Quotes from Sean McDermott

I'm probably not one of the more vocal people around, but I do watch, I do listen and I try to learn from the people I watch.

I obtained my first job with the Eagles through a series of internships that began during my junior year of college. From there, after obtaining the job, it was a combination of hard work and perseverance and showing them the type of person that I was that helped me climb the coaching ladder.

There's a reason the Panthers have been successful over the years and Cam Newton's a big factor in that equation. He does a great job.

Super Bowl parties are not my thing.

In order to build chemistry you've got to really know one another.

This game in a lot of ways, isn't that complex. You bring energy to the table and you've got a chance. You bring fundamentals to the table and you've got a chance. It's not always about scheme and all that magic-behind-the-curtain stuff.

It feels good to win a game, because it's tough to win in this league, and then when you talk about the playoffs and being in it for two of three years, what a blessing.

Move the ball and score points. If we don't do that, I'm frustrated. Simply put.

I've always had coaching in my blood. My dad was a college coach at West Chester and Ursinus so I had a feeling all along that I would coach.

That's a sign of a good football team, where we can adjust and adapt to our surroundings.

The only way you can get a hit is if you take a swing.

I know my background was defense, but I'm not a defensive coach who wants to win 9-7 every week.

Really what we've done is establish a tradition in Carolina of playing defense.

You're doing yourself a disservice if you're not building your roster and your team to give yourself a legitimate chance to score 21 points.

I think it's no accident that a number of coaches and personnel guys have come out of William and Mary. To me, it's a credit to the type of program Coach Laycock runs. There are set rules, there is clarity when it comes to expectations. You're expected to go to class and be a student-athlete. There are no cutting corners.

You've got to make tough decisions, sometimes unpopular decisions... Whatever it is, if it's the right move at the right time, you've got to be also willing to make mistakes.

I used to go with my dad to wash windows at a grocery store on Sunday nights when it was closed because they didn't want anyone to be washing the windows when it was open.

I was the security guard that got stationed directly outside the Eagles locker room or on the field. I don't even know what I did. But there was Jon Gruden, Ray Rhodes, Emmitt Thomas, Danny Smith, all those guys that are legends of the game.

Coming to Buffalo three years, two and a half years ago, whatever it's been a lot of people said, 'Why are you going there? You're not going to be able to get it turned around.' But we got it turned around, with a lot of work yet to do.

What I look for are guys that work hard, have a great work ethic and embrace that underdog mentality a little bit. And certainly there is no substitute for toughness.

It's a life lesson that translates beyond football. You can share these things with your kids: Work hard, do things the right way and you have a chance.

Being around a couple good tight ends in my history, both in Philadelphia and Carolina, namely in Chad Lewis and then in Greg Olsen, you see how that helps a young quarterback whether he becomes a security blanket, he can turn a five-yard completion into a 15-yard gain.

Regardless of what you do, or who you have, at the end of the day you have to be able to execute better than the defense does in order to score points.

I'm into hiring smart guys; I'm into hiring guys who can think at a higher level, that can offer ideas.