Bills fire coach Sean McDermott after 9 seasons of falling short of reaching the Super Bowl

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Sean McDermott arrived in Buffalo in 2017, envisioning the day of looking out his office window and seeing a throng of fans celebrating a Super Bowl victory.

That possibility ended on Monday, when McDermott was abruptly fired by team owner Terry Pegula following a nine-year tenure in which the coach transformed the Bills into perennial contenders but fell short of reaching the Super Bowl.

The move came two days after a heart-wrenching 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“Sean helped change the mindset of this organization and was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team,” Pegula said. ”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.”

The new structure features general manager Brandon Beane being promoted to president of football operations. Beane will oversee his first coaching search since arriving in Buffalo five months after McDermott, who replaced Rex Ryan after two seasons in Buffalo.

Beane is expected to target an offensive-minded coach to spur an offense in which quarterback Josh Allen was too often asked to carry the burden.

Playoff shortcomings

Despite a seven-year playoff run and Allen setting many franchise passing and scoring records and earning AP NFL MVP honors last season, the Bills advanced no further than the AFC championship game, which they lost both times to Kansas City in the 2020 and ’24 seasons.

Buffalo became the league’s first team to win a playoff round in six consecutive years but not reach the Super Bowl.

McDermott was aware of the shortcomings, and addressed them in August.

“We take a lot of pride in what we’ve done here. And nobody has more internal drive and internal expectations than I do or we do. And very confident in who we are,” McDermott said. “There’s one thing that remains. We know what that is. But you can’t get there tomorrow.”

Tomorrow never came.

The Bills went 12-5 in the regular season and had their five-year run atop the AFC East end, finishing second behind the New England Patriots.

Coaching carousel

McDermott’s firing is the latest in what’s become a seismic shift in the NFL’s coaching ranks this offseason. He became the 10th head coach to lose his job, joining a respected group that includes Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. Harbaugh has since been hired by the New York Giants.

The 51-year-old McDermott finished with a 98-50 regular-season record and was 8-8 in eight postseason appearances, ranking second on the team in wins behind Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (112-70, 11-8). McDermott’s eight playoff wins are the most by any NFL coach to not include a Super Bowl berth.

To his credit, in McDermott’s first season, Buffalo sneaked into the postseason on the final day to end a 17-year drought that stood as the longest active streak in North America’s four major professional leagues.

Allen arrived a year later as a first-round draft pick to raise the franchise’s national profile to among one of the NFL’s elite.

There is increasing urgency in Buffalo to win with Allen turning 30 in May, and with the team now moving into a newly built $2.1 billion stadium across the street from its old home.

Allen was nearly inconsolable following the loss at Denver. Choking up several times and wiping tears from his eyes, Allen stood at the podium and took the blame following the loss at Denver in which he threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.

“I feel like I let my teammates down tonight,” Allen said. “It’s been a long season. I hate how it ended, and that’s going to stick with me for a long time.”

McDermott rallied to Allen’s defense. He then let his emotions show in questioning the officials’ ruling on Allen’s second interception, which ended Buffalo’s lone possession in overtime.

Receiver Brandin Cooks came down with Allen’s deep pass, but had it wrestled out of his hands by Ja’Quan McMillian. Officials ruled McMillian had the ball before Cooks was down by contact, and Denver was awarded the turnover at its 20.

“I’m standing up for Buffalo, damn it. I’m standing up for us,” McDermott said, noting he was particularly dismayed by how little time the league took to review the play.

‘13 seconds’

Each of Buffalo’s past three playoff losses have been decided by three points. And three of McDermott’s playoff losses ended in overtime.

That includes a 42-36 loss to Kansas City in the 2021 divisional round that’s become dubbed “13 seconds” — the amount of time Patrick Mahomes had to complete two passes for 44 yards and set up Harrison Butker’s tying, 49-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.

McDermott, otherwise, led a team that won 10 or more regular-season games over seven straight seasons.

He also was credited with guiding the Bills through some difficult moments. The worst came January 2023, when safety Damar Hamlin nearly died after collapsing and needing to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati.

Hamlin was one of several current and former players to express their support for McDermott following his firing. He posted a note on X referring to McDermott as “A True Leader of Men.”

Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips described the firing as “stupid honestly sickening.” Former center Eric Wood posted a note that read: “Sean is a great man and will be a great hire for another organization, and I hate we couldn’t get over the hump with him as HC in Buffalo.”

McDermott moved up the NFL ranks as a defensive specialist, and was hired by Buffalo following six seasons as Carolina’s coordinator, and where Beane worked in a front office role.

Coach/GM rift?

Together, McDermott and Beane provided the Bills with stability before fractures began showing this past season.

Without mentioning Beane specifically, McDermott seemed to question several personnel decisions by referencing Buffalo’s depleted secondary and a receiver group that lacked a downfield threat.

Allen’s 3,668 yards and 25 touchdowns passing were his fewest since 2019.

The defense struggled in part because of a transition to youth and a rash of injuries. Though Buffalo’s defense finished ranked seventh in the NFL this season, the unit had difficulty stopping the run.

It’s in the playoffs where the defense was criticized for collapsing too often. Buffalo allowed 30 or more points in four of its playoff losses.

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