Buffalo Bills’ Sean McDermott wins 36th Earle “Greasy” Neale Award

Earle “Greasy” Neale was one of the league’s best coaches for almost an entire decade. Head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Neale led the team to first or second place from 1944 through 1949, helped them win the NFL Championship in 1948 and 1949, and was an early inspiration for the 4-3 defenses we are accustomed to today.

Recently, the prestigious Maxwell Football Club, which was established in 1935 to promote safety in American football, awarded Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott with the 36th Earle “Greasy” Neale Award as the Most Outstanding Coach in pro football. This is the first time in franchise history that a Bills coach has been awarded such an honor.

From the Bills Official site, these are some of the things McDermott has accomplished this season:

• Became the fifth coach in NFL history with five straight 11-win seasons, joining Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Tony Dungy and Tom Landry
• Led the Bills to becoming the first team since 2009 and one of eight teams all-time to clinch a division title with five weeks remaining.
• The Bills are the first team to ever defeat two 15-plus win teams in a single season.
• Ranks second all-time in regular-season wins (86) in a head coach’s first eight NFL seasons.

Since taking over as head coach for Buffalo in 2017, McDermott has led the Bills to an 86-45 overall record (.656) and has seen his team make the playoffs in seven of the past eight years. In fact, McDermott was the coach to help the Bills break their 17-year playoff drought in his very first season with quarterback Tyrod Taylor at the helm.

If McDermott continues to pile up victories, not only will he remain one of the best coaches in the NFL, but he also has a chance to surpass the legendary Marv Levy as winningest coach in franchise history.