Why Did the Bills Fire Sean McDermott? Unpacking the Coaching Change

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Sometimes the why is easy to explain. That’s not the case with the Buffalo Bills’ firing of Sean McDermott as their head coach Monday. Losing typically drives such moves. The Bills did little of that during McDermott’s nine seasons at the helm. His teams won 98 games in the regular season and eight in the playoffs. They made the postseason in all but one year since he got the job in 2017 and captured five AFC East titles. What the Bills didn’t do under McDermott was reach the Super Bowl, coming only as close as two appearances in the AFC Championship Game. It’s fair to assume that factored into his ouster, because a head coach is paid to do one thing: Guide his club to a Super Bowl crown. He only gets a finite amount of time to make that happen. And that is where identifying the why of this bombshell development gets tricky. The Bills had McDermott under contract through 2027, as part of an extension that reflected the confidence team owner Terry Pegula once had that McDermott was the right man to eventually deliver the league’s top prize. The same contractual timetable was in place for General Manager Brandon Beane. Somewhere along the way, perhaps before the 2025 season even began, the clock started ticking faster. The delivery of the Vince Lombardi Trophy needed to happen now … or else. Or else arrived with Saturday’s divisional-round playoff loss at Denver. The controversial nature of the loss – with McDermott and most Bills fans accusing officials of stealing a victory by turning a decisive catch into a decisive interception in overtime – didn’t matter. What sped up the clock? Logic points to a philosophical split between McDermott and Beane, leading to a power struggle from which Beane emerged as the winner. Despite the common outside view that Josh Allen’s supporting cast was what has mainly held the Bills back in their Super Bowl quest, Beane managed to convince Pegula that coaching was the primary culprit. How he pulled that off is hard to understand, considering McDermott might very well have done the best work of his career in leading the Bills to a 12-5 record with glaring weaknesses at wide receiver and on the defensive line. I’m told that during a meeting held five weeks ago between McDermott, Beane and Pegula, the coach pointed out what the roster lacked to win a Super Bowl. I don’t know the specifics McDermott mentioned, but I’m told neither Beane nor Pegula was pleased with McDermott’s assessment. The clincher in concluding that the GM and coach no longer were on the same page showed up in Pegula’s statement announcing McDermott’s firing. It’s the part where the owner revealed Beane now has the added title of President of Football Operations and will oversee coaching. This is a rare organizational structure for an NFL team. Previously, McDermott and Beane reported directly to Pegula. Now, Beane is the boss of all things on the football side. He’ll guide the search for the next head coach and the assembly of the coaching staff. He’ll also continue to lead the acquisition of players. This also is a risky move for the Bills as they prepare to move into their new stadium and give incumbent and new customers a reason to feel good about shelling out big bucks for seat licenses and season tickets. Replacing a man who not only is the second-winningest coach in franchise history but who dramatically improved a culture of dysfunction left behind by his predecessor, Rex Ryan, won’t be easy. It’s already being met with skepticism by players who held McDermott in high regard. It seems unlikely a head-coaching candidate of substance, someone who can afford to be choosy about his next job, would accept having to answer to Beane rather than directly to Pegula. That could very well limit the pool of prospective hires to younger coordinators of current teams rather than anyone with NFL head-coaching experience.