Sean McDermott plans to continue coaching after the Bills fired him on Monday morning.
McDermott, though, made it clear in a statement that he will miss Buffalo and Bills Mafia.
“For nearly a decade, I have had the opportunity to wake up every morning as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, which has truly been a gift,” McDermott wrote. “I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Pegula family, the Buffalo Bills organization and to the fans for allowing me to live out the dream of being a head coach in the NFL in this incredibly special place.
“I am proud and humbled to have worked alongside amazing staff and players as we shared life together and poured out our hearts and souls into both winning football games and making a positive impact in our community. This community graciously embraced not only me, but my family, and in some ways, helped raise our children over the last nine years. For that, I say thank you to all of the teachers, coaches and friends who we met along the way. The City of Good Neighbors! We love you! We will miss Buffalo.
“Bills Mafia, you are one of one! It has been a joy and inspiration to witness your passion and commitment firsthand. I always wanted our teams to play with the same level of toughness and grit that is true to Buffalo and that you demonstrate every day!
“God gave me and my family an incredible opportunity, one that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Yet, we know that HE has a plan.
“Thank you for allowing me to serve as your head coach.”
Bills Clips
When the Patriots fired Bill Belichick two years ago, most assumed he’d land on his feet with another NFL team.
In the third hiring cycle since his firing by the Patriots, Belichick has been publicly linked to only one job (the Falcons, in 2024).
This year, with 10 total openings, Belichick’s name has not come up. Except, of course, when he brought it up on his own.
In November 2025, Belichick issued a statement declaring he won’t pursue the opening with the Giants “despite circulating rumors.” (None were circulating.) The Giants, as we hear it, weren’t pleased with the pre-emptive announcement, since they had no intention of pursuing him.
If any other team has even kicked the tires on the Tar Heels coach, the interest has been kept tightly under wraps. Nothing has leaked about any inquiries or conversations or even basic background work (like, for example, figuring out the depth of and basis for his lingering animosity toward his former NFL employer) associated with making a potential hire.
The Buffalo job would be the one to watch, given the presence of quarterback Josh Allen and the ongoing rivalry with the Patriots. Belichick is regarded as the greatest game-day coach in league history. Yes, other factors have potentially complicated things, to say the least. Still, given the craziness of the past few weeks in the NFL, it would be foolish to completely rule out anything.
For now, though, the key word as it relates to Belichick’s NFL prospects is “nothing.” In three cycles, he’s had one announced interview. And while he has said he doesn’t want to return to the NFL, few in NFL circles believe it. The more reasonable interpretation would seem to be that it’s his way of dealing with the fact that no NFL team wants him.
Sunday’s appearance by NFL officiating spokesman Walt Anderson on the NFL Network pregame show was must-see TV.
And it raised more than a few must-answer questions.
Beyond the obvious (who specifically decided that the controversial interception from Saturday’s Bills-Broncos game didn’t require a full-blown replay review?) another comment from the league’s exclusive rules-explainer caught the attention of the league’s teams.
“They have an officiating staff of instant-replay officials,” Anderson said in explaining the behind-the-scenes process that resulted in a confirmation of the ruling on the field. “They have multiple people at the same time reviewing, really, every play.”
Said a high-level executive from one of the NFL’s teams to PFT: “Explain this to me. Entire staff of replay officials? Who are these people? Why is the first time we are hearing about this entire staff of replay officials?”
As explained on Sunday, the replay process was centralized more than a decade ago to create consistency. It was designed for former NFL senior V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino. And then Blandino left for Fox.
The job initially went to Al Riveron. After Riveron left (voluntarily or otherwise), it became much murkier. No one knows who’s making the decision, when a formal review occurs. And no one knows who’s making the decision when an expedited review occurs that a full-blown review isn’t needed.
Now, teams are learning there’s a full staff of unknown individuals who are making these critical decisions.
By not having one person and only one person making these decisions (especially in high-profile, standalone games), no one is ever truly accountable for the result. It is, as Kyle Brandt said during the NFL Network pregame show, “Orwellian.”
Big Shield (Brother) probably didn’t appreciate the choice of words. That doesn’t make it any less accurate.
At a time when the tinfoil-hat crowd has turned into a full-blown, gambling-fueled Reynolds Wrap Army, the current system cries out for an overhaul. The fact that the wagon-circling from Walt Anderson has caused teams to say, basically, “What the hell is going on?” only highlights that point.
The league would prefer that we focus on the next bright, shiny object. Those who truly care about the integrity of the game of professional football would prefer that the league office get its act together regarding a procedure that has massive consequences for teams, players, fans, and — as Sean McDermott found out on Monday — coaches.
The Raiders have started to line up a second round of interviews for their head coaching vacancy and the first round continued on Sunday.
The team announced that they completed interviews with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak. Both coaches were on the losing side of divisional round playoff games on Saturday.
Brady’s team shook things up by firing their head coach on Monday and he could be a candidate to take a step up the ladder in Buffalo. He also interviewed with the Ravens and Dolphins on Sunday and the Bills’ elimination frees him up for in-person interviews with any interested clubs this week.
Kubiak met with the Steelers on Sunday and is in the same boat as Brady when it comes to scheduling any future interviews. The Raiders also interviewed his brother Klint, but the Seahawks offensive coordinator won’t be able to do any second interviews this week.
Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips is not happy that head coach Sean McDermott was fired today.
Phillips voiced his extreme displeasure in a brief social media post.
“This shit here is so stupid honestly sickening,” Phillips wrote. “The best coach I’ve ever been around.”
Phillips included a graphic that showed the Bills have a 106-58 record in McDermott’s nine years as head coach, and that the Bills had the fifth-most points scored and third-fewest points allowed in the NFL during that time.
The 33-year-old Phillips will become an unrestricted free agent in March. It sounds like he’ll be looking to sign elsewhere.
Sean McDermott may not be out of work for long.
McDermott, who was fired today as the Bills’ head coach, told his staff after he was let go that he plans to keep coaching, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
There are seven teams with head coaching jobs currently available, in addition to the Bills. McDermott could be a candidate for the Cardinals, Ravens, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Steelers or Titans jobs.
Some of those teams may see McDermott as an excellent candidate. Current betting odds have McDermott as the second-most likely candidate to get the Steelers’ job, after Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
He made the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons as head coach of the Bills, going 98-50 in the regular season and 8-8 in the postseason. That wasn’t enough to keep him employed in Buffalo, but there aren’t many available coaches who have that kind of record. It’s easy to picture McDermott being at the top of some teams’ lists of candidates, now that he’s available.
As the Bills annually failed to parlay the talents of a generational franchise quarterback into the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in well over a generation, a nagging question emerged — even if the mere mention of it made folks within the organization very uneasy.
Is the problem a lack of talent, or is it a failure of coaching?
Owner Terry Pegula resolved the issue in a resounding way on Monday, firing coach Sean McDermott while promoting G.M. Brandon Beane.
Reasonable minds may differ on whether Pegula fired the wrong guy, or whether he settled for a half measure.
As noted by Benjamin Solak of ESPN.com, the Bills have drafted 56 players since acquiring quarterback Josh Allen in 2018. Only two of them (running back James Cook and tight end Dawson Knox) have made it to the Pro Bowl.
The broader reality is that the Bills haven’t been good enough around Allen. In 2021, reluctance to make the same kind of all-in moves the Rams did (trading for linebacker Von Miller, signing receiver Odell Beckham Jr.) kept Buffalo from getting past the infamous “13 seconds” game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Coaching or talent? Pegula has decided its coaching. Possibly because it will be easier to plug in a new coach than it will be to plug in new talent immediately. Cap space limits roster options. Only so many draft picks are available. A new coach can shake things up — especially if the new coach is an expert in coaching offense.
Regardless, two days after the team’s latest postseason exit, at a time when the Bills didn’t have to contend with the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, the Bengals and Joe Burrow, and the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, Pegula arrived at the breaking point. The coach took the fall, and the Bills will move another year into Allen’s prime with a different direction in September. And, ideally, a different result in January.
Through it all, the clock keeps ticking on the remaining years of Allen’s prime.
Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things. And, thanks to plenty of the perennially dysfunctional teams, the league is a current dysfunction mess.
The current hiring cycle, which at one point seemed like it could be quieter than usual, has sparked turnover with 10 teams. Nearly one third of the league. Two jobs have been filled; with Monday’s termination of Bills coach Sean McDermott, the number of vacancies is back to eight.
Here’s how one current NFL head coach put it, in a Monday morning unsolicited text message to PFT: “At this very moment, [this is] the worst collective of 32 owners in league history.”
It’s a strong statement, but the proof is, if anywhere, in the pudding. Bad teams stay bad. They think that they can turn it around by firing the current coach and hiring a new one, because for other teams it happens.
But the cycle of hiring and firing and hiring and firing contributes to the situation. When the owner has an itchy trigger finger, the coach spends way too much time looking over his shoulder and wondering whether the next decision that doesn’t pan out will be his last.
There’s no competence test to pass in order to qualify to own a team. The paths remain simple (if not easy): (1) have enough money to buy a team; or (2) get your name in the right spot in the will.
While some of the currently vacant jobs are open for reasons unrelated to membership in the gang that couldn’t own straight, most trace to owners who feel like they need to do something, so they fire the coach. In plenty of cases, three years or less after firing the last one.
Meanwhile, the teams with capable owners will benefit. Rash decisions aren’t made. Patience is displayed.
Aaron Rodgers recently blamed the media for the presence of certain coaches on the “hot seat.” The blame goes to those who don’t know what to do (because they secretly don’t know what they’re doing), so they do the easiest thing — fire the coach.
Even if the coach isn’t the biggest part of the problem. Of course, for the truly dysfunctional franchises, the biggest part of the problem isn’t subject to a pink slip. Because owners can’t be fired for general incompetence when it comes to the on-field performance of the team.
Financially, they’re all performing well. They’re all winning, even when they’re losing. And those who are losing will feel compelled to keep the fans believing that the future will be brighter (or less bleak) by dumping the current coach, and by moving to the next coach in who inevitably will be the next coach out.
Bills owner Terry Pegula officially announced the firing of head coach Sean McDermott in a statement on Monday morning.
McDermott was dismissed two days after the Bills were bounced from the playoffs by the Broncos in overtime. He went 98-50 in the regular season during nine years in Buffalo and went to the playoffs eight times, but the Bills have not reached the Super Bowl since the 1990s and Pegula pointed to the failure to break through as the reason for the change.
“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,” Pegula said.
Pegula also confirmed General Manager Brandon Beane will lead the search for a new head coach and announced that Beane now has the title of president of football operations as well. It adds up to a major change in how the Bills will be doing business and more word about the direction they plan to go should be coming soon.
The Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday morning, but it won’t be a wholesale change of the football operations in Buffalo.
According to multiple reports, the Bills will retain General Manager Brandon Beane. Those reports also say that Beane will head up the search for the Bills’ next head coach.
Beane and McDermott were both hired by the Bills in 2017 and the team advanced to the playoffs in eight of their nine seasons together. Beane will now look for a coach who can maintain that level of regular season success while also finding a way to push through to the playoff success that has eluded them.
Quarterback Josh Allen’s presence should make that opportunity an attractive one to head coaching candidates and word on who the Bills are targeting for the vacancy should start to surface in the near future.
