On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills saw another playoff run end short of a trip to the Super Bowl. Their loss to the Denver Broncos was another frustrating moment for fans because they had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Yet, the team led by Sean McDermott could not push through and get a step closer to a Super Bowl birth.
Soon after the game ended, speculation grew that the head coach's mostly successful run in Buffalo could soon come to an end. Less than 12 hours after their loss, the hammer fell for McDermott and he was officially fired by the team's management.
On Wednesday, new team president Brandon Beane and owner Terry Pegula spoke to the Bills media about their decision, and some of their answers were quite surprising.
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In today's era of the NFL, a star quarterback has an influence on major coaching changes. And there is no bigger and better QB in the game than the Bills' QB Josh Allen .
Some certainly wondered if he might have had some say in the organization's decision to dismiss McDermott. However, Beane revealed that the reigning NFL MVP was not consulted about keeping or firing the coach. Pegula did add that Allen will be a part of the group that helps to choose McDermott's replacement in the days ahead.
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Speaking of the process to find Sean McDermott's replacement, one member of the media asked if the front office had a replacement in mind before they moved on from their coach.
It's an idea that makes sense since the Bills fired the man with the second-most wins (98) and the highest win percentage (.662) in team history. Even better than franchise legend Marv Levy.
"It's 100% an open search," Beane said. Meaning the president and owner fired McDermott without a clear frontrunner to take his position in 2026.
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The universal belief among NFL pundits has been that McDermott was fired because he could not get over the hump and get the Bills back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1993. Pegula confirmed the notion of an invisible ceiling on the team with McDermott.
It would seem to suggest that there is a lot of pressure on his successor and a clear mandate to get to and win a Super Bowl in the next few seasons. While the Bills' owner confirmed the immense pressure on McDermott's replacement, he surprisingly claimed there is no Super Bowl mandate on his next head coach.
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Along with speculation about McDermott being ousted after this loss this weekend, there was chatter that Beane could also be ousted. Instead, he was actually promoted to team president. Pegular was asked about that decision and pretty much put all the blame for the Bills coming up short in the playoffs on the man leading the roster, not the one building it.
"I'm aware there's criticism out there of our franchise. Does anyone know what the numbers 5, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 6 represent? That's our seeding over the last seven years in the playoffs," Pegula said. "It's impossible to have those kinds of results without a good roster."
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