Bills Isaiah McKenzie's Reaction When Sean McDermott He 'Didn't Trust' Him Enough to Dress Him Last Night is Priceless
It shouldn't be lost on anyone that Sean McDermott is determined to establish his bone fides as a genuine hardo coach. A pull-no-punches, tell-it-like-it-is, shoot-from-the-hip kind of a real Man's Man. That sort of guy who starts off his statements with things like "Well you know me," to let you know that what's coming next is coming in hot, consequences be damned, so you'd better gird your loins if you know what's good for you. Because he's creating fucks just so he has more not to give.
Whether it's him trying to make sure Belichick doesn't get too much credit for coaching circles around him in his own building:
... or explaining how he tried to avoid a costly mistake on a punt return like the one that N'Keal Harry made. He's gonna say what he says and let the chips fall where they may.
Yeah, about that. Here's what he was asked, in case you didn't pick up on the names because the reporter wasn't mic'd:
Which is apparently how Isaiah McKenzie found out why he wasn't in the lineup.
Ouch. You've got to admit, that even for a solid block of testosterone like Sean McDermott, that's harsh. Telling the world that you have no trust in two of your young wideouts and one of them hear about it on Twitter at 2:12 a.m. is positively cold-blooded.
Maybe it's the kind of thing that goes on all the time around the league, but I doubt it. It's hard to imagine successful coaches like Andy Reid, Mike Tomlin or Pete Carroll answering a question along those lines with anything but a vague, "We tried to do what we thought would be best" instead of opening up about his lack of faith in Isaiah McKenzie and Marquez Stevenson.
Hell, Harry actually did mess up a punt that directly cost his defense seven points, and Belichick refused to say anything other than "We've got to coach it better" etc, etc. I have no doubt that Harry has been made well aware of where he went wrong, how to correct it and what's expected of him if he's even put in that situation again. But he's never going to get the "didn't trust" treatment at a podium, ever.
What do we've been hearing forever about leadership? That the thing everyone wants from a leader - boss, supervisor, coach, commanding officer, whomever - more than anything else, is to know where they stand with them? I looks like the Bills have a coach belongs more to that more modern school of telling reports what you think of your players, and have the players find out through them at all hours of the night. Good luck with that.
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Maybe this is nothing and nothing will come of it. But after watching the way McDermott has reacted to getting pantsed on prime time TV while his division lead has vanished and his team keeps dropping in the standings, it might be very much something. Some sign of bad thing happening inside the Bills locker room. If so, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Nor would it be the first promising team Belichick destroyed. I cannot wait to see how this guy reacts when he gets destroyed by Tampa Bay next week. Can. Not. Wait.