Sean McDermott’s tenure as the Buffalo Bills‘ head coach ended Monday despite his time with the team featuring a historic playoff streak and a complete transformation of the organization’s culture.
McDermott, who spent nine years leading the Bills, had the second-most wins (98-50) of any franchise since 2017. He took Buffalo to the playoffs in eight of those seasons, reaching the AFC Championship Game twice but coming up short of a Super Bowl appearance.
To take the next step with 2024 MVP quarterback Josh Allen and find a way to the franchise’s elusive first Super Bowl title, the Bills will have to find a new coach, and that responsibility will fall on general manager Brandon Beane. Bills owner Terry Pegula announced Monday that Beane has been retained and promoted to president of football operations, giving him an increase in responsibilities, including overseeing the coaching search.
So how did the Bills get here — firing McDermott and promoting Beane two days after the 33-30 divisional round loss to the Denver Broncos — and what does it mean?
Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg, senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler and NFL analyst Ben Solak answer all the pressing questions in the wake of Monday’s news that the Bills are moving in a new direction.
He didn’t finish the job. In a results business, McDermott was incredibly successful, winning 10 or more games in seven straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NFL. The Bills are one of six teams in the Super Bowl era to have a streak that long.
The firing comes down to what McDermott didn’t do, but perhaps more substantially, a clear decision by Pegula to go with Beane’s vision for the team moving forward and the general manager winning out in receiving the owner’s faith in building the vision for the future. Beane and McDermott together were not accomplishing the combined goal in leading the football side of the team, and that’s win the franchise’s first Super Bowl or even reach the big game. Instead, the Bills are the only one of those six teams to not have multiple Super Bowl appearances during those stretches. Buffalo’s past three playoff losses were all by three points.
Moving on from McDermott was not a one-game or one-season decision. This is a coach who came to embody western New York and become one of its fiercest advocates. He built a culture that many flocked to and loved with several players joining (or returning to) Buffalo to play for McDermott, as seen in the shocked and dismayed responses to his firing.
Pegula made clear in his statement that he believes that the organizational structure was not the most effective and that giving just one person — Beane — control of the entire football operation is the best move to try to reach a Super Bowl title. — Getzenberg
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