I am shocked and disappointed, if the reason is lack of winning team performance maybe the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, and any of the myriad of specialty sub-coaches should be reviewed for performance results. Maybe Sean McDermott should have been more demanding of the coaches under him, but maybe the overall performance results of the offensive, defensive and special coordinators should have been and now will be reviewed by management who decided to fire Coach McDermott too. I am a life long Buffalo Bills fan and will be through this upheaval. Thank you Coach McDermott, God Bless wherever you end up! All this from the New York Times...
Bills fire coach Sean McDermott after 9 seasons, GM Brandon Beane promoted
The Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons on Monday, after they once again failed to advance to the Super Bowl with franchise quarterback Josh Allen. The Bills lost to the Denver Broncos 33-30 in overtime on Saturday in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. General manager Brandon Beane was promoted to President of Football Operations and will lead the search for a new coach.
“Sean has done an (admirable) job of leading our football team for the past 9 seasons,” Bills owner Terry Pegula said in a statement. “But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.
“Sean helped change the mindset of this organization and was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team. I respect all the work, loyalty and attention to detail he showed for this team and the community. I wish Sean, Jamie and his family all the best.
“Moving forward, Brandon Beane will now serve as the President of Football Operations / General Manager of the Buffalo Bills. Brandon will oversee all facets of our football operation, including the oversight of our coaching staff. I have full faith in and have witnessed Brandon’s outstanding leadership style and have confidence in his abilities to lead our organization.
“Beane will be leading the search for a new head coach and will be working directly with Pegula and Pete Guelli, who will now serve as President of Business Operations, during the interview and hiring process.”
The Bills have reached the divisional round in six straight seasons and twice advanced to the AFC Championship Game (in 2020 and 2024) but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in both of those title game appearances. McDermott finishes his Buffalo tenure with a regular-season record of 98-50 and a postseason record of 8-8.
McDermott’s teams made the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons, including in his first year in 2017 when the Bills snapped a 17-year playoff drought. His 98 wins are second all-time in franchise history behind only Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, who won 112 games over 12 seasons and reached four Super Bowls.
Bills unable to reach Super Bowl under McDermott
The Bills moving on from McDermott is a stunning scene for a franchise that struggled so significantly before he arrived. Ultimately, the Bills saw each one of the team’s playoff heartbreaks and decided it was time to go in a different direction. Whether it was the “13 seconds” loss in Kansas City, another loss to Kansas City in last year’s AFC Championship Game with a chance to win it late, or the most recent heartbreak in Denver, a game that the Bills had several chances to win, the Bills under McDermott just couldn’t push past the AFC Championship Game, despite all of their regular season success. That is eventually what led to the longtime head coach’s ouster on Monday. Falling short of the AFC East division in 2025 and having to spend the postseason on the road, along with not progressing in a playoff field that was without Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in the playoff field, are likely contributing factors to his demise in Buffalo.
During his tenure, McDermott endeared himself to the area for how well he channeled being an authentic Buffalonian. McDermott often commented about how misunderstood the area was and how important it was to him to deliver a Super Bowl to the area and its fan base. He had a deep respect for the team’s history, despite not being from the area, and put it at the forefront of who he was as the franchise’s leader. But in the end, it is a results-based business, and boiling anxiety from a fan base over not getting to a Super Bowl in Allen’s prime led to this huge decision. Allen will be 30 this offseason, and without knowing how much longer he can play the physical brand of football that he does, the Bills decided the time was now to make the move. The move is a risk, considering McDermott has been one of the most consistent and winningest coaches in the NFL since he arrived But is calculated as they hope this is the catalyst to finally winning a Super Bowl championship. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
Bills season ended on emotional note
The scene following the Bills’ loss to the Broncos made it feel as if something bigger than just a playoff loss was in the air. Allen was in tears, by far the most emotional he’s ever been, and the locker room was in a complete state of devastation, well beyond what happened in their previous playoff exits. At the end of it, McDermott arrived at his news conference with a message he wanted to get off his chest.
He was unhappy with how the game unraveled in one distinct moment, when the officials sped through a controversial call of a Broncos interception in overtime, on what he believes was a catch by wide receiver Brandin Cooks that would have set the Bills up in field goal range with a chance to win the contest and earn another berth in the AFC Championship Game.
Because it was in overtime and coaches weren’t allowed to challenge a single play, McDermott was forced to take a timeout, just to get the officials over to his side to discuss what could have been the Bills’ ticket to another AFC Championship Game appearance. McDermott was only granted a quick timeout, was told that the league reviewed it and upheld the call, and when that timeout quickly expired, the Broncos game-winning drive began.
“If it is ruled that way, why wasn’t it slowed down, just to make sure that we had this right? That would have made a lot of sense to me. To make sure that we had this thing right, because that’s a pivotal play in the game,” McDermott said. “So I’ll just leave it at that.”
But he didn’t leave it at that. The usually reserved McDermott couldn’t hold back, cutting off another question seconds later.
“I’m saying it because I’m standing up for Buffalo, damnit. I’m standing up for us,” McDermott said. “What went on is not how it should go down in my estimation. That play — these guys spend three hours out there playing football, pouring their guts out, to not even say ‘Hey, let’s just slow this thing down.’ That’s why I’m bothered.”
Then, well after his news conference, and in watching the play before boarding the team’s bus to the plane, McDermott’s comments about the play weren’t over.
He wanted to put more on the record before the Bills took flight home, and in an uncanny move, called the Buffalo media, who were still writing about the game in the Empower Field press box, to issue his thoughts on what wound up being the last play the Bills possessed the ball in the 2025 season.
“Because I only speak up when there is a wrong. In this case, it happened to be to our team. We win with class and we lose with class in Buffalo. That’s how we handle our business, but when I’m looking at the replay myself and I’m being objective and I’m saying, ‘you can not convince me that that was not a catch, Buffalo possession, ball at the 20. You can’t convince.’ I’m speaking up because I feel strongly that that was a catch and that possession should have been ball belongs to Buffalo.
“I can’t agree with their assessment of a change of possession or whatever the statement was. I can’t agree with that. We’re not just going to sit here and take it, is what I’m saying. We’re not just going to sit here and take it. I’m pissed off about it, and I feel strongly as I’ve looked at it in review in my own locker that it’s a catch, possession Buffalo, and that the process should have been (long pause) … handled differently. I don’t understand why the head official who is at the game does not get a chance to look at the same thing people in New York are ruling on.”
Those were the last public comments from McDermott before he was let go on Monday. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
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