ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The accounts from the beginning of the Sean McDermott era in Buffalo always include similar notes.
He had many rules to follow -- a strictness that came from establishing a new culture.
Video games, billiards and air hockey tables were taken out of the locker room.
Explicit music wasn't allowed.
Hats were barred from meetings. Players had to dress up for plane rides to away games.
Players were announced out of the tunnel all at once before home games -- which some veteran players took issue with.
McDermott, now nine seasons in as head coach of the Bills, has built an AFC contender year after year -- led by quarterback Josh Allen for the past eight of those seasons. There have been two AFC Championship Game appearances, five straight division titles and countless records broken.
As time has passed, cornhole has become a mainstay in the Bills' locker room. There's a hockey game table in the middle of one section of the locker room across from a small golf putting area and a table for card games.
In recent seasons, a DJ was brought in to play music in the locker room.
Plane attire varies from player to player.
Starters are announced one at a time on game day.
These are the elements that McDermott, 51, has let up on. He has passed on some of the expectations of leadership to players who have been in the building for many years.
"He came in and set the foundation that he wanted, and then he got the vets that he wanted to lead the team the way he wanted it, and that was a rite of passage ... like, here you go," defensive tackle Jordan Phillips said. "You guys have earned my respect. I'mma lay off a little bit."
McDermott's background working under then-Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid from 1999-2010 gave an example to McDermott of how to achieve success. He observed Reid not putting himself in the spotlight and wanted to emulate.
"There's coaches that create distractions for their team and then they can't focus, and so, there are already distractions," McDermott said. "You just try and limit those as much as you can. Now, there's a delicate sweet spot in there that I've tried to find lately, because I also saw where you want people to really know the true you, in particular, the team first. And that's a moving target, I think, too."
But the questions mount over the Bills not reaching a Super Bowl during his tenure.
The Bills came into this season with the highest of expectations and are off to a 4-1 start ahead of Monday's game at the Atlanta Falcons (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). McDermott sat down with ESPN in the summer and discussed, along with those who work alongside him, how his views and mental approach have changed over time, from his coordinators to work-life balance.
A RECENT MODELING campaign McDermott did with local men's clothing store and tailor BUREAU received attention online. The photos and video campaigns feature McDermott in a variety of outfits, including tailored suits, a professional track suit, a shacket and a collared shirt and baseball hat.
Wide receiver Gabe Davis quipped to McDermott that he hopes that he looks like that when he is the coach's age. Left tackle Dion Dawkins, who was part of McDermott's first draft class in 2017, said that he never thought the day would come when McDermott would be comfortable showing himself that way.
Linebackers coach Al Holcomb said that McDermott's personality hasn't changed since he met him when both were with the Carolina Panthers, but Holcomb has seen McDermott be a little more flexible as he has grown in his role. Running backs coach Kelly Skipper, who has been with McDermott during his entire tenure in Buffalo, noted how as the head coach, you learn that the role is more about the players.
"You learn the players and how you practice, whether it's sports science, incorporating all that stuff," Skipper said. "It's all encompassing in what you do, how you practice, different things like that. But he's always been very detailed on what he's doing. That hasn't changed."
The players have appreciated the approach, with his recent addition of "dad joke Fridays" -- it's agreed that the jokes are terrible and cringy, but beloved at the same time.
"It's definitely not his jokes," Allen cracked when asked how McDermott has progressed. "I just think it's the way that he approaches guys in the locker room and how he talks to people. He's loosened up on some of the rules within the building, the hats, the this, and he lets guys be themselves."
Along with the dad joke Fridays, the Bills also began a tradition of having one member of the offense and one member of the defense play each other for one series in Madden during the weekly meeting -- only playing with the Bills.
Multiple players who have been on McDermott's teams over the years noted that he is easier to talk to nowadays. Defensive back Cam Lewis described him as "looser," while Davis went said McDermott is less socially awkward and is now more personable.
"I say some edgy things sometimes to get him kind of riled up, so he tries to find the right response for it," Davis said. "But I feel like I kind of put him in weird situations, so I like messing with him that way."
The culture that McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have built in Buffalo has been praised but has been far from flawless. There have been missteps along the way and plenty of questions surrounding McDermott from outside the building.
On the field, there were potential playoff wins that were in the Bills' grasp -- like the 2021 season divisional-round game that will be remembered as "13 seconds" and then the losses to Kansas City in the playoffs the past two seasons.
Off the field, there was a miscommunication on former Bill Stefon Diggs' minicamp availability that led to speculation on the wide receiver's status in 2023. There were also remarks McDermott made during 2019 training camp that resurfaced when he used the Sept. 11 terrorists as an example of group coordination in a message to the team, something he later apologized for.
People around the Bills have recently expressed that they feel like they can be themselves more. From McDermott's perspective, that's been part of the culture since he arrived.
He emphasized that culture does not guarantee success, but it "certainly helps in a lot of ways."
"The journey is grueling at times, and so, you want to be around people that you enjoy working with. You want to be able to be your true self, and I think that's important to people becoming the best version, achieving that level of success," McDermott said. "How do you do it if you can't express your true personality? ... I think that's important for me too. I don't want to be in here and be walking around like a robot."
While the change from a communication perspective is there, there are many signatures of a McDermott-led team that have remained the same. Details are the signature of McDermott's coaching, which is why the penalty-filled, two-turnover first quarter the Bills had in the team's first loss of the season to the New England Patriots last week was out of character.
There are certain tenants of McDermott's coaching that have remained constant -- consistency being among them. Others include focusing on what's in front of you, doing your 1/11th, having a defense that is going to fly around, playing smart and taking the ball away.
"Sean McDermott is quiet strength, but Sean McDermott is intense. He has a blue-collar approach to success," defensive line coach Marcus West said. "... We're going to win because we're going to outwork you. We're going to win because we're going to be more physical than you. He carries the persona of quietness, but he's not a guy you want to see in the ring."
IN 2023, McDERMOTT took over playcalling for the defense, a first during his time as head coach. Veteran coach Leslie Frazier, formerly head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was the defensive coordinator from 2017-22.
Calling the defense was something McDermott felt great doing and described as "a sweet spot" and something that comes "naturally."
Years ago, McDermott interviewed multiple NFL head coaches and asked why they were playcallers as well. A message he received was that you're only going to agree with about 30% to 40% of the calls no matter how aligned you are with your staff. One of those coaches was a veteran NFL defensive head coach who wasn't calling plays at first as head coach but later did.
"He's like, 'Well, I just decided that no matter what I tell the defensive coordinator, he's not going to call it like I want it called.' So, he told me, he was like, 'Why don't I just call it and stop, and so there's no like bickering or whatever,'" McDermott recalled. "And so, the year I called it, I was like this is, I don't have to, I guess shadow the defensive coordinator. I am the defensive coordinator, but then I'm the head coach also."
That season, the Bills went 11-6 and lost in the divisional round at home to the Kansas City Chiefs. The unit finished fourth in points allowed, ninth in yards allowed and third in takeaways. But McDermott subsequently installed Bobby Babich as defensive coordinator and playcaller in 2024. Babich has worked under McDermott in Buffalo since 2017.
So, why the change?
"I have to look our players in the eye and say, 'I'm the best head coach I can be for you guys every day,' and splitting that job up. I don't see that you're able to be exactly the best defensive coordinator in the league, the best head coach in the league," McDermott said. "And I just feel like overall I owe that to them. And so, and more and more, the head coaching job to me is gravitating towards making sure our players are in the right mindset, the right head space every week, every day. And because messaging, my energy, my availability, all of that is what they need the most."
Babich spoke two weeks ago about McDermott having final say on the defense -- being a defensive-minded head coach. McDermott's signature remains on the unit -- playing fast, being clear-minded and "just go," as Holcomb explained. McDermott oversees the operations in all three phases, with Beane in charge of personnel.
Players say McDermott has allowed Babich to lead, but that when McDermott does attend a defensive meeting, it tends to mean something is going on.
"He plays a backdrop," cornerback backs coach Jahmile Addae said. "He'll step in and interject when he thinks that, when he sees things that he feels aren't maybe up to par or wants to change, but very few and far between. And it's always in a respectful manner and more of a coaching type, mentorship type of manner."
For McDermott, working with his coordinators provides an opportunity to share what he has learned. The hope is that it will create the best possible overall leadership.
"Iron sharpens iron and sharpens one another, we'll equip [Babich] to be the best defensive coordinator that he can be," McDermott said. "And ideally then, just like [offensive coordinator] Joe Brady, growing Joe Brady and [special teams coordinator Chris Tabor] now, and hey, I learned things from them. They learned things from me. And all of a sudden we have four really strong leaders in our organization that are all aligned, all really good at what they do. Now we got a real chance."
THE PRESSURE TO win a Super Bowl is enormous for McDermott and the organization. The Bills are off to a 4-1 start, but the loss to the Patriots showed there is real competition in the division for the future. Allen is in the prime of his career at age 29. The team's ability to take advantage of that and have the team needed around Allen will be paramount.
After a loss or when he believes he didn't coach his best, McDermott admits he is hard on himself, and that perfectionism or desire to coach a perfect game is something that can get in the way of moving forward from a personal and team perspective. He said his parents raised him to be the best at whatever he chose to do, which drives him.
The coach noted that game results and performance can become how members of the team gauge their self-worth. To avoid that, he learned to find ways to unplug, something that does not come naturally.
"Because it's a performance-driven job and we're at the highest levels, there's a chance you're not going to get that result every week that you're looking for or coach your best game," McDermott said. "And trying to make sure that my worth is yes, this job is important to me, very important to me, but I have to find for my own good and my own health ways to make sure that I stay tied to the bigger picture for myself and for my family. And then hopefully try and model that to my kids as well."
McDermott and his wife, Jamie, have raised three children -- Maddie, Gavin and Kelly -- in Western New York. It was breaking the team's historic 18-year playoff drought in 2017 that made McDermott realize he and his family are "here for a reason, and it goes well beyond the football field."
McDermott got emotional before the season talking about changing the narrative around the region's championship drought, which he says is probably the No. 1 thing for him.
And that absolute main focus is on bringing a Super Bowl to the community, but it goes even beyond that.
"What's most important is how you do the job and you do your best in the life that you're trying to live. Because I think that impact is more lasting than anything, wins and losses," McDermott said. "So I do try and keep things in perspective. That doesn't mean that at all, at all, at all that I don't wake up every day with that on my mind."