All we have heard since day one of McDermott's coaching career here in Buffalo is to "trust the process". In order to have a process, however, you need a process. Sounds a bit confusing doesn't it? Let me explain:
Let's first go back to when McDermott was hired. Who interviewed him other than Terry and Kim Pegula. These owners have shown that although they love Buffalo and love being owners of two professional sports teams they are clueless in how to run one. Instead of finding a football guy to do the hiring they decide to do the process themselves. They keep a GM that EVERYONE knows is going to be fired in the loop and end up hiring a coach wit zero prior head coaching experience and give him absolute power over every aspect in the organization. Instead of hiring a GM or football czar to do the hiring, these two bastions of football knowledge decide to do it themselves. Rather than focusing of what real GMs do, they look for character and catch phrases in hiring McDermott.
Let's look back and see what a real GM would have looked to when hiring head coach:
A real GM would interview a coach and learn what that coach planned to do with the talent at hand. A real GM would never hire a coach who planned on hiring an offensive coordinator who would install an offence which refused to make best use out of his QB and running back. A real GM would have told the prospective head coach that "this is what my roster looks like-hire someone to get the best use out of it". Instead, our first time head coach is given the power to hire retread Rick Denison-a guy who has taken an offense that was very good last year and turned it into a bad joke. A guy who has taken the league's best rushing attack and, with the same people, turned it into one of the league's worst. A guy who has turned Tyrod Taylor, a serviceable, if not good, NFL QB into a bum.
This same GM would have said "what's you plan for our defense? We have a good D-line and we have a guy in Reggie Ragland who was drafted but missed all of last year and who is a perfect fit for the 3-4 defense we ran last year. When you add a healthy Shaq Lawson we should be pretty good on Defense". Instead, the first time head coach who doesn't like the 3-4 scheme is hired and he ends up blowing up the defense. we now run a 4-3 without linebackers who are decent and without linemen who can play that scheme. With turnovers, however, the D looked decent, until the turnovers stopped and the former all-pro defensive tackle was traded. Just look at what has happened. Almost 140 points in the past three weeks.
Next, lets look at last year's draft. Why would anyone let Doug Whaley run the draft and then fire him the next day? Absolute stupidity. After the draft, the Pegulas (in reality McDermott) hires a GM. In no other sports organization in the NHL, NFL or MLB does a coach hire the GM. But here in Pegulaville we've ordained the character process guy as God of football. Instead of having a GM who determines the future of the team (rebuild/win now, etc...), we have a head coach determining all of these issues himself. Nowhere in American sports is this allowed (except the NE Patriots who has a special situation with a genius Head coach) but in Buffalo we are so starved for a playoff team we bite hook, line and sinker.
All offseasoon we are told Tyrod is our guy, we are not in a rebuild and we plan on winning now. If Tyrod is our guy then why is Denison our OC???? If we are not in a rebuild then why did we trade Sammy and Darby? So our new omnipotent coach tries to walk the fine line. Let's get rid of some guys for picks for the future and pretend we are trying to win now by getting decent players in return.
All of a sudden, the defense starts getting lucky and balls start bouncing into their hands. We are getting 3 turnovers/game. Our defense is still getting torched yardage wise through the air but we are winning. We are 5-2. We have no pass rush (Alexander, a pro-bowler last year is not a fit for the 4-3) but teams aren't running on us. We are in a great spot to end the 17 year playoff drought. Let's trade some of those picks for Kelvin Benjamin, a big wide-out who can help make Tyrod a better QB (in spite of the fact that his OC refuses to install an offense that helps Tyrod BE a good QB). Oh yeah, about that rebuild and tightrope walk, lets trade a forme All-Pro defensive lineman named Marcel Darius for a SIXTH ROUND PICK!!!!! Oh yeah, then we will replace him with a guy we cut and who no other NFL team signed. I am sure that went over really well in the locker room.
Well lets see what transpires...trust the process...
Instead, we give up 500 yards rushing in the past three weeks...our defensive line looks like Swiss cheese. We can't stop a bad Jets team much less a good saints team. We are embarrassed two weeks in a row. What does our genius new first time head coach do? How about let's bench Tyrod ad replace him with a fifth round draft pick who has never started a NFL game...trust the process...I have full faith in Tyrod...Peterman is our choice to lead this team...process, process, process...
What transpires is the worst half of NFL quarterbacking in the last 55 years. Five interceptions in a half...forced to eat crow and rel=place him at half with Tyrod...what a fucking joke-the absolute laughing stock of the NFL. And then he has the nerve to say in his press conference after a 30 point loss to a not-good Charger team that he hasn't decided who his QB will be next week and he still has all the confidence in the world in Peterman-DOES MCDERMOTT THING WE ARE ALL FUCKING MORONS?????
The problem with trusting the process is that their is no process. There is no long term plan. We have a coach who is in way over his head and who has clearly lost the locker room. We have owners who continue to make bad decision after bad decision...Keeping Whaley/Hiring Rex/Allowing Whaley to run the draft/hiring a coach before hiring a GM/giving a first time head coach all of the power. We have a coach and owners who are so far in over their heads thaat they are clueless how to get out. I can see this team ending up 5-11. The defense is shot...the Quarterbacking is abysmal, the offense can't score.and we are no closer to getting a franchise QB than we were for the past 17 years.
Trust the process....BULLSHIT!!!