Criticism has come for the Bills for firing Sean McDermott. Criticism furthers as Brandon Beane not only keeps his job, but receives a promotion. Yet, logic and emotion both curry arguments supporting team owner Terry Pegula’s decision.
Exactly two years ago today, Josh Allen sat at his locker.
Thirty-six minutes had passed since the Buffalo Bills lost a home divisional playoff game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-24.
The Bills’ quarterback, a year away from his first MVP title, stared alternately down and into space. He accepted some embraces and brief farewells, but he shared few words.
For the third time in four years, Patrick Mahomes had sent a contending Bills team home.
I wrote then: Would head coach Sean McDermott get another chance at snapping the franchise’s postseason streak?
Would team owner Terry Pegula try to disprove Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity, and see if the same recipe — at least in the trio of top NFL roles at head coach, general manager and quarterback — could produce different results?
Twice more, McDermott coached way-above-average Bills seasons. The 2024 Bills won 13 regular-season games and two playoff games before Mahomes Mahomesed them again. The 2025 Bills won 12 regular-season games and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville before losing in overtime to the Denver Broncos. (Cue officiating questions for both games.)
The question has never been whether McDermott is a strong head coach. The question is whether he would take this Bills team all the way.
This week, Pegula chose not to continue trying to disprove Einstein’s theory. The Bills fired McDermott on Monday, two days after their latest loss.
“It's been one year after another, and that was the sense of: How do we overcome this?” Pegula said Wednesday morning in a media conference. “And I just couldn't see us doing that with Sean. That's why I relieved him. It's not an easy decision, trust me, with that success.
“But what is success? Is success being in the playoffs seven years in a row with no Super Bowl appearance?”
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Criticism has and will come for the Bills for firing a beloved coach with a striking track record of success. Criticism furthers as general manager Brandon Beane not only keeps his job, but receives a promotion, amid a roster compilation that league sources believe has serious holes.
And yet, logic and emotion both curry arguments supporting Pegula’s decision. Logic dictates that the Bills have a better chance of hiring a great coach during Josh Allen’s prime than afterward. Logic sometimes also dictates that change can shake a group out of a rut — a philosophy seemingly sweeping the NFL as 10 of 32 head coaches turn over this offseason.
Then there’s emotion. Pegula said last weekend’s Broncos loss prompted the McDermott firing, even though Pegula strongly believes that a play ruled an interception was actually a catch by receiver Brandin Cooks. Why, then, let an officiating-colored game decide a coach’s future?
Pegula felt his players’ pain.
“I want to take you in the locker room after that game,” he said. “I looked around. First thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying. I looked at all the other players. I looked at their faces and our coaches. I walked over to Josh. He didn't even acknowledge I was there. First thing I said to him, I said, ‘That was a catch.’ We all know what I'm talking about.
“He didn't acknowledge me. He just sat there sobbing. He was listless. He had given everything he had to try to win that game. And looking around, so did all the other players on the team.
“I saw the pain in Josh's face at his presser and I felt his pain. I know we can do better and I know we will get better.”
Bills’ firing of McDermott, and vision for next coach, a reminder of Champagne problem that MVP QBs bring
Heavy is the head of the team that fronts an MVP quarterback and doesn’t go all the way.
Few in the NFL doubt that John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott are in the top tier of available coaches this cycle. But the Ravens haven’t reached a Super Bowl during Lamar Jackson’s first seven seasons, including two MVP years for him. Eight years of Josh Allen, including a 2024 MVP campaign, similarly produced seven playoff berths but no conference title.
And while questions about each roster will come, NFL general managers who find the elusive answer to the question of quarterback historically get a long leash. Quarterback demand outweighs supply. Hitting on a draft pick often guarantees NFL general manager stability even more than wins, losses and aggregate talent acquisition.
The Bills traded up from 12th to seventh overall in the 2018 NFL draft to select an at-the-time raw Allen. The gamble paid off. Beane continues to reap the benefits of overseeing that maneuver.
“I don’t know if anybody knows it in this room,” Pegula said Wednesday, “but Josh Allen wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this guy pushing and pushing and pulling a Houdini in that draft to get to the position where we could pick him.”
An answer at quarterback not only drastically raises the floor and ceiling of a team’s success. It also is the best recruiting tool a team has for its next coach, as the Giants showed with Jaxson Dart helping recruit Harbaugh to believe in a four-win team.
“Our phones are ringing and we're going to begin that process,” Pegula said. “I can tell you this: There’s desire. I don’t know about pressure right now, but there’s a lot of people that want to look at taking this job. There’s a lot of interest.”
The Bills job isn’t without its drawbacks. In addition to questions about receiver depth (Beane touted his offensive line, running back and tight end Wednesday when asked) and pass rush, the expectations for McDermott’s successor will be sky high.
The Bills are hiring their next coach to win a Super Bowl before Allen’s window closes. Pegula and Beane’s insistence Wednesday that their “great” roster couldn’t overcome “good” coaching will ring in the ears of candidates.
Even as Pegula insisted he “can’t say … to somebody coming in” that his franchise is in Super Bowl or bust mode in 2026, the undercurrents will ring loudly.
So the Bills must ask themselves: What should they most prioritize in their next head coach?
Who, and what, should Bills prioritize in search to maximize Allen’s prime?
In the NFL’s constant search for the next Sean McVay, 30-year-old candidates like the Denver Broncos’ Davis Webb and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Grant Udinski allure team owners searching to fill the six remaining NFL head coach openings.
Webb in particular has ties to Buffalo, as a former Bills backup quarterback.
But some in the NFL ask: Can Buffalo “risk” waiting on a coach’s learning curve as Allen’s 30th birthday looms in May? Three of the four coaches hired so far this cycle had previous NFL head coaching experience; the fourth, Jeff Hafley, was Boston College head coach before the Miami Dolphins hired him this week.
“Feel like you need an established guy up there,” one NFC coach told Yahoo Sports of the Buffalo opening. “Window is right now and closing.”
Former Bills (and Allen-era) offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is a popular candidate after the New York Giants fired him in November. But Daboll may be more sensible as an offensive coordinator to support a head coaching candidate, maximizing the coaching talent Buffalo can attract. Pairing Daboll with Webb, whom he coached in Buffalo and New York, or with 2025 offensive coordinator Joe Brady, are likely to be options the Bills discuss.
Brady is also considered a popular coaching option. But the Bills may need to ask themselves whether they believe a team that just didn’t get over the hump with Brady in house — and turned the ball over five times in the loss, much less — can justify Brady as their answer.
Certain schematic influences could help Allen, too.
Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, at 38, is likely to get a job after leading Seattle to the third-highest scoring offense this season and eighth overall. The Seahawks ranked top-10 in passing and rushing both in a balanced attack while receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the league with 1,793 receiving yards. With the Bills’ criticism surrounding the receiver room, Kubiak could offer a vision that has both elevated a great receiver to the league’s best while also featuring more heavily running backs and tight ends — areas in which the Bills already have strong infrastructure in place, one NFC talent evaluator speculated.
Bills running back James Cook led the league last year with 16 rushing touchdowns and this year with 1,621 rushing yards. Kubiak’s wide-zone runs could mesh well with Cook’s skill set, the talent evaluator said, while perimeter runs rather than power runs could feature Allen’s mobility while better protecting him from the volume of hits he’s taken.
Pegula said Allen did not have input in the decision to fire McDermott but will have input in hiring McDermott’s successor.
“The starting quarterback will be part of the team to help select a new coach,” Pegula said. “He's going to be working with us. And anything else, his feelings, I want to keep that private.
“His personal opinion, I keep personal.”
The Bills’ ability to offer an elite quarterback to their candidates, Pegula will not.
“We have an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having a successful coaching search. I know this is a desirable job.”
Category: General Sports
