Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has a long way to go to become part of the best of the best among NFL coaches.
But he’s certainly made strides during his three seasons with the Bills. McDermott has taken a club that suffered a near two-decade playoff drought to the postseason twice in three seasons.
Rotoworld recently released their annual ranking of NFL head coaches and McDermott is in pretty decent standing. He lands at No. 11 on the list.
Here’s the McDermott explanation:
The Bills have two playoff appearances this century. They have come under Sean McDermott over the past three seasons. Although McDermott is still working on the franchise’s first postseason victory since Bill Clinton was president, he has confirmed himself as one of the top coaching hires of the past half decade. Already one of the league’s best defensive game-planners, McDermott has coordinated top-three units by yards allowed each of the past two years. The Bills’ 259 points against last season were the second fewest in the NFL. McDermott knows defense, period. He’s still working on the rest. A brash front office presence alongside his handpicked GM Brandon Beane, McDermott’s executive aggressiveness has handicapped his offense, where the project is now tied to Josh Allen. Allen’s concerns coming out of the Mountain West were accuracy and decision-making. They had the looks of fatal flaws in 2019, never more so than in the Wild Card Round, where Allen’s stupefying choices down the stretch helped snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. McDermott is the coach of the future in Buffalo. He’s probably still a quarterback away from translating that into annual winning campaigns and playoff appearances.
Overall, McDermott is 25-23 as the Bills’ bench boss. That 6-10 season between two playoff berths doesn’t help. But still a decent standing on a list which includes some of the best to ever do it. Plus, McDermott’s ranking improved, jumping up from No. 16 on Rotoworld’s list a year ago.
On the list, McDermott is sandwiched between the Titans’ Mike Vrabel at 12 and the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer at 10. Vrabel recently took his team to the AFC title game, so that’s some good company.
But just to show how far McDermott really has to go, in no surprise, the Patriots’ Bill Belichick takes the top spot here, followed by defending champion Andy Reid of the Chiefs and the Saints’ Sean Payton, respectively.
[lawrence-related id=60931,60925,60939,60849]