Richie Incognito talks culture change in interview
By Connor Price
NFL Total Access recently interviewed Buffalo Bills’ guard, Richie Incognito. The veteran discussed culture change and new head coach, Sean McDermott.
This has not been a quiet offseason for the Buffalo Bills. The overhauled coaching staff and a new draft class shakes up the team quite a bit. One of the biggest things this team needs is a culture change.
Players and coaches talk about instituting a “winning culture.” So many talk about it, but few have the power to do it. If it was so easy, everyone would do it!
Sean McDermott and first-year general manager, Brandon Beane’s greatest responsibility this year will be said culture change.
One of the leaders of the team, especially the offensive line, discussed how McDermott has been doing thus far. That player is Richie Incognito. People hear his name, and immediately expect to be entertained. Incognito is quite the character and a fan favorite in Buffalo.
No Buffalo player would say bad things about their new head coach, but I believe Richie Incognito struggles to say anything disingenuous.
Here is what he had to say in the @NFLTotalAccess interview:
On the biggest difference in Buffalo so far with new head coach Sean McDermott:
"“The biggest difference with coach McDermott is he brings energy, he brings passion. He’s really stressing the football team loving one another. He’s really big on guys getting to know each other, building that winning culture. He’s very passionate. He’s a former wrestler. He brings a lot of good things to the table. I’m most excited about the winning culture that we’re formatting. He’s doing a bunch of cool activities like having guys get up and speak in front of the team and talk about why football is important to them. I’m learning more about my teammates that I’ve played with for the last two seasons in a couple of weeks in Buffalo than I’ve known for the last two years.”"
I can’t disagree with that. It will never hurt to have your team closer to each other than they were the prior year. Players will go out of their way to help their teammates if they know where they come from, and who they are. If Sean McDermott can create friendships between players than the team will have come a long way.
On if the Bills’ culture needed to change:
"“The culture change was needed. I love Rex [Ryan], I love what he brought to the team, but I don’t think our locker room was ready for it. I don’t think we had a veteran enough group to be able to adapt to Rex’s system and to be able to make that work. So now we have a young and hungry team, and with coach [Sean] McDermott coming in and being detail-oriented and holding guys accountable, hopefully that helps us take the next step."
If a player says that the culture needs to change, then best believe that is the first thing that the coach has to do. Richie Incognito said nothing but good things about his new coach. This makes it easy to get excited about the upcoming season! Let’s just see if it translates to the field.
Next: Buffalo Bills 2017 Schedule Analysis: Weeks 5-9
Do you think Sean McDermott will be successful in the upcoming season? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!