00:27:26how hard it is to play in this league and to play week to week.
00:27:31You're not going against any slouch corner out there usually.
00:27:36Then he had the injury, unfortunately, at the end of the Miami game,
00:27:40all the while trying to make a play where Josh clearly trusted him.
00:27:44It was a critical third and long play, and then he went down.
00:27:48I would agree with what Brandon said.
00:27:52He didn't play his best down the stretch.
00:27:56Some of it probably was due to coming off the injury,
00:27:59kind of get out of sync, out of rhythm a little bit.
00:28:02But it is something that he can learn from and improve on moving forward.
00:28:06What was your perspective on how you had to come in?
00:28:09It looked from the outside they were targeting him a couple times.
00:28:12It wasn't the cleanest game for him.
00:28:14Was there ever a point where you thought you had to do something different,
00:28:16maybe put Jamarcus in or anything like that?
00:28:19I think what happened in that game in particular is they're getting the ball out fast.
00:28:24You guys saw they're getting the ball out fast.
00:28:26We're playing zone, so we've got to tighten it up.
00:28:29I'm just talking generally speaking now defensively, trying to give you guys the whys.
00:28:34When they're getting the ball out fast and you're in zone,
00:28:37you can sit there and go live a slow death, or you can tighten it up and play man.
00:28:42We call it dog when you're trying to either blitz or play front and coverage,
00:28:46which we just call man.
00:28:48In this case, we did both, and it didn't go great as everyone saw.
00:28:54The thing I love about Kier, that's not going to stop him.
00:28:57He remains steadfast in his belief in himself, and he works extremely hard.
00:29:02The result wasn't great, and unfortunately the matchups weren't great for us.
00:29:09You're seeing some things happen in the back end.
00:29:14Losing CB was not easy, and they exposed us in some spots there.
00:29:37I'm not going to pretend to say that I know all the numbers,
00:29:41but I don't get on those websites.
00:29:44I usually just ask Brandon, hey, what are we looking like?
00:29:47Where are we at?
00:29:54Where we were last year, I thought the team really did a good job,
00:30:04and that's part of what I'm saying when I'm saying being able to sustain success
00:30:09through different things that come up.
00:30:11One of those is when you have a cap situation that isn't as friendly as you'd like it to be.
00:30:19You take what you have, and you make it as good as you can make it every year.
00:30:26That's what we've tried to do, and I think you see the results in that.
00:30:31Moving forward, it is important that we can do some things.
00:30:37Having that hopefully freed up space to do some things, to make some of these moves,
00:30:41to draft in a certain way that we can impact our team.
00:30:45I'm confident in Brandon and his staff that we'll do that.
00:30:49On that last drive, offensively, James wasn't out there.
00:30:53Was he dealing with an injury late in that game?
00:30:55No, not that I'm aware of at least.
00:30:59Sorry.
00:31:00You're good.
00:31:01I guess just to follow up on that then, looking back since I was 20-20,
00:31:06he had such a huge game.
00:31:07Would you have wanted him out there in some of those moments?
00:31:10Yes.
00:31:12I don't want to take anything away from Ty Johnson, however.
00:31:14When you look at it just the way – let me just back up on James first to give him his credit.
00:31:20What a game he played.
00:31:22What a year he had.
00:31:24That's a great example of these players.
00:31:27We really drafted James to be a pass-catching running back.
00:31:31He comes in and blossoms and just develops in more ways than one,
00:31:37on the field, off the field.
00:31:39He's in our leadership council meetings in the morning.
00:31:42Then just if you could have stood next to me and heard him in that game,
00:31:51the way he was – what he was saying to me and how he was talking to me,
00:31:55it was – even with the year he had, it was like he was on missile lock.
00:32:04To be his build and to play as physical as he did,
00:32:11he was in another – I don't know if he was in flow state
00:32:14or he was just in another stratosphere of his intent.
00:32:17It was incredible.
00:32:20Fast forwarding to that drive, usually Ty's on the field in a –
00:32:25call it a two-minute type of drive.
00:32:27That's part of the reason for that.
00:32:30I'm sure if we continued to drive, Ty at some point was going to have to come out,
00:32:33James, to go in just to give him a blow there.
00:32:36Sean, you're able to see a lot of Cole Bishop down the stretch.
00:32:39How much confidence does that give you about him going to next year?
00:32:42I think one of the things that got in the way of Cole
00:32:46or impeded Cole's development was he was injured in training camp.
00:32:50I'm not sure if he missed the spring or not.
00:32:52He did miss some of the spring training camp.
00:32:54So that really gets in the way of growth, development,
00:32:59just because of reps to start off with at least.
00:33:03What I love about Cole is he had a tough first outing,
00:33:08and I think that was also a little bit of perhaps a wake-up call of,
00:33:12okay, I thought I was ready, but maybe I wasn't.
00:33:15And then his process – bless you.
00:33:18You've got a lot going on in this room, man.
00:33:20Yeah.
00:33:21So –
00:33:23I don't know.
00:33:29That time of year, right?
00:33:30Let me just finish Matt real quick, if you don't mind, for Ryan.
00:33:35I almost lost my train of thought.
00:33:37Cole.
00:33:38So, no, but his development from that point on, Ryan,
00:33:42to where he was playing at the end of the year,
00:33:46not that it was exactly up to standard all the time,
00:33:50I thought was very impressive, and I credit the coaches.
00:33:53I credit Cole for sure and Mike and Kareem Jackson for helping in that way.
00:33:58Sean, to talk about Josh Allen like you did about his –
00:34:03just what he did with the leadership committee
00:34:05that was led by him, and then to see him go out there this season
00:34:08and just have six interceptions,
00:34:10how did you see Josh level up his play on and off the field this season?
00:34:15Yeah.
00:34:16You know, I've mentioned this before,
00:34:17and now that we're at the end of the year close,
00:34:22Josh Allen is the reason.
00:34:24Josh Allen's leadership, his consistent leadership,
00:34:27was the biggest reason why we did what we did this season.
00:34:32So anybody that tries to say otherwise, I know better.
00:34:37I've seen it.
00:34:38And him now doing that every season for us, not an easy undertaking,
00:34:45but he is and was the reason.
00:34:49His leadership, his play was – his play in that regard, at least, Mattie,
00:34:53went along with was connected to his level of leadership on our football team.
00:35:00So I believe those two went hand in hand, and he continues to do that.
00:35:06We're going to win a lot of football games.
00:35:07The leadership that he has, it's expected to be a leader as a quarterback,
00:35:11but how unique is it to see him lead the way he does?
00:35:15You've been around so many NFL players in your coaching career.
00:35:19Well, there's times when you have great players,
00:35:21but they're not necessarily great leaders.
00:35:27That's probably true in any area of life, right?
00:35:30Great talent does not make you a great leader.
00:35:34Thinking that one's a leader does not make you a great leader.
00:35:36Leadership to me is developed over the course of time.
00:35:43And Josh has grown and developed in those areas,
00:35:48and I really believe he understands, which is part of it,
00:35:52of growth and development and maturation.
00:35:55He understands what it takes to win,
00:35:59and not just win in the regular season, but win big.
00:36:03And that's part of this level of awareness that he's gotten to as a person,
00:36:08as a player.
00:36:09You may be insinuated that your defense took a step back this year,
00:36:13first season of Bobby being your defensive coordinator.
00:36:17What leaves you confident that he can improve going from year one to year two
00:36:24and help the defense improve along with him?
00:36:27I thought Bobby improved through the year.
00:36:30There's a number of plays he wants back in the last game, as do I,
00:36:35and Bobby's wired in such a way that that's going to bother him,
00:36:39just like it does me.
00:36:43He's a go-getter.
00:36:44He knows football.
00:36:46Calling plays, as I've said before, is probably the hardest job in the building.
00:36:54And he'll learn from those situations the other night.
00:36:59It's never about one person, never about one area, one player, what have you.
00:37:03It's how can we grow and develop all of us together.
00:37:07And in this case, Bobby's got his work that he wants to get done
00:37:11and that he needs to do, and the rest of us do as well.
00:37:14Being confident in Matthew Smiley,
00:37:17are you committed to bringing him back in 2025?
00:37:19Yes.
00:37:20Sean, on the drive with 10, 11 minutes left,
00:37:23did you think about challenging the spot on, I think it was Dalton,
00:37:27on the third down, and how much of that thought process was,
00:37:31well, we like the personnel grouping, so if we're going to do a push,
00:37:34you have a lot going on there in a short amount of time, right?
00:37:37Yeah, I believe we went fast, right?
00:37:39We were on the ball.
00:37:42It was a situation, and I've already spoken with the league about it,
00:37:45I would have liked to have seen them.
00:37:47The hard part for a coach in that situation,
00:37:50how much time was on the clock?
00:37:52About 10 minutes.
00:37:5310 minutes, we're in the fourth quarter, we hold three timeouts.
00:37:56I don't really want to use one of those
00:37:58because sometimes spots are a little wonky in terms of
00:38:01how's that thing going to come out.
00:38:03We go down a timeout, you know, you chart these games that usually,
00:38:09especially against Kansas City,
00:38:10you're going to be in a last drive potentially to win the game,
00:38:13and you don't want to be down timeouts.
00:38:15I would have loved to have seen a stoppage there.
00:38:17We spoke about that respectfully, and they didn't stop it.
00:38:23Just because to me there's a difference between this type of spot
00:38:30or this type of spot or a full yard,
00:38:33and those are all different potentially sometimes plays
00:38:36that you're trying to use or would use.
00:38:39And so, you know, and again, just where the game was
00:38:44and how the game was trending, it's a good time to be like,
00:38:49hey, let's make sure we got this right, right?
00:38:52I'm saying in terms of the spot leading into the last play.
00:38:56And for me, again, I thought it was important for me, for us,
00:39:03to have three timeouts because you never know what a game,
00:39:07against them, it's going to be in the last drive.
00:39:09And so I was looking for a little bit of a help there maybe.
00:39:13But I understand, too, you're on the ball, you're on the ball fast,
00:39:16so there's a lot going on there,
00:39:18and they may not want to chime in and stop it if we're on the ball.
00:39:21That's part of it, I guess.
00:39:22There's a prevailing thought once it's on the ball,
00:39:24maybe beyond to ask Brandon about it as well.
00:39:27I'm not trying to get you guys in trouble,
00:39:28but could you understand why a section of the fan base may think
00:39:32that you guys got the short end of the stick on numerous calls in that game,
00:39:36particularly late?
00:39:37Like I said, I'm not trying to get you in trouble.
00:39:40But you are.
00:39:42No, I mean, listen, we went into the game.
00:39:46We went into the game, and one of my messages to the team,
00:39:49and this happens from time to time, is you're not going to get calls.
00:39:53We're not going to get calls.
00:39:54And I think just when you prepare a team,
00:39:56you prepare them ahead of time mentally for this is the way it's going down.
00:40:02And, you know, that's – and you live with that.
00:40:06That's not the reason why we lost.
00:40:09You start looking at that, you lose sight of all the things,
00:40:12all the adjustments you can make as a team or as a person, coach,
00:40:17player, what have you, to improve who we are and how we do things.
00:40:22So there's going to be some of that,
00:40:25and you have to be able to be above that and play above that.
00:40:29Is that a message you have to say often?
00:40:32Is that specific for this opponent?
00:40:34Like, also not trying to get you in trouble.
00:40:37Yeah, no, I mean, I just think you just want to know,
00:40:39I think part of my job in developing a game plan or a plan,
00:40:45a complementary plan every week is,
00:40:49what are the things that could get in the way of us winning, right,
00:40:54or things that we have to be ready to deal with
00:40:57when you're playing away, it's different than playing at home.
00:41:00And so that's – you know, you hear a lot of people,
00:41:03hey, this is the crew we have this week, and what are their tendencies?
00:41:07And so, you know, look, at the end of the day,
00:41:11the game was decided on the field,
00:41:13and we didn't perform well enough to get the job done.
00:41:16Sean, earlier in the season,
00:41:18I think after you guys wrapped up the division,
00:41:20you guys talked about how the next goal for you guys
00:41:22was chasing that number one seed.
00:41:24And when we spoke with Brandon earlier today,
00:41:26he said he would like to have that AFC championship game here in Buffalo.
00:41:29Do you think that's a goal that this team needs to strive for,
00:41:32maybe going forward to maybe even just a little bit more likely
00:41:36that you guys can finally get more of that,
00:41:38having that number one seed to get an AFC title game here
00:41:40and have that lead off during the playoffs?
00:41:43I mean, I've been in that position before and lost, right?
00:41:46I mean, going back to my time in Philadelphia,
00:41:48been number one seed a couple years running,
00:41:50had the first round by, and then a team comes in and beats you.
00:41:53And I certainly understand why Brandon says that.
00:41:55I would like to play at home another round in front of the fans as well.
00:41:59That said, I don't think you can put just everything into that,
00:42:02hey, we've got to have the number one seed,
00:42:04because either way you skin it, you're going to have to play with poise.
00:42:07You're going to have to play with composure.
00:42:09You're going to have to overcome some odds.
00:42:11You're going to have to play with mental toughness
00:42:13as well as physical toughness.
00:42:15And so, you know, to me, it'd be nice to have,
00:42:21but when you get it, you can't often go,
00:42:24hey, we're good, and then a team comes in and takes it to you.
00:42:28So I just think overall you've got to have the right ingredients
00:42:33as a football team to weather the storm wherever you're playing,
00:42:36because there is going to be a storm, whether it's at home or on the road.
00:42:39You're not just going to roll through an opponent unabated because you're at home.
00:42:44How do you view some of the success of the everything eats,
00:42:48everybody eats mentality this season
00:42:50versus the idea of having a number one go-to guy kind of moving forward?
00:42:54Yeah, you know, I think number ones are great.
00:42:59They're hard to find.
00:43:02Let's just say difference makers, difference making players overall.
00:43:07But you also have to have a certain element of team in those players, right?
00:43:12And they're out there.
00:43:14I mean, difference makers are out there.
00:43:16You've just got to find them.
00:43:18Get that blend of difference maker, super talented, top one to five in the position,
00:43:23but also have the makeup, at least a certain level of the makeup of,
00:43:28hey, you know what, this is about the team.
00:43:30That's critical, and that blend is critical.
00:43:33On a number of players, Brandon Bean and even yourself
00:43:36talked about how you had a slightly different demeanor this year.
00:43:39As you look back at the season as a whole, what did you learn about yourself?
00:43:42I got a new haircut.
00:43:45Went with that early in the year.
00:43:48You guys didn't notice.
00:43:52I mean, listen, I heard some of the talk, and I appreciate it.
00:43:57Again, it's not like I was one way and then all of a sudden I did this.
00:44:01To me, I know who I am as a person.
00:44:05I know who I am as a football coach, and I think when you get to that level,
00:44:08and I've tried to impart this on our players, is they're young, right?
00:44:12When you get to a certain point in your life where you know who you are as a person
00:44:18and you know what you stand for and you know who you are as a coach
00:44:21and what you stand for and what you believe in, that's real powerful.
00:44:27I think that was a piece of it for me of arriving at that spot.
00:44:33I think a certain piece of it was being able to know that the team was in good hands.
00:44:41The leadership council led by Josh, the team was in good hands,
00:44:44and we can do a walkthrough.
00:44:46You guys were there.
00:44:47We did a walkthrough the Friday before the AFC championship game,
00:44:52and I can do that as a coach, which is not common, because I trust our players.
00:44:56I trust our leadership group, and I told them that at the end of the season.
00:45:00So you can do some of these things where it frees you up to really be who you really want to be
00:45:07and what makes the job enjoyable.
00:45:10So I think all those things were just kind of going hand-in-hand this year.
00:45:17This mindset, it becomes a mindset, too, of one of the things we did.
00:45:22I believe we've always had a good mindset and a good process,
00:45:26but one of the things I felt like was important is getting our players
00:45:29and our coaches, those that perform on game day,
00:45:32to a spot where they would feel free to just really cut loose and go for it.
00:45:39And I would just say that you look at plays from our game and plays from the week before
00:45:46that got magnified and certain individuals making a play, certain individuals not making a play.
00:45:54The challenge for these players, for coaches overall, to continue to go after it, I'll say,
00:46:05is getting more and more difficult when the exposure, when it doesn't work out as the way it is.
00:46:15And when guys get in what happens in Baltimore with their player.
00:46:22And so the best thing I've learned that I can do as a coach, and I've shared this with you guys,
00:46:28is to be exactly what they need me to be on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.
00:46:35So to meet them wherever they're at.
00:46:39And if they need confidence, I've got to be the one that gives them confidence or tries to.
00:46:44If they need me to be hard on them, then I've got to be the one that has to be hard on them
00:46:49or to challenge them.
00:46:51If they need me to bring a sense of humor on a certain day or week, then they need that.
00:46:56I just feel like we were able to set a pretty simple and clear level of expectations for us
00:47:04inside these walls, and then within that, the players and coaches, I believe, were able to go
00:47:09and just say, cut loose because we've done this and we've done that.
00:47:13And that's the only thing we expect from ourselves.
00:47:15Now go and go cut loose and play free.
00:47:18I think that's some of what you saw.
00:47:19Knowing that the results are, I hate saying it this way, believe me, they're variable.
00:47:24They really are.
00:47:25And that's the hard part of this business, or one part.
00:47:29To follow up on that, how do you balance carrying that over into next season
00:47:33when some of that is built on time on task and trust with players?
00:47:37The part about them playing more freely and you trusting them,
00:47:40it's going to be a different team next season.
00:47:42How do you carry over that culture?
00:47:44It's a mindset that we embrace.
00:47:47I had a great conversation with T-Bass, and what a year.
00:47:51You talk about a mental or a journey overall, and to sit down with him
00:47:55and really just sit back and listen to how he navigated this season.
00:48:04You talk about a guy that didn't have a great start to the season
00:48:09coming off of what he came off of last season,
00:48:11but watching him navigate this season in the way that he did mentally,
00:48:17to go out there, let's just say, and kick that kick against the Miami Dolphins,
00:48:20a 61-yarder, that doesn't happen without an unbelievable mindset.
00:48:28I think I told you I had people after the game saying,
00:48:33I can't believe you were going to do that.
00:48:38This is for all of us, right?
00:48:41Our fan base, we've got to have this type of mindset together.
00:48:45I can't believe you're going to try that 60-some yarder.
00:48:49With all the bad things that could have happened,
00:48:51well, we can't think about it that way.
00:48:53Winners have a winning mindset.
00:48:55Only the good things are going to come out of this, right?
00:48:57If you expect to win, you have to first believe you're going to win.
00:49:00I know he believed he was going to make that kick, and so did I.
00:49:04He goes and does it.
00:49:06That doesn't mean it's always going to turn out that way,
00:49:08but that is a mindset that we as a team, we as a community, we have to share
00:49:14because that's who I believe this place is,
00:49:17and that's who I believe we can be moving forward.
00:49:19John, as you look at the offense and how it performed,
00:49:22obviously record-breaking points and all that,
00:49:24but the inability at times to throw the ball down the field,
00:49:29Josh had trouble with that.
00:49:31I know everybody eats, but do you need in this offseason to get a guy
00:49:36who can get downfield?
00:49:38I know he tried with Cooper, but that quote-unquote number one type guy,
00:49:43do you need to add that to this offense?
00:49:46I don't know, Sal, that it necessarily has to be you guys are using a label
00:49:49of a number one.
00:49:50I don't know that you have to have that.
00:49:52In fact, when we were in Carolina and went to the Super Bowl,
00:49:55we didn't really have a number one, say.
00:49:58However, do you need to be able to stretch the field horizontally
00:50:03and vertically?
00:50:04Yes, you need to be able to stretch the field horizontally
00:50:06and vertically and gain separation.
00:50:09I know, and I think I know, in fact, we'll look at that,
00:50:14and like we do everything, evaluate exactly the type of player
00:50:20and the type of person that would fit that.
00:50:23Sean, when did your competition community duties begin?
00:50:27Today, they started today.
00:50:30Bad time for my question.
00:50:33What did you learn last year about balancing league work
00:50:35and also Bills work?
00:50:37It's really, most of it is in the off-time hours.
00:50:42They do a really good job, Troy does, of scheduling those in the off hours,
00:50:46so it just means more time away from my family, really, which isn't great.
00:50:52But it also, though, I think is important because it gives you a voice
00:50:56into trying to be an ambassador for what's best for the league
00:51:02in an unbiased manner, of course.
00:51:05Sean, you talked about relationships being so important,
00:51:08and you talked about some of that.
00:51:10Josh on Monday said he was proud of you.
00:51:14You think about the reverse of coaches usually being proud of players.
00:51:17What does it mean to have somebody that you've seen from a rookie,
00:51:21you've seen growing up into this all-pro caliber quarterback,
00:51:24for him to say that he's proud of you?
00:51:27Again, I think it's really I'm proud of him,
00:51:30and based on what he said, he's proud of me.
00:51:33It's, I think, an interesting dynamic.
00:51:37I don't shy away from that.
00:51:41Like I said, it's me growing.
00:51:46It's not that I was a bad coach before.
00:51:48We went to the playoffs and broke a 17-year drought.
00:51:51We do all what we've done, but that doesn't mean Sean McDermott's done growing.
00:51:55That doesn't mean Sean McDermott's done trying to become the best husband,
00:51:59father, coach, teammate that he can become.
00:52:03That's how I take it, really, is however I can improve,
00:52:09I think we all need to do that.
00:52:11I think we usually do a pretty good job of that.
00:52:14I'm not ashamed of that.
00:52:17I'm not embarrassed of that.
00:52:18It's not like I was overheard.
00:52:22You guys know me.
00:52:23You kind of know what to expect.
00:52:26Listen, for me as a coach, I believe this, and I believe this with all my heart.
00:52:30You don't go to a place to coach just to win.
00:52:34That's what I'm going to be judged by,
00:52:37and I've been judged by that since the time I got here to the time I leave.
00:52:40But you go to a place to win, yes,
00:52:42but the other responsibility you have as a coach is to make an impact on the community,
00:52:46and I believe that.
00:52:49Me continually trying to become a better person, a better father,
00:52:52a better husband, a better teammate, a better coach,
00:52:55that only enhances my ability to do that.
00:53:00And so it doesn't mean I'm perfect,
00:53:02but that's how I see this mission as a head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
00:53:06I'm not trying to make light of that at all,
00:53:09but could 2017 Sean McDermott, could he envision 2025 Sean McDermott,
00:53:162024 Sean McDermott playing out dad jokes?
00:53:24Probably not.
00:53:26I don't know.
00:53:27I think that the guys don't know how cool I really am.
00:53:31So once in a while you've got to remind them.
00:53:34And you get older, right?
00:53:35You get older, like I said, you get more and more comfortable in this job
00:53:38and comfortable being a good word in this case, in this context,
00:53:42and experience certainly helps.
00:53:45You learn and learn in a mature way how the job,
00:53:49what you have to do to really win at this job, and that changes a little bit.
00:53:52Like I said, there's a huge mental component to this job
00:53:56and mental peace to our players and our performers, the coaches included.
00:54:02But, yeah, I mean there's just a – that to me is them seeing who I really am.
00:54:08And I think that's part of it is that you can be vulnerable.
00:54:11I know Coach Vermeule rather well,
00:54:14and you see him over the years being real in front of his team,
00:54:19and that's the real Sean McDermott,
00:54:23and that allows me to have fun and enjoy this too because it's long.
00:54:28It's tough and it's not easy, but I love doing what I'm doing.
00:54:32Sean, we asked you a few times at the end of the year about Matt Milano
00:54:35and his trajectory, where he was.
00:54:37Where did you feel he ended the year heading into the offseason
00:54:40as far as what you see his role as next year?
00:54:43Yeah, Matt is – my heart aches for Matt because, you know,
00:54:48come off the year he had the year prior, misses all that time, goes into camp.
00:54:52We're at Pittsburgh, and he strains his deal there,
00:54:57and then he's out another X amount of weeks or months.
00:55:02And there's a real mental component to that also of him being able
00:55:07to get himself back mentally that, hey, I can still do this and I can still do it,
00:55:11not just do it but do it at a high level like Matt Milano used to do it.
00:55:15And I applaud him for his mental ability and his just ability to push through overall
00:55:22until he found, again, a rhythm that I think he said, hey, you know what, I can do this.
00:55:27And you saw that at moments.
00:55:30Not as consistent as he once was, but going into the offseason now,
00:55:34not needing another surgery or not having to rehab will be important for him.
00:55:38Josh, you're a guy who just sticks to what's gotten you to this point,
00:55:43what is successful in this organization.
00:55:45But, like, hearing you talk about Josh,
00:55:47Brandon had similar things to say about Josh, who he is not as just your franchise quarterback
00:55:52but as somebody off the field who is what he is for a leader.
00:55:55How difficult does that make it to where you get so close to achieving the goal
00:56:00of getting to the Super Bowl?
00:56:01You want that for a guy who's not getting any younger.
00:56:04How difficult does it make it for you to stick to what has worked
00:56:07without wanting to throw a million fingers at the wall
00:56:10and see what can make that happen with a snap of a finger?
00:56:13Yeah.
00:56:14No, I definitely want it for Josh.
00:56:15Listen, I want it for all of us, the fans.
00:56:17I want it for the Pagoula family.
00:56:20I'd love to be able to hand that thing off to them.
00:56:23That's some of what, you know, that's some of why I was brought here.
00:56:30And that fire burns deep within.
00:56:39And you should know it's not like we stick with things just to stick with things
00:56:46because that's how we've always done it.
00:56:48That's the last thing we do.
00:56:50We do throw a million things at the wall.
00:56:53It's already begun up in my office and Brandon's offices.
00:56:57That's part of becoming better is, hey,
00:57:00we're going to throw a million things at that wall.
00:57:03And, you know, we may agree, we may disagree,
00:57:06but we're going to come out of it with the best darn answer we can
00:57:11for this football team, whether it's schedule, you know,
00:57:15how we handle this or how we handle that, who we draft, all those things.
00:57:20You know, those conversations are critical as we continue to move forward.
00:57:25What team was maybe a pleasant surprise or exceeded expectations for you,
00:57:29whether a player or a coach?
00:57:30Was there anyone that just kind of, you know, exceeded expectations?
00:57:33Yeah, I would start with Dawson Knox.
00:57:38You know, when you get around a person that, again, knows who they are,
00:57:44Dawson served on our leadership council,
00:57:46was a huge component to our success this season, A, from his play,
00:57:53and B, from his leadership.
00:57:56Just a real steady type of person
00:58:00and a guy that Josh has a huge amount of trust in,
00:58:03and I would say he flies under the radar when you ask me that question.
00:58:08He's one of them, you know.
00:58:10And then certainly a couple of the guys like Ty and Mac
00:58:14and a few others in there as well.
00:58:17You have certain messages and conversations with every individual player,
00:58:21but was there a common theme and message you left with your group
00:58:25during exit interviews with players as they head to 2025 in the offseason?
00:58:30Right.
00:58:31You know, when we met, Derek was in there.
00:58:36I think it's more, you know,
00:58:40I don't ever want them to be defined by a result on the field.
00:58:44Again, I know, and they know very well how they're evaluated.
00:58:55That's the day and age that we are in.
00:58:59But I want them to know, most importantly, that they are more than football players.
00:59:04These guys are brought up, like many professional athletes,
00:59:07as the best in the world since the time they're this small.
00:59:11And is that fair?
00:59:15Is it unfair?
00:59:16I don't really know.
00:59:19The challenge is what's going to happen when they finish playing football, right?
00:59:24And I know this is, hey, we've got to win, we've got to do this,
00:59:28and I'm right with you on that.
00:59:30But one of the, again, to me, pieces of being a coach that they need me to be
00:59:36is growing them and developing them in a way that they're not just defined
00:59:40by how well they play on a Sunday or how well they play year to year
00:59:47or the way their career finishes.
00:59:49It's who they become as people in the journey of becoming a great football player
00:59:54and making sure that they know that when this game leaves them
00:59:59or they leave the game at some point, that they will survive, they will thrive,
01:00:03and they have more than just football to offer their families, themselves,
01:00:08or our society.