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Sean McDermott fired by Buffalo Bills, creating another premium NFL coach opening
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- Sean McDermott fired by Buffalo Bills, creating another premium NFL coach opening
The Buffalo Bills have fired coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons according to media reports, creating another premium head coaching opening in the NFL and putting another premium candidate on the market for the Tennessee Titans and other teams searching for a new coach.
McDermott, 51, owns a 98-50 record across nine seasons with the Bills . He led Buffalo to the playoffs eight times in nine seasons, reaching the AFC Championship Game twice. McDermott's teams won at least 10 games in each of the last seven seasons, led by reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen . But the Bills were frequent disappointments in the postseason, never able to reach the Super Bowl despite their high-flying offenses and dazzling regular season records.
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The Bills job instantly leapfrogs the Titans' job and several others as the most attractive job on the market. Buffalo's consistency in recent years, plus the presence of Allen, positions a new coach to arrive in Buffalo and instant compete for playoff berths without having to rebuild.
McDermott, likewise, becomes arguably the most attractive available candidate for teams with vacancies. Among active coaches, only Philadelphia 's Nick Sirianni and Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers have better career winning percentages than McDermott. Consider this: McDermott coached the Bills to the playoffs eight times between 2017-25. Prior to McDermott's arrival, the Bills made the playoffs a total of eight times between 1990 and 2016.
The Titans ' coaching search has reached the phase of candidates traveling to Nashville for in-person interviews. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, formerly the coach of the New York Jets , is expected to interview with the Titans on Jan. 19, as is Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, formerly coach of the Chicago Bears . Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is expected to interview with the Titans on Tuesday.
In addition to the Titans and Bills, other NFL teams with coaching vacancies include: the Arizona Cardinals , the Baltimore Ravens , the Cleveland Browns , the Las Vegas Raiders , the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers . The Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants have already filled coaching vacancies by hiring former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and former Ravens coach John Harbaugh, respectively.
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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com . Follow Nick on X @nicksuss . Subscribe to the Talkin' Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bills fire Sean McDermott, creating more competition for Titans in coaching search
