New Bills DC says he'd be 'a fool' to not lean on 'mentor' Sean McDermott

New Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich plans to lean on his long-standing relationship with head coach Sean McDermott as he adjusts to the job.

Jan 7, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott reacts from the sideline against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

For as long as Bobby Babich has had a job in the NFL, he’s had a relationship with Sean McDermott.

The son of longtime NFL defensive coach Bob Babich, Bobby was plucked out of the collegiate ranks in 2011, leaving Division 1 FCS program Eastern Michigan to join Ron Rivera’s upstart staff in Carolina. Babich’s official title with the Panthers was “administrative assistant to the coaching staff,” developing a rapport with new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott throughout his two years in Charlotte. 

Their two paths diverged after the 2012 season, with Babich leaving to take a job with the Cleveland Browns before returning to the collegiate level as FIU’s secondary coach in 2016. When McDermott was named head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2017 following a successful stint as Carolina’s defensive play-caller, Babich again joined his staff, initially signing on as assistant defensive backs coach.

He’s one of just a handful of coaches who remain from McDermott’s initial staff, working up the ranks throughout the last seven years; he was named safeties coach in 2018 before ascending to linebackers coach in 2022. After taking interviews for several defensive coordinator vacancies around the league in the 2024 offseason, Buffalo named Babich its defensive coordinator to prevent teams from poaching him, a fitting culmination of his ascent up the staff.

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He never truly wanted to go elsewhere. He even finds it a bit poetic that his first crack at being an NFL defensive coordinator comes alongside a head coach whom he’s known since he broke into the league, a presence he plans to lean on heavily as he adjusts to the new role.

“I’m a fool if I don’t use Sean McDermott,” Babich told reporters ahead of a Tuesday OTA practice at One Bills Drive. “In the end, he’s the head coach of the Buffalo Bills not only because he’s a great leader and a great football mind, but he’s made his name on defense. I’ve always looked at Sean as a mentor. Already, I’m picking his brain on things every day. Every day I’m in his office, ‘Hey, how would you handle this?’ And I probably wear him out a little bit. 

“I think a lot of things happen for a reason. I think that the position that we’re currently in, it’s funny, you look back to 2011, I’m a 26-year-old who thinks he knows football, and I didn’t know football. Now I’m here in this position with him. I would hope, and I do believe, that that relationship that we’ve had for now 13 years would help that. Anything you’re in, you create that relationship to where, from my perspective, there’s a lot of respect and admiration for the job he’s done and what he’s able to do and the way he thinks about things. There’s no doubt to me that that’s a benefit having that previous relationship.”

Not overly concerned about play-calling

Babich—given his relative youth (40) and the fact that all of his professional experience comes as a position coach—has no experience calling defensive plays, a responsibility generally given to defensive coordinators. McDermott told reporters last month that Babich will have the opportunity to call defensive plays throughout the summer and preseason, but he hasn’t yet decided who will have the playsheet come September; an experienced play-caller himself, McDermott called defensive plays for the team last season following the departure of former coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Babich isn’t overly concerned about who the responsibility ultimately falls to, as the team’s success is his only real concern.

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“You’re never ready until you do it,” Babich said. “I’ve prepared myself for, I think I’ve been in this league 12 or 13 years, you’re constantly trying to prepare yourself for when you get into this position, but until you actually do something, you are never ready. I don’t have the ego to sit up here and say ‘I’m ready,’ this, that, and the other. I’m vulnerable enough to say that I’m as prepared as I can possibly be and I’m going to continue to learn every day, every part of this process, I’m going to continue to learn. 

“I’m going to make mistakes at whatever that is that this job entails. It’s going to happen, just like players make mistakes, and like anybody new at a position makes mistakes. That’s going to happen, but I’m as prepared as I can possibly be. I’ve got a great mentor upstairs who I’ve been with for a multitude of years who I can lean on, and I’m really, really, really excited for this opportunity, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help this team win a Super Bowl.”