Will the Bills feature a third different defensive play caller in as many seasons?
When Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott announced Bobby Babich as the team’s next defensive coordinator, questions began to surface wondering who would call the plays on defense in 2024. In 2023 it was Sean McDermott, who took over for Leslie Frazier after Frazier’s decision to step down.
It’s natural to believe that an NFL defensive coordinator would by rule call the defensive plays. Yet for Babich, this is his first opportunity as a defensive coordinator. However, believing he lacks experience is foolish at best — when you consider his father is Bob Babich, and that Bobby began his coaching career in 2006.
Make no mistake, Babich is qualified and ready. Does that mean he’s going to call the defensive plays in 2024? Babich may have revealed the answer at the close of Monday’s presser.
In the midst of responding to a question about linebacker Terrel Bernard’s mindset, Babich offered that “I’ll be in the box this year.” And when a follow-up was asked how he reached the decision to be in the box, Babich simply responded with: “Have you seen me in practice? Pretty easy. You guys can tell.”
Beyond that potential reveal, earlier in the conversation Chris Brown asked about how much opportunity Babich has had to go through call-in periods, and how they’ve gone for him. Babich stated:
“Sean’s ramping it up and the call-in periods are great, and I ask for ‘em. You know, me personally, the more I can do the better off I’ll be. There’s calls I wish I had back. There’s calls that, you know, you take a little note that you know ‘I liked that there’ or certain things. And again, there’s a fine line here of getting the repetition of a certain call that maybe’s not best for that situation, but we gotta get it in — and we gotta get it repped. I’m not one that’s trying to win practice here. That’s me. I’m more worried about our defense and the way we’re executing what that specific call is. We understand the strengths and weaknesses of every defense, and I think that’s a very important thing. So I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. I do have to be situationally — we have to be situationally aware.”
As a follow-up with Brown, Babich revealed that he and McDermott review those periods.
“Absolutely. Absolutely. Like I said, shame on me if, you know, Sean wants to go over ‘em, but I’m probably more adamant that we go over those periods and I pick his brain on kinda ‘What are you thinkin’ there, what would you do?’ and he’s got a lot of great knowledge for me that, I’m very fortunate to have him.”
Of course this all leads one to the belief that Babich is being prepared to make the defensive calls in 2024. Will it all work out for the Bills with yet a third different play caller in three seasons on defense? Time will tell, though Babich appears ready to hit the ground running.
If you have yet to listen to Babich’s latest press conference, you’re in for a treat. From some really candid thoughts on Curtis Samuel and offense in general, to connecting with the “Lancaster Legend” aka linebacker Joe Andreessen, what linebacker Terrel Bernard is like when he’s upset.”