Buffalo Bills: Leslie Frazier Will Have Big Role in 2017

Leslie Frazier will have a lot of influence on the direction of the Buffalo Bills, working alongside Sean McDermott.

Last week, Buffalo Bills‘ head coach Sean McDermott made a big announcement when he confirmed that defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier will be calling the defensive plays next season. It was a question that had been floating around since Buffalo hired the two.

Frazier is being given a big opportunity in Buffalo and this could very well be his ticket back to the head coaching level — assuming we see results. For now, McDermott is glad to have him by his side and is completely comfortable handing the play-calling duties over to the experienced coach.

In an interview with Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com, McDermott opened up about his decision:

"“Leslie Frazier is going to call the defense,” said McDermott. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in Leslie. He and I worked together in Philadelphia for a number of years. Leslie has been there and done that across the league as a position coach and a successful coordinator and then a head coach. From a defensive standpoint I’ve got a lot of confidence in Leslie.”"

After seeing how the Rex Ryan era ended in Buffalo, I was skeptical the Buffalo Bills would be able to put together a quality coaching staff — or at least the staff fans were hoping for. They were lucky enough to find Sean McDermott, who has exceeded expectations early on.

It didn’t take long for McDermott to select his defensive coordinator and it’s easy to see why. Not only do the two have history coaching together, but the experience Frazier brings with him is by far one of his most attractive qualities.

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That statement is justified now that McDermott has chosen Leslie Frazier to call plays on defense.

Here’s more of what McDermott has to say about what to expect from Frazier’s defense:

"“It wasn’t too long ago they were in a 4-3 system a couple of years ago. There are a number of players on this roster who are good players,” he said. “I feel good about what we’ve got with the men up front and then being able to blitz some of our secondary and third level players. It’s important for us to put them in position to be successful and then add players for competition and for depth purposes.”"

The two coaches first met in 1999 with the Philadelphia Eagles, when Frazier was hired as the defensive backs coach and McDermott was hired as a scouting coordinator. Although McDermott would stay for a long time, Frazier would leave after 4 seasons.

Since then, Frazier has put together quite the NFL coaching resume. In addition to spending time as a positional coach, Leslie Frazier has been hired as a defensive coordinator three times before the Buffalo Bills — Cincinnati Bengals (2003-2004), Minnesota Vikings (2007-2010) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2013-2015).

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He enjoyed the most success while with Minnesota, where he would eventually take over as interim head coach when Brad Childress left — Week 10 of the 2010 season). He would return as head coach and spend a total of three years as head coach. his record over that span was 21-32-1, including a 10-6 season in 2012 (playoffs).

Experience is very important when it comes to coaching, so the fact the Buffalo Bills named a former head coach as their defensive coordinator should show a lot of promise. And to have that coach also,calling your plays on defense should make fans feel a little bit better next season.

Of course, McDermott and Frazier will have their hands full this offseason as they continue to evaluate the roster and figure out how to fit the new scheme in with their players. There are a number of questions that remain, but it looks like we will see a lot of Dareus, Williams, Washington, Hughes and Lawson on the defensive line.

As for the linebackers, we will see a lot of Ragland and Preston Brown, but with Zach Brown being a free agent the third player is still unknown.

Buffalo Bills’ fans can sleep well at night knowing they have two very detailed coaches working diligently to change the culture surrounding this team.

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What are are your thoughts on Leslie Frazier calling the defensive plays next season?