Sean McDermott presides over one of the best locker rooms in the National Football League. It is filled with high-character players who are bonded to one another, and serves as one of the Buffalo Bills' top selling points.
It takes a lot of groundwork to put a group like this together.
During an interview on the "Howard and Jeremy Show" on Thursday, Wake Forest head coach, an Youngstown, New York native Dave Clawson revealed McDermott called him to talk about Carlos Basham Jr. before taking the pass-rusher with the 61st overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. It’s extra legwork that separates McDermott from other NFL coaches.
“I think Sean is probably on the high end of football who care about character and fit and community,” Clawson said. “The fact he called me and asked me about those things about 'Boogie', it’s not just coach speak to say he cares about it. He was going to do some digging before he was going to use a first or a second round pick.”
Clawson would know about McDermott’s values and work ethic: They’ve known each other for 25 years. When McDermott was a safety at William and Mary, Clawson was the offensive coordinator at Villanova. He also hired McDermott’s secondary coach to be his defensive coordinator at Richmond, where he coached from 2004-07.
“I found it very impressive that Sean took the time to call and do that research before bringing somebody into the Bills organization,” Clawson said.
Basham is a physical beast, standing at 6-foot-3 and 274 pounds. He recorded 35.5 tackles for loss and 20.5 sacks in 45 games at Wake Forest.
But his biggest impact may come in the locker room. That’s the Bills way.
“He’s going to be someone in the locker room who’s a unifier,” Clawson said. "He’s just one of those people that other people are drawn to in a very positive way. I’m thrilled he’s going to my hometown team. I think he’ll be very productive, but also someone who gets involved in the community and makes Buffalo proud.”
In case you missed it, you can listen to Clawson's interview below: