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NFL head coaches who finish the season with lousy records generally expect there is a good chance of getting the ax.
This year, nine of the 32 NFL head coaches have been terminated. That’s 28%! Add one more coach (Mike Tomlin) who voluntarily stepped-down in Pittsburgh after 19 seasons last week.
As my old Sesame Street buddy “The Count” might say, “That’s 10! Ten coaching vacancies this year. Ah-ha-ha!!!”
The ninth fired head coach in this year’s NFL’s “hit parade” came as a rather big surprise.
Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills was fired on Monday after his team’s 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the second (divisional) round of the NFL playoffs.
What did Buffalo’s head coach do wrong to justify being fired?
Before the season began, Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills were considered one of the top two AFC contenders for this year’s Super Bowl.
The team finished the 2025 regular season schedule behind the surprising 14-3 New England Patriots in the AFC East. The Bills still qualified for the NFL playoffs with a not-too-shabby 12-5 record.
Buffalo traveled to Jacksonville two weeks ago for an opening round Wild Card game. The Bills scored a dramatic touchdown in the final minute to claim a 27-24 win over the 13-4 AFC South champion Jaguars. Then it was on to Denver last weekend to face the #1 AFC seed Broncos.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen played another outstanding game but his two interceptions and two lost fumbles gave Denver some key scoring opportunities. The Broncos eventually prevailed 33-30 in overtime.
Denver will host this week’s AFC Championship game against Buffalo’s rival, New England, at 2PM (CST) Sunday afternoon on CBS.
The Buffalo Bills have now appeared in the AFC Playoffs for seven consecutive years. In each season, Buffalo has failed to reach the Super Bowl despite having one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks operating the team’s offense.
The 51-year old Sean McDermott had been the defensive coordinator in both Philadelphia and Carolina prior to accepting Buffalo’s top job in 2017.
Fans in Buffalo should remember that the Bills had cycled through nine head coaches in the team’s previous 17 seasons since their last playoff appearance in 1999.
Coach Sean McDermott quickly rejuvenated the Bills and led them into the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons in Buffalo.
Why would Buffalo Bills team owner Terry Pegula fire a coach who led this year’s team into the second round of the playoffs?
That’s what many people are trying to figure out this week. Coach Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills won nearly 2/3 of its games during his nine seasons with the team.
Sure, the Bills failed to make the Super Bowl. There are 30 other NFL teams which can say the same thing in any particular year.
Yes, the Bills didn’t have to face and lose another playoff game to Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes for the fourth straight time this season. The Chiefs failed to make the playoffs but they did not fire head coach Andy Reid (yet – ha ha).
Sean McDermott has been Buffalo’s only head coach for the eight year NFL career of reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen.
Just remember that Josh Allen can only pass the football to Buffalo Bills receivers who had been selected and signed by the team’s General Manager – not the head coach.
This year’s group of wide receivers in Buffalo was rather weak by NFL standards. After wide receiver Khalil Shakir, Buffalo’s two tight ends were ranked #2 and #3 on the team in receiving yardage this season.
Nothing against Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, but neither of the Buffalo tight ends possess game-breaking speed.
Was it the fault of head coach Sean McDermott that Buffalo did not have a more competitive group of wide receivers on the roster for MVP quarterback Josh Allen to throw the ball to this year?
Isn’t the team’s General Manager who is charged with finding and signing the talent for most NFL teams (unless you live in Dallas)?
Did the Buffalo Bills fire the team’s General Manager, too?
No. In fact, 49-year old General Manager Brandon Beane was just promoted and given the upgraded title of President of Football Operations!
Brandon Beane spent 19 years in Charlotte. Beginning in 1998 as an intern, Beane worked his way up to become the team’s Assistant General Manager in 2015. In May, 2017, he was hired by Buffalo to become the Bills’ General Manager.
Ironically, head coach Sean McDermott also came to Buffalo via the Carolina Panthers. McDermott had been hired by owner Terry Pegula four months earlier in January, 2017.
Apparently, Buffalo’s team owner believed that his new head coach and new General Manager from Carolina would work well together in Buffalo.
The duo led the Bills’ return into the NFL playoffs in eight of the past nine years. Buffalo has won ten or more games in seven consecutive seasons.
Should the credit go to the team’s GM (Brandon Beane) and/or the team’s head coach (Sean McDermott)?
Buffalo’s owner just fired a successful coach after his team lost to Denver
Let that one sink in.
Terry Pegula said that he became so negatively affected seeing the faces of his football team in the locker room following Saturday’s 33-30 overtime loss in Denver that he decided to fire the team’s head coach on Monday.
“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” said the owner on Wednesday. “I want to take you in the locker room after that game. 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’.”
Pegula added, “I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall, year after year. So, I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with what we have? And that was the basis for my decision.”
Sean McDermott has plenty of company in the “I’ve been Fired” NFL coaches’ club
A head coach in the NFL is generally considered to be the face of the franchise in the eyes of the fans and media.
Even a grumpy but very successful coach like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots kept his job as long as the post-season hardware kept coming home. Belichick eventually agreed to step down in New England in 2023 after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.
Likable coaches get the ax, too!
Coach Tony Dungy was fired by Tampa Bay after six successful years with the Buccaneers.
Much like Sean McDermott in Buffalo, Dungy took over a perpetual loser in Tampa Bay. He quickly rebuilt the team into a playoff regular in four of his six seasons. Tony Dungy was then fired by Tampa Bay after the 2001 season for (yes) failing to advance the team into the Super Bowl.
Sound familiar?
Fortunately for Tony Dungy, he was quickly hired by the Indianapolis Colts for the following season in 2002. Dungy led the Colts into the playoffs in each of his first four seasons and then won a Super Bowl title in Year #5 with his new team.
Having a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback like Peyton Manning certainly helped during Tony Dungy’s time with the Colts.
Former Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott will not not remain unemployed for long.
Bills owner Terry Pegula is opening his new football stadium this season and wants a fresh start
Buffalo opens its shiny new $2 billion football stadium this summer just in time for the Bills’ 2026 football season.
Five years ago in 2021, I wrote about Bills owner Terry Pegula. He bought the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise in 2014 for $1.4 billion. His bid was considered more favorable than an offer made by some guy named Donald Trump and his partner Jon Bon Jovi.
Seven years after buying the Buffalo Bills, Pegula threatened to move the team south to fast-growing Austin, Texas.
He demanded the city of Buffalo, the state of New York, and season ticket holders to pony-up to build a more modern new football stadium for his NFL team.
More than 54,000 Buffalo Bills fans have paid from $5,000 to $50,000 to purchase a PSL (personal seat licenses). This PSL only grants the owner the right to purchase a Bills’ season ticket.
Let’s assume that an average Buffalo PSL went for $20,000. That would generate more than $1 billion being paid by NFL football fans living in western New York to finance the Bills’ new stadium.
Buffalo is ranked #50 nationally in terms of TV market size. It is even smaller than New Orleans at #45. Only Green Bay plays NFL games in a smaller geographic region (#65) than Buffalo. However, the Packers are generally considered to be #38 Milwaukee’s home football team as well.
After team owner Terry Pegula’s grandstand play, the Bills have remained in Buffalo because he got his wish. The Buffalo Bills’ new football stadium opens this summer.
Terry Pegula’s firing of head coach Sean McDermott this week has created a new media buzz about his team. It will serve to get fans to start thinking about a new future for the Buffalo Bills and help to push back those lingering “What if…?” thoughts from recent playoff losses.
The team’s brand new head coach will usher-in a brand new football stadium in 2026.
Did I mention that this soon-to-open outdoor football stadium will have 10,000 fewer seats than 52-year old Rich Stadium in suburban Orchard Park?
That necessarily means higher prices are coming for Buffalo Bills season tickets, parking, concessions, and stadium merchandise in order to raise revenue to cover the loss of 10,000 football seats beginning this season.
Look out, Jerry! You have some competition at the top!!!
Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones still retains professional football’s top spot for the title of “NFL’s biggest meddling owner”.
Making a big move up the charts this week was Buffalo’s Terry Pegula. Firing your team’s successful head coach based on the owner’s emotional “feel” of the locker room following a tough, overtime second-round playoff loss was a gutsy move, indeed.
The Bills’ owner may be considered a local hero by some for keeping the NFL team in Buffalo. But a growing number of western New Yorkers have a different viewpoint.
Terry Pegula is just another greedy professional sports franchise owner who successfully coerced fans and governmental entities into financing his new (smaller) football venue at a cost of nearly $2 billion.
Jones and Pegula have one other thing in common. Neither Dallas nor Buffalo has appeared in a Super Bowl in more than 30 years.
“And the countdown continues!”