Sean McDermott walked to the desk in his office at One Bills Drive and grabbed a small sheet of paper, on which he sketched a reminder of the culture that he鈥檚 worked tirelessly to build since he took on the challenge of coaching a team with a 17-year playoff drought.
Inside a hand-drawn heart, the Bills鈥 coach wrote: 鈥淧rocess, playoff-caliber standard and people.鈥
鈥淛ust a visual for you of us constantly trying to build clarity around who we are and how we do things, because every year is different,鈥 he shared with The Buffalo News. 鈥淏ut pushing forward on this right here.鈥
Since arriving in 2017, McDermott has found creative ways to communicate to players the culture and identity that he wants in his football team. He plastered several mottos, including 鈥淭rust the Process,鈥 on the walls of their training facility. To support his 鈥渄efend our dirt鈥 mantra, McDermott gave players a jar filled with dirt during his first season.
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The playoff drought ended 11 months after McDermott was hired. Josh Allen, their MVP-winning franchise quarterback, arrived in the 2018 draft, and he signed a six-year, $330 million contract in March. The Bills have double-digit wins in each of the past six seasons, including two trips to the AFC championship game, and they were unbeaten at home last fall.
Their new stadium will open next year. They鈥檙e viewed as a model franchise in the NFL, in large part because of the culture that McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have forged over the past eight years.
On the precipice of McDermott鈥檚 ninth training camp, he methodically structured the Bills鈥 spring activities, including voluntary organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, to ensure that camaraderie, chemistry and love are present when they gather Tuesday at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.
McDermott is determined to protect what they鈥檝e built.
The Bills鈥 selection for the HBO docuseries 鈥淗ard Knocks鈥 means their inner sanctum will be breached by NFL Films. Cameras will be in meeting rooms. Highlights and lowlights from practice will go out to viewers across the globe. Private conversations, and potentially contract negotiations, can be seen by millions of fans.
The Bills didn鈥檛 want this. Most teams don鈥檛, especially those with realistic Super Bowl aspirations. Since the docuseries鈥 inaugural season, just eight of the 24 teams reached the playoffs that season, though that included the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in 2001. (Until this year, teams that made the playoffs the previous season were exempt from participating.)
鈥淭he training camp chapter of 鈥楬ard Knocks,鈥 the win-loss percentage, is not great,鈥 McDermott acknowledged. 鈥淲e know that. We can鈥檛 let it get in our heads, but we have to find a way to get around that. To be totally transparent, that is my No. 1 concern and challenge.鈥
Advantages
When NFL Films offered the New York Jets the 鈥淗ard Knocks鈥 spotlight in 2009, Mike Tannenbaum refused.
The Jets鈥 general manager didn鈥檛 want the potential distraction ahead of Rex Ryan鈥檚 first season as an NFL head coach. Tannenbaum couldn鈥檛 avoid the spotlight for long, though. They were approached again before the 2010 season and, initially, Tannenbaum was reluctant to participate. It was an opportunity to spotlight people throughout the organization, and fans love watching their team participate, but he thought the risk wasn鈥檛 worth the reward.
A phone call with Ravens longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome alleviated some of Tannenbaum鈥檚 concerns and revealed a potential benefit that proved to be true after the Jets finally agreed to invite cameras to their training camp in Cortland.
鈥淥zzie was like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want to do it either, but what I found was we actually got really good practices, because players know that there鈥檚 cameras everywhere,鈥 鈥 Tannenbaum, now an NFL analyst for ESPN, recalled in a recent phone interview. 鈥淚t actually helped with the competition of practice and that turned out to be really true for us. I felt like we had a really good camp.
鈥淕uys were competing, and at the end of the day, I wanted to do a 180 and embrace it.鈥
The Jets were perfect for reality TV, from the bombastic personality of their head coach to entertaining, vocal leaders like linebacker Bart Scott, who famously described the defense鈥檚 attitude that season as 鈥渟wagger-licious.鈥 They had a promising young quarterback, Mark Sanchez, with Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson and two new wide receivers, Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards. On defense, the Jets had two future Hall of Famers in end Jason Taylor and cornerback Darrelle Revis.
Some players were uncomfortable at first. They weren鈥檛 used to being on camera. Nowadays, NCAA programs and NFL teams routinely ask them to be filmed for promotional content that鈥檚 used on social media channels, stadium videoboards or television broadcasts. The Jets quickly followed Ryan鈥檚 lead, though. He鈥檚 never cared what anyone thinks of him, and he encouraged his team to showcase their personalities.
The message from the top was to not worry about public perception and embrace the spotlight.
鈥淩ex is just Rex,鈥 Tannenbaum said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be the same at a bar, in front of the team, in the library.
It didn鈥檛 take long, however, for Tannenbaum to encounter a pitfall of participating in the show.
Revis鈥 contract holdout was a prominent NFL storyline that summer and became a subplot once filming began. In Episode 1, Tannenbaum met Revis鈥 agents for a covert negotiating session at a diner in Roscoe, a hamlet nestled in the Catskills, approximately 90 miles from Cortland.
Viewers saw Tannenbaum discuss the contract negotiation with Ari Nissim, then the Jets鈥 director of football administration, and the general manager expressed skepticism during the car ride. After missing the preseason and most of camp, Revis signed a four-year, $32 million contract.
The Bills want to avoid a similar situation with two-time Pro Bowl running back James Cook, who鈥檚 been vocal this offseason about his desire to be paid like one of the best in the NFL. Teams get to screen each episode before it airs, so in theory, they can choose to exclude scenes featuring contract negotiations or roster cuts.
鈥淵ou do the best you can,鈥 Tannenbaum said of the negotiation playing out during filming. 鈥淚t is what it is. You just focus on the task at hand and do the best you can. You try to not do a lot of that work publicly, but that鈥檚 invariably going to happen.鈥
The Jets defied the odds in 2010 with an 11-5 record, and they lost to the Steelers in the AFC championship game. There wasn鈥檛 a concerted effort to build camaraderie and chemistry before that chaotic training camp began. Leadership and culture guided them, Tannenbaum said.
The Bills elected for a slightly different approach in the months before they are in front of NFL Films鈥 cameras.
Togetherness
Bills punter Brad Robbins saw McDermott scan the team鈥檚 cafeteria Even executives like Beane routinely sit with players over lunch, and conversations rarely revolve around football. He asks about their families, their hometowns and their hobbies.
鈥淭his place is special,鈥 said Robbins. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a guy like (Allen) at the helm, who鈥檚 the most personable dude of all time. You watch him day to day and you鈥檙e like, 鈥榊es, I want to follow that guy.鈥 You watch Sean and you鈥檙e like, 鈥楳an, this guy is so easy to follow.鈥 There鈥檚 a genuine love and care for people that鈥檚 not scripted.鈥
Before many of the Bills鈥 meetings, a player is chosen to stand in front of the team and recount the journey they took to reach the NFL.
It鈥檚 an opportunity for everyone in the room to learn more about a teammate. But some have endured particularly trying circumstances while pursuing their NFL dreams. These stories have a way of bringing a team closer together.
During mandatory minicamp, the Bills had 60 players visit 12 schools across Western New York. They weren鈥檛 sent out with teammates in their position group, either. McDermott wanted offensive players with defensive players and rookies with veterans. Even a visit like this was treated as an opportunity to bond.
Their chemistry and culture are obvious through well-executed runs, perfectly thrown passes and a collective intensity on defense, but other signs of their togetherness can be overlooked by the untrained eye.
Before he signed as an undrafted free agent, rookie receiver Stephen Gosnell re-watched Bills games from last season and noticed how teammates on offense helped each off the grass following a tackle. Gosnell noted the excitement on the sideline following every explosive play. He was offered opportunities elsewhere, but he chose Buffalo for the winning culture he saw in each play. And on defense, Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau estimated that he has a special handshake with at least 10 players.
The Bills spend almost as much time together away from the facility as they do at work. During the summer, they have backyard barbecues, rounds of golf and, if the weather doesn鈥檛 cooperate, bowling.
Going away for camp frees the Bills from distractions and ensures they鈥檙e spending more time together, but McDermott wanted the bonding to begin long before they gathered near Rochester. It was even more of a priority this year because of 鈥淗ard Knocks.鈥
鈥淚 think you just kind of keep doing what we鈥檙e doing here,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had some good success over the last few years. It鈥檚 not allowing things to deter us from being who we are and doing what we do.鈥
Shortly after he accepted the job as Bills head coach, McDermott took seven of the franchise鈥檚 all-time greats 鈥 Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley, Steve Tasker and Cornelius Bennett 鈥 to dinner at the downtown Buffalo steakhouse Sear.
McDermott wanted to learn what made those teams great. The alumni message was that the city was as responsible for the Bills鈥 greatness as the players鈥 talent and the coaches鈥 acumen. Here, they told McDermott, a team can become a family.
鈥淭he reality every year, from a coach鈥檚 lens, is it takes a lot to win, and it starts with learning how to love and get connected and trust. ... All those things that become the foundation of a good team before a team can move forward,鈥 McDermott said. 鈥淲ith 鈥楬ard Knocks,鈥 it challenges that. 鈥 We鈥檙e going to face adversity. We don鈥檛 know when or in what form, but we better be connected and that foundation better be built.鈥
