Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott announced on Wednesday that new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich will be calling the defensive signals this upcoming season.
Babich was, of course, coy when he was asked how and when McDermott let him know on Thursday.
"He told me when he felt I needed to know that I was doing it," said Babich with a smile.
"I appreciate him and his belief in me, and as Micah [Hyde] said, confidence is a dangerous drug. When someone shows confidence in you, it goes a long way. So I’m very appreciative, I’m very grateful. Now it’s my job to take advantage of the opportunity."
In Week 1, the Bills get to face Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Murray can beat you with his rifle arm, or his speed and elusiveness running the ball.
"He can beat you in a lot of ways, and that’s the trend the NFL is going in," Babich said of Murray. "He does a nice job in every facet of the game, so we have to be on our Ps and Qs defending him, and just practice and prepare the right way."
It’s interesting to wonder if Babich comes up with long and detailed game plans or if he likes to simplify it. Babich learned his philosophy from his head coach.
"I’ve come up under Sean, and I’ve seen the way Sean has evolved and molded," Babich noted. "One of the things I respect most about Sean is his willingness to put others first, and there was a moment years ago where he said we’re going to keep this simple, we’re going to play fast, we’re going to play physical. I guess I’m of that school."
Babich says he listens to press conferences of other people talking about the Bills defense.
"The common theme is we keep it simple. We know what we’re doing, and we do it fast," he said. "They might know what we’re doing, but it’s more important that we know what we’re doing."
Linebacker Terrel Bernard said Wednesday it’s easy to have Babich in his ear calling the plays, because he’s had him as his linebackers coach for two years.
"The bad part for Terrel in all this is I don’t have to hear anything that he’s saying, but I’m in his ear the whole time. So he can be mad at me, he can be cussing me, but I don’t hear it. But he’s got to listen to me," Babich joked. "But the communication is great. Definitely those two years, there’s a relationship that’s developed there and it definitely helps."
Damar Hamlin is now starting at safety for the Bills. It’s not the first time he’s started, as he did it a couple seasons ago. Babich says it was important to get into a room face-to-face with Hamlin to see if he was truly ready.
"We had a discussion, and I just really sat down with him and talked about where he was at mentally. That was maybe before we started practicing in the spring and from that point on, I knew he was ready to just be Damar Hamlin the person and the football player," Babich explained. "I believe you’ve seen that as we’ve gone on, he’s risen to challenges. There’s little thing that me and coach Dan (Joe Danna) had given him saying, 'Dude, you’ve got to get better at this,' and he took it and would correct things right off the jump. You could just tell he was very focused and was doing things with a lot of intent."
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With Sunday being his first game as an NFL defensive coordinator, you would think there might be some nerves for Babich.
"I just get lost in the process of how we’re going through things. But the other thing that takes my time is checking in not only with players to make sure we’re good to go, specifically veterans, and making sure our coaching staff feels good about everything and the way we’re going about it," Babich said.
