INDIANAPOLIS — Here are my five takes from my one-on-one conversation with Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott at the NFL Scouting Combine:
1. Don’t be surprised if McDermott continues to call defensive signals for the coming season.
Though he promoted Bobby Babich from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, McDermott has publicly been non-committal about whether Babich would assume signal-calling duties. If anything, McDermott is giving the impression he’s inclined to hold onto the role, which he filled after the Bills parted ways with former DC Leslie Frazier last year.
“The positive (of continuing to call defensive signals) is, I don’t have to second guess the play-caller; I already do that to myself,” McDermott said. “Years ago, Mike Zimmer, who eventually took over the play-calling duties for his defense (as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings), shared with me, ‘Listen, I’m gonna second guess every call the other coordinator makes if I’m not the play-caller. But at the same time, there’s a lot of time that goes into that as well and there’s a lot of time that goes into the job that I currently have. So, wanted to do, at the end of the day, ultimately, what’s best for the team.’”
There is no glaring reason for McDermott give up calling defensive signals. He did an excellent job in that capacity last season, arguably making a case as the NFL’s best DC for the ability to keep the unit strong despite it having dealt with a rash of injuries.
McDermott said he would assess Babich’s potential as a signal-caller through the offseason and preseason.
“Because Bobby has not called plays, at least at the NFL level, before, there is a projection involved in this,” McDermott said. “Bobby’s a good, young coach that has good pedigree and, to me, upside. So, some of that is gauging how quickly he’s learning as we go through the offseason, the spring in particular, and then in training camp.”
2. Babich was a natural choice for defensive coordinator.
Though he grew greater league-wide attention when multiple teams showed strong interest in him for their DC openings, Babich was hardly a secret in terms of his coaching skill. He has been a rising star since he entered the NFL with the Carolina Panthers in 2011. His first role with them was an administrative assistant for the coaching staff. He became a defensive assistant for the Panthers in 2012, then joined the Cleveland Browns in 2013 as an assistant defensive backs coach.
Babich joined the Bills in 2017 in the same capacity before being promoted to safeties coach in 2018. In 2022, he was named linebackers coach, replacing his father, Bob Babich, who retired.
“He’s extremely bright, high energy,” McDermott said. “He’s had two positions at his disposal that he’s developed players at both safety and linebacker. And, so when I was able to watch what he did with Micah Hyde and with Jordan Poyer, and some of it was to their being as well in terms of what they did and, and how they developed, but it’s kind of a (situation where) you grow together as a coach and a player. And then this past season with the linebacking corps overall with Terrel Barnard, Tyrel Dodson, in particular, and so just excited to watch him moving forward.”
3. As a first-time appointee to the NFL Competition Committee, the league’s rules-making body, McDermott finds himself new to balancing act all committee members do with being concerned about what’s best for the league versus what’s best for the Bills.
“I think it’s human nature,” McDermott said. “And I think I really can’t help myself. I have to I have to bake in, somehow, a little bit of the Bills. My experience there is what is shaping some of what we’re doing what’s best for the game. But the job description in this case is to do what’s best for the overall league and the games.”
The committee has been meeting here since Sunday. It is addressing a variety of aspects of the game. As usual, trying to minimize player injuries is at the forefront of discussions of proposals that, depending on the voting of team ownerships, could bring about new rules or adjustments to current ones.
“I think, when you talk about the hot areas, the red-flag areas, you’re always talking about some semblance of player safety,” McDermott said. “So, kickoff is obviously getting a lot of attention. I know protecting the quarterbacks is getting a lot of attention. So, we’ll see where we end up on all of that.”
“My limited experience to this point, it’s been a great experience. It’s been educational. I think some of the things I’m learning can actually help our team, being inside versus on the outside of the committee. I’m looking to continue to grow and let them hear my voice a little bit, too, at times.”
4. The hiring of Scott Booker has the Bills’ nickel defense coach is a telling sign of the importance McDermott believes that area merits.
The Bills haven’t had a specific nickel coach since former assistant Jim Salgado filled the role in 2020 and 2021.
“It is a starter in our defense,” McDermott said. “So, in some defenses, maybe it’s not looked at as a starting position. But for us, we play a ton of nickel defense and nickel personnel being five defensive backs and two linebackers. And so having a specific coach that coaches that position is important for us.
“And I think you’ve seen the importance of that in our defense and in Taron Johnson’s play over the years when he has had a coach just for just for his position. So that’s a critical piece for us.”
Booker, who also will serve as a senior defensive assistant, spent the past six seasons coaching with the Tennessee Titans in a variety of capacities. He spent the last four seasons coaching the Titans’ safeties.
5. As the Bills reflect on another disappointing season that fell short of the Super Bowl, there is more than one thought that McDermott has about what it will take to get over the playoff hump.
“It’s never just one thing,” McDermott said. “It’s multiple things that we can look at, we’re going to look at. We’ve already looked at some of those. Getting into it would just be getting into the weeds at this point. But there’s certainly some things that we need to continue to improve on for us to get to where we’re trying to get to.”
He does take some solace in the fact the Bills nearly beat Kansas City in the divisional round before the Chiefs went on to win the Super Bowl against San Francisco.
“I mean, we were within a whisker of winning that game and to (the team that) became the ultimate Super Bowl champions there,” McDermott said. “But you got to start over every season. That's all part of it. So, it’ll be a new team. And, you know, I think we’ve done some really good things over the last six or seven years. And so, it’ll be putting it back together again with the cap challenges we’re going to have. We’ve had them in the past and we’ve figured it out. And so, we'll have to try and figure it out again this year.”