Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR 550) - It's not every day where one's travel woes end up turning into the journey of a lifetime.
That's what happened to be the case for West Seneca native Jason Guenther on Sunday, who ended up tagging along with Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott on their trek back to Western New York.
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"I was coming home from Greensboro, North Carolina and I had a layover flight to Atlanta. Landed in Atlanta, and then our flight kept getting pushed back, pushed back, and eventually got canceled because of mechanical issues," said Guenther in an interview with WBEN. "We were all waiting, there was about 45 of us on standby. I saw Sean McDermott, started talking to him. I had met him a few times before and we were just shooting the breeze, talking about stuff."
As it turns out, McDermott was also awaiting a return flight home from a softball tournament with his daughter.
After a short while of talking and waiting at the airport, McDermott and Guenther decided to then book a flight together to Pittsburgh, where they then rented a car and drove from Pittsburgh to Buffalo.
"I tried to pay him a few times for the car rental, he wouldn't allow it," Guenther said. "It was just a great experience, and he's truly why our Buffalo Bills and Buffalo is the way they are. He's just down to Earth, the normal dad bringing his daughter home from a softball tournament."
Guenther adds McDermott was even gracious enough to drop him off at his front door in West Seneca.
On the three-and-a-half hour car ride back to Buffalo, Guenther said a good chunk of the conversation with the Bills head coach surrounded coaching, and their philosophies as a coach. Guenther happens to be an ice hockey coach at Nichols School in Buffalo, and says he was able to feed off McDermott's coaching philosophy and life.
"It was probably the best three-and-a-half hours in my life. I have nothing but respect for him as a coach," Guenther said of McDermott. "I'm a player's coach, as far as I like to coach the individual first and then the player, and I apply that to my ice hockey coaching. Obviously watching his successes with the Buffalo Bills, I feel like he is as best of a coach as it is from a player's standpoint, because they have the utmost respect for him. They really, truly, want to play for him, they want to be here. They don't ask for more money, they come here and he's just done it right. That's why I feel like the Bills are gonna go all the way."
As for the biggest takeaway from his talks with McDermott about coaching, Guenther says despite serving as a teacher in a coaching roll, you're always still learning on the job.
"Basically, when we were talking, he just went over his coaching, where he came from, and how he constantly evolves his coaching style," he said. "To me, coaching is a philosophy, so what he taught me is just keep doing what I'm doing. There's gonna be people that tell you no, there's gonna be people that doubt you in certain ways. But if you follow through and do the right thing, and do it in a way that you believe in, he says success comes. And obviously with the Buffalo Bills, I feel like that's what he's done over the last few years, and he's really got the team good to go. So hopefully, in maybe 10 years from now, if I ever get to the professional light of coaching, I definitely will speak to that three-and-a-half hour car ride that I didn't want to add."
There is one quote from McDermott that Guenther loves and uses with his players in his coaching, "Humble and hungry." Guenther also has a quote that he uses in his coaching, that he was able to share with McDermott on their car ride.
"'Never forget where you come from, but don't let people tell you where you can go in life,'" Guenther said. "He's like, 'Wow, that's great.' He basically said for me being 31, for me being such a young coach and understanding that stuff, he's like, 'You're gonna go far, and sounds like you've already got a pretty good grasp of coaching in-hand.'"
Even though Guenther has met McDermott on a number of occasions and knew the type of coach he is, the one thing that stood out to him this time around is just how normal of a guy he is off the field and away from the game of football.
"Even when I said I didn't expect this to happen today, he's just like, 'I'm just a regular guy bringing my daughter home from softball.' And that's, I think, something that the NFL, the NHL and certain certain guys have gotten away from in the years," Guenther said. "I think Sean McDermott is a great example for other coaches and for future coaches to kind of be that regular normal guy that's just coaching a sport that he loves, doing what he loves, and taking care of his family."
Guenther also pointed to just how much McDermott has bought into Western New York and his love for the community.
"He really loves Buffalo, and he couldn't speak more highly about the city and the fans," he said.
With training camp set to get underway for the Bills in about a week at St. John Fisher University, Guenther was sure to let the Bills head coach know of his prediction for the upcoming 2023 season in Orchard Park.
"We're winning the Super Bowl," Guenther said.
"I told him I went all-in on season tickets this year, and I'm at every game, I tailgate every game. My friends and I, we tailgate in the handicap lot in front. He's a retired police officer, and we've been doing it for 15 years, and I can't be more excited."