Coach McDermott gives the scoop on negative comments about Josh Allen, the team going barefoot and training camp
Recently, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott joined the Good Morning Football crew (as their No. 1 power ranked head coach) for an extremely entertaining interview. Right at the outset, Kyle Brandt responded to McDermott’s, “How you doin?” by stating that he was thrilled to be talking to No. 1.
“You know you’re No, 1. We know you’re No. 1 and one of the reasons you’re No. 1 is you always share stuff, coach, about your family and what you’ve got going on,” Brandt said. He then went on to ask McDermott about what he’s done this summer.
“Yeah, I appreciate you asking,” McDermott replied. “Great summer as a family. Going all over the country to football camps with my son to softball tournaments with my daughter, swim meets with my youngest daughter. Just a crazy but fun summer.”
Akbar Gbajabiamila then jumped in asking about the special environment at St. John Fisher for training camp. “It’s incredible. I think it’s really unique,” McDermott gushed. He then mentioned his times at training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers but stated that Buffalo’s camp is unmatched.
“Just incredible,” McDermott reiterated. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity to engage with our fans, almost really on a daily basis and as you guys know, we got some passionate fans.”
Asked about the location of camp, McDermott responded, “We’re real close to Rochester. It’s a small town called Pittsford, NY. Kind of a Norman Rockwell type of town, very quaint. Just a slice of America, if you will.”
Jamie Erdahl, impressed with Gbajabiamila’s question to inform the West Coast viewers of the geographical location of Buffalo’s camp, then asked McDermott how he was approaching this camp differently with all of the new names and personalities on the team.
“Well, any year you gotta start over, really, from square one and rebuild it,” he answered. “Every year is a new year. Every team is a new team. We’ve enjoyed the challenges as a coaching staff and it’s been interesting to learn about some of the new veterans we have and their backgrounds, their family lives as well and kind of their stories. And then to welcome the new rookies we have this year, led by Keon Coleman... and he’s off to a great start in training camp. It’s just to me one of the great challenges of being a coach and kind of putting the pieces together and see how it all works together as we get through training camp and into the season.”
“Coach, I had to speak out on it last week when Brandon (Beane) came out. So verbally, the GM Brandon Beane, about that “anonymous executive” who questioned Josh Allen. I know you’ve been asked about it. You don’t want to talk about it,” Peter Schrager started. “How do you handle those things when there’s stories that have nothing to do with your football team but guys like us in the media bring them up to you because it makes good fodder on television and radio? Chuckling, McDermott was quick to respond:
“Well you said it. It makes good news and attracts some listeners, I’m sure,” Coach said. “It’s all gossip really, is what it is and we try not to get involved in that. I know who Josh is, that’s the most important thing. We know who Josh is, his teammates know who Josh is. We’re just fortunate to have a quarterback and a person like Josh in Buffalo and what an amazing leader he’s been!”
Kyle Brandt then added, “Coach, you know John Elway had said that his biggest regret was NOT drafting Josh back then in that draft when he was in Texas. What do you remember about that day and that night, everything. Where you were in life and just all how that went down?”
“Right, you’re never sure with where we were drafting if we were gonna be able to move up in the draft,” a proud McDermott stated through a smile. “Things worked out to where we were able to get Josh. Just what a fit, right? There were some really high-quality quarterbacks in that draft. I think Baker (Mayfield) went first overall. But we were just targeting Josh the entire time, whether we had drafted first or whatever. I think more than anything, people see the rocket for an arm and how smart he is and how mobile he is and how competitive he is. He’s a dog on the field. But I think just as important as that is really his fit with the community in Buffalo and Western New York and Bills fans. He’s a guy’s guy, he’s got that “it” factor and he’s obviously a real joy to be around and a joy to coach.”
Moving on, Erdahl had to ask about an interesting player who recently joined the Bills. “Coach, we love our table here. It’s one of the most precious parts of GMFB and there’s only one person on the planet who’s ever put their bare feet on this table and his name is Mack Hollins. He’s on your team now. Mack Hollins apparently doesn’t use utensils, he doesn’t eat vegetables, he just walks around barefoot. Did you have any kind of stipulation for when he came to Buffalo to say like, ‘Son, this is Buffalo. You’re gonna have to wear shoes in December.’ Walk us through this personality and how you’re approaching Mack Hollins.”
Enjoying this question, McDermott replied, “Well I gotta talk to Brandon about that because I’m still... that was something we didn’t know about so I’m not really sure if we’re doing our job on the scouting end of things because those are things we need to know, right?” Continuing in laughter, he stated, “We got half of our team now, including our offensive coordinator this morning, walking to our team meeting on campus with no shoes on, no socks. It’s definitely interesting and the part about not using utensils... umm, I still haven’t figured that one out. I know with the “grounding” when it comes to the shoes or no shoes. The no utensils... I’m not really sure what the end game is on that. I’m hoping that we don’t transition to that element of what Mack does as well but he’s been an awesome addition. He’s a character as you guys know and he brings great energy.”
Kyle Brandt ended the interview by calling McDermott a patient man for getting through all of his daughter’s swim meets and giving him a “Go Bills!”
You can check out the full clip on YouTube — the NFL doesn’t allow direct embeds through YT, so unfortunately you won’t be able to view it on our site.