The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday following their AFC divisional round loss to the Denver Broncos, cutting ties with one of the best coaches in franchise history. While a Bills coaching search is now underway, new intel is emerging about the current situation in Buffalo.
According to Vic Carucci of WGRZ.com, the Bills locker room is very skeptical of the decision by president of football operations Brandon Beane to fire McDermott. Several players have even publicly expressed their disappointment with the move on social media.
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Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins shared his thanks on X to McDermott, praising him as a true leader. Defensive tackle Daquan Jones reacted on Instagram, saying the move did not make sense. Damar Hamlin reacted on X with the heartbroken emojis, Kendrick Green called McDermott the “best coach I’ve been around” and other prominent voices in the Bills locker room praised their former coach’s leadership and impact on turning the team’s culture around.
Based on reports, it is becoming clearer that McDermott lost a power struggle with Beane. The blame for the divisional round loss was placed on the coach’s shoulders, despite the offense committing five turnovers and some of the roster’s weaknesses being exposed by Denver.
The big move came on Monday, when Buffalo announced that McDermott was fired and Beane had been promoted from general manager to president of football operations. However, per the reporting from Carucci, the place of McDermott in the organization and his future with the team became obvious in December.
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According to Carucci, McDermott met with Beane and team owner Terry Pegula in December. That is when the Buffalo head coach seemed to question whether the Bills roster was good enough to win the Super Bowl. Those comments were not received well.
“I’m told that during a meeting held five weeks ago between McDermott, Beane and Pegula, the coach pointed out what the roster lacked to win a Super Bowl. I don’t know the specifics McDermott mentioned, but I’m told neither Beane nor Pegula was pleased with McDermott’s assessment.”
Vic Carucci on Sean McDermott questioning the Buffalo Bills roster built by Brandon Beane
Five weeks later, with McDermott coaching from the sideline and Beane up with Pegula, the Buffalo president of football operations convinced the owner that coaching was the reason the team lost. Hours later, the organization released a statement thanking McDermott for an admiral job while parting ways.
Now, the architect of the roster that has been part of perennial playoff disappointment will be picking the next head coach. Fans will certainly be hoping that the decision-making of Beane on whom to hire as a head coach will be better than it has been in the early rounds of the NFL draft.
