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The Buffalo Bills press conference included almost everything fans said they wanted to hear — accountability, reflection, and tough talk about the future.
So why did it land with a thud?
D.A. breaks down why the problem wasn’t the content, but the tone. Bills fans came into the presser already distrustful of Brandon Beane’s slick, defensive posture — and deeply trusting of Sean McDermott’s integrity.
That disconnect changed everything.
With Terry Pegula and Beane starting from a defensive stance, fans immediately “smelled a rat,” and once that happened, no amount of the right words could fix the wrong vibe.
In this video, D.A. explains why Bills fans have an elite integrity detector — and why this press conference proved it once again.
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0:00
wide right the music city miracle 13
0:04
seconds the press conference what
0:07
happened on Wednesday now enters Bill's
0:10
lore as another embarrassing traumatic
0:14
experience for many and yet so many
0:17
things from the press conference
0:19
actually were exactly
0:21
what Bills fans wanted to hear and so
0:24
why do you walk away from that feeling
0:26
disappointed like everything is off I've
0:29
got a theory on that. I think it's
0:31
because Bills fans know how to smell a
0:34
rat. Before I get there, I just want to
0:37
remind you, subscribe to the channel.
0:38
Click on this button below me. We are
0:40
dropping fresh football videos every
0:42
single day, including right through the
0:45
off season. Football never sleeps. You
0:48
know, in this press conference, it's
0:49
amazing how many things Bills fans got
0:51
that they probably wanted to hear. Those
0:53
that felt like the organization was
0:55
always just going to be apathetic enough
0:57
to let Shawn McDermott just keep
0:59
coaching as long as they were good got
1:02
the the edict that no, you have to be
1:04
great. The tone was the thing that was
1:07
off about this press conference. And I
1:10
think it's because Bill's fans have a
1:14
really strong internal indicator of true
1:17
purpose, of authenticity, of integrity.
1:20
What I mean by this is if you put side
1:24
byside pictures in your brain of Shawn
1:27
McDermott and Brandon Bean, McDermott
1:30
probably has a parka on a headset,
1:33
steelely, and he's grinding towards the
1:37
intended goal of winning a Super Bowl,
1:39
even if it kills him. And Brandon Bean
1:42
probably has the shades on and he's kind
1:45
of looking down his nose at somebody
1:47
thinking he's the smartest guy in the
1:49
room.
1:50
And the tone on this was off from the
1:53
opening statement from Terry Pagula
1:56
because Terry went on the offensive
1:59
in pointing the finger at the audience
2:02
saying I can't believe you guys think
2:05
he's not a good GM. And the opening
2:07
statements are basically look at our
2:10
seating and who put together the
2:12
rosters. Who would ever think this guy
2:15
didn't put together a good roster? So
2:18
Terry Pagula set the tone of I've heard
2:22
your criticism and it's wrong.
2:26
Now let's rewind the tape a little bit.
2:28
Shawn McDermott is potentially a flawed
2:32
head coach. I believe that in lateg game
2:36
situations throughout his career, his
2:39
super strong intensity
2:42
sometimes
2:44
became paralysis. And I think it might
2:46
have spread to the rest of the
2:48
organization and the team on the field
2:51
that when things were at their most
2:53
urgent, he was at his most tense.
2:56
And I think that the Bills often times
2:59
played like that in the playoffs. And so
3:02
there was a fair critique here about
3:04
whether they really ever could get over
3:06
the proverbial hump with Shawn
3:08
McDermott. But in your mind's eye, you
3:11
believe even through his flaws, the only
3:15
thing Shawn McDermott wanted was to win
3:18
a Super Bowl. And probably, you believe
3:21
he wanted to do it for the city. I mean,
3:23
right down to his last words at a press
3:25
conference, he was standing up for
3:27
Buffalo, essentially saying, "The
3:30
league's not looking out for us, so I'm
3:33
going to do it." He was a protector.
3:34
who's a protector of you, of the city,
3:37
of the organization, which is really
3:40
unique for a football coach. And I think
3:43
everybody would probably agree that
3:46
Shawn McDermott was a man of integrity
3:50
and that what he said really what was
3:53
what was what he believed and it was
3:57
going to kill him to try to bring that
3:59
Super Bowl home, whatever it took.
4:03
Brandon Bean through this power struggle
4:07
or a decision by Terry Pagula survived,
4:10
advanced, got promoted, and I think most
4:13
people believe bringing a Super Bowl
4:15
home was important, but it was more
4:18
important to be right for being or more
4:21
important to make sure he knows that you
4:24
think he's smart. Or maybe it was just
4:26
more important for him to be viewed as a
4:29
brilliant general manager by the league
4:31
at large. But there was something about
4:33
how this thing went down in which you
4:36
didn't trust Bill's fans didn't trust
4:39
that the man with the most integrity in
4:42
purpose was the man that stayed. And so
4:46
when Terry Pagula read or heard this
4:49
reaction to the fan base wondering why
4:53
did Brandon Bean get to survive, I think
4:56
Pagoula took it personally like how dare
4:59
you think I made the wrong decision or
5:02
why is everybody criticizing me. I
5:04
thought I made the right decision for
5:06
everybody. My guess is Terry Pagula
5:08
fired Shawn McDermad and probably
5:10
assumed the fan base was going to be all
5:13
about it. And when it wasn't,
5:17
I think he got sideways.
5:20
So you see Terry Pigula going on the
5:23
offensive, questioning critics of
5:25
Brandon Bean and it creates already the
5:29
defense mechanism that everybody saw
5:32
through that no matter what Bean did
5:35
that was wrong or flawed, Pagoula wasn't
5:38
going to admit it and was going to shove
5:40
all the blame to Brandon or to to Shawn
5:43
McDermott's side. For those that worry
5:46
that Shawn McDermott was always a fa a
5:48
flawed head coach that couldn't
5:50
eventually get to a Super Bowl, you have
5:53
an owner that saw emotional devastation
5:56
in the locker room and said there must
5:59
be change. This can't keep happening.
6:01
You heard the GM Brandon Bean take
6:04
responsibility at least partially for
6:07
failed rosters saying I've got to do my
6:09
part and taking responsibility for
6:12
overreacting to the radio host last year
6:15
and the wide receiver defense over the
6:17
airwaves. That was probably good to hear
6:20
as well. And yet everybody walked away
6:23
thinking that's not what you wanted to
6:25
hear. And I've thought a lot about why
6:29
how that thing could have missed so much
6:31
even though it had so much you wanted to
6:34
hear or maybe thought you'd never hear
6:35
in a good way. And when Brandon Bean
6:39
went into his his answer about how dare
6:45
anybody think he's not collaborative,
6:49
that he wanted to win a power struggle.
6:52
This did certainly hit him deep cuz he
6:55
reacted and responded to it and brought
6:57
up the anecdote about his wife. He came
6:59
home to his wife crying after reading
7:01
this report that people assumed he
7:04
wanted Shawn McDermad out. He went
7:05
overboard to make sure you knew that
7:08
that's not me. That's not who I am. And
7:10
I can't believe anybody would think
7:11
that. He was reacting and responding to
7:15
the perception again that his purpose
7:17
wasn't as genuine.
7:19
And because both
7:22
owner and general manager
7:26
wanted to make you believe
7:30
that you were wrong in your assessment,
7:34
it twisted everything in the wrong
7:36
direction. It twisted everything in the
7:38
wrong way. And
7:41
if only they could have shed that, it
7:44
actually could have been a really
7:46
healthy press conference.
7:48
And I think because tone was wrong and
7:53
the pointing of the finger of blame at
7:55
Keon Coleman
7:57
and the defense that the roster is is so
8:00
good that they could win with backup
8:03
quart backup players in significant
8:04
roles, but not be able to admit that
8:07
coaching had a big role in having that
8:10
in making sure backup players in in
8:13
these roles were still successful
8:16
because the tone had shrouded
8:18
everything.
8:20
So many people missed the points, the
8:22
important points which which was this is
8:24
actually a really good thing that
8:27
ownership feels like it's Super Bowl or
8:30
bust just like fans do. And I I knew
8:36
that this press conference
8:39
was actually not as bad as it might have
8:43
been perceived when I saw the national
8:46
media dropping elbows and atomic bombs
8:50
on this press conference. You you just
8:53
know and I know from my experience of
8:54
being a national sports talk host, you
8:57
cannot know the context of every story
9:00
of every press conference of every team.
9:02
you kind of operate in this this kind of
9:05
shallow pool where you know a little bit
9:07
about everything instead of a lot about
9:10
a few things. And when I saw guys like
9:12
Mike Greenberg and other ESPN talking
9:14
heads or Fox Sports talking heads saying
9:16
that this is going to drive potential
9:19
candidates away and nothing could be
9:21
worse than this press conference and
9:23
this is a complete calamity. I knew it
9:25
actually wasn't that bad because I know
9:28
that when the national media that isn't
9:32
they're not on the ground boots on the
9:34
ground with a story and they haven't
9:36
seen it through every twist and turn or
9:38
know the context. If they all go one way
9:41
really hard, usually you cut the
9:44
opposite way for the truth. Because if
9:47
everybody's going so hard at this is
9:50
going to drive candidates away, nothing
9:53
could be worse than this. who would want
9:54
to work for this owner and GM an
9:56
organization. You just knew, okay,
9:59
that's unrealistic. Okay, not
10:01
everybody's going to have that read that
10:04
only kind of swooped in for a 35 second
10:08
clip on Twitter. You know, if that's all
10:11
you saw and that's what you're reacting
10:12
to, I just know that you you really
10:15
don't understand the rest of the 59
10:16
minutes of the press conference. I don't
10:19
think that press conference in any way,
10:21
shape, or form will dissuade a great
10:24
candidate from the job because the job
10:27
itself is the job. An organization with
10:31
a superstar quarterback in his prime and
10:33
a team that has been really close
10:36
demands to get over the hump and to a
10:38
Super Bowl. If you're a head coach and
10:40
your dream is a Super Bowl, which I
10:42
would imagine almost every coaching
10:45
candidate says right away, I want to be
10:48
in the running every year to win a Super
10:50
Bowl. Then this job is either the best
10:54
or second best job on the market this
10:56
off season, including the Baltimore
10:58
Ravens. Those two jobs have a franchise
11:00
quarterback, an organization that wants
11:02
to win a Super Bowl, nothing less, and
11:06
has a roster that's been really close.
11:10
What What candidate wouldn't jump at
11:13
that? And I think a candidate will look
11:16
at those realities versus tone of a
11:19
press conference and realize tone is
11:22
temporary. The other things are the
11:24
permanence.
11:27
This just comes down to whether Brandon
11:30
Bean really does have the ultimate
11:33
integrity and his purpose. Is his
11:35
purpose to win a Super Bowl no matter
11:37
what? Because the noise from all of this
11:42
was really the Bills did a crummy job in
11:46
appreciating Shawn McDermott. The fact
11:48
that he get he got fired is not
11:51
unprofessional.
11:52
It's also not unreasonable.
11:56
They kept hitting their head on a
11:57
ceiling, a glass ceiling, and it
11:59
happened again. And
12:02
the fact that the Bills were so
12:05
emotional,
12:06
a devastated locker room with Josh
12:09
taking so much accountability and blame
12:11
that he's openly crying, causing Dion
12:14
Dawkins and Brandon Cooks and others to
12:16
openly cry as well, showed that
12:19
something was devastating emotionally
12:21
about this one. And I talked about this
12:24
in one of my previous videos. I think
12:26
there was a real hard frying pan of the
12:30
face, frying pan of the soul. Oh my god,
12:32
it's not the Chiefs this year. It's
12:33
somebody else. Does it mean it's never
12:35
our time? And I think it actually would
12:37
have been really hard emotionally to run
12:40
it back with McDermott and Bean and Josh
12:42
Allen, the same cast of characters, and
12:45
just feel like a tweak here, a tweak
12:47
there with the roster was going to be
12:48
enough. I don't think you would have had
12:52
a locker room fully engaged in believing
12:55
no no it's going to be different this
12:57
year. So making the head coaching change
12:59
actually was the most reasonable and
13:04
significant way you could change you
13:06
could change it because the roster
13:09
absolutely needs to be better.
13:11
Absolutely.
13:12
But the message in the locker room was
13:15
just as important. Just as important.
13:18
There's no guarantee this is the right
13:20
move. No guarantee they'll get the right
13:22
guy. But just as important as the roster
13:27
was belief within the locker room. No,
13:30
no, no. It can be our time and it will
13:33
be our time. So the decision to fire
13:36
Shawn actually
13:39
was probably the best decision we could
13:42
all hope for.
13:44
But what just needed to happen was more
13:46
tack along the way. More tact along the
13:52
way. You just needed a more authentic
13:57
appreciation for a guy whose integrity
14:01
and whose purpose was clear. Shawn
14:04
McDermott's purpose was we must win a
14:07
Super Bowl for us and for you.
14:11
And when Bill's fans hear that, that
14:14
they are at the center of this, it all
14:17
makes sense. Everybody is aligned.
14:19
That's why Josh Allen is so beloved. We
14:22
all know what he wants in winning a
14:24
Super Bowl is not just for his own
14:26
legacy. It's for you. It's for the city.
14:28
It's for this fan base.
14:34
This is a long way of saying
14:38
the guts of the press conference
14:41
of the decision here of the end result
14:45
actually is all good.
14:49
It's the way it was dressed that leaves
14:52
everybody with a bad taste of their
14:54
mouth. But the good news is
14:57
you can learn from tone. You can change
15:00
tone. and the big picture decision that
15:03
could be the thing that unlocks the
15:05
Bills to get to a Super Bowl. That big
15:08
vision decision has been made and now
15:13
it's time for them to do the right thing
15:16
with the next guy. Shawn McDerman
15:19
deserves a lot more respect than he got
15:21
on the way out the door, but everything
15:24
here can still align for the Bills to be
15:27
a better organization
15:30
if they get it right here with this hire
15:33
and learn from the press conference
15:35
about tone. And Brandon Bean would be
15:38
well served to recognize there's a
15:41
reason Shawn McDermott is so popular.
15:45
Make sure you project an appreciation
15:48
for where you are, the fan base, the
15:52
region, and the purpose. And if you do
15:55
that, you can win back the trust of, I
15:59
think, many of these Bills fans. Thanks
16:02
for watching everybody. I'm DA Damon
16:04
Amanda. Make sure you are subscribed by
16:06
clicking this button below me. We got
16:07
fresh football videos every single day
16:09
of the off season. Thanks so much. We'll
16:11
see you next time. I'm DA.
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