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The body wasn’t even cold before the Buffalo Bills decided to let go of Sean McDermott.
The Bills fired McDermott on Monday following the team’s heartbreaking playoff loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC divisional round.
That loss, team owner Terry Pegula said, single-handedly cost McDermott his job.
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Head coach Sean McDermott and owner Terry Pegula of the Buffalo Bills look on prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on December 12, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” Pegula shared with general manager Brandon Beane on Wednesday.
“I looked around, the first thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down and crying. I looked at all the other players, I looked at their faces and our coaches, I went to Josh [Allen]he didn’t even acknowledge I was there. The first thing I said to him was ‘It was a catch’. We all know what I’m talking about. He didn’t acknowledge me. He just sat and sobbed. He was lethargic. He had given everything he had to try to win that fight. And when you look around, all the other players on the team did too.”
“I didn’t fire a coach based on a bad refereeing decision. If I can take you into that locker room, I felt like we hit the famous playoff wall year after year,” Pegula added.
The owner also made sure to note that Allen had “no input at all” in the decision.
“I didn’t talk to Josh about this. I talked to him afterward, but that conversation will remain private,” Pegula said.
Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula looks on prior to the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
BILLS HEAD COACH SEAN MCDERMOTT CHIDES OFFICIAL FOR CONTROVERSIAL INTERCEPTION CALL: ‘NOT CLOSE YET’
Beane was asked about the lack of wide receiver success, namely in Keon Coleman, but Pegula jumped in and blamed “coaching” on the first pick in the second round in 2024. Ladd McConkey was the next pick.
“The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon,” Pegula said. “I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next pick. It was Brandon being a team player and taking advice from his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player. He’s taken heat for some reason and not said a word about it. But I’m here to tell you the true story.”
The defeat marked another crushing blow to McDermott’s tenure as the Bills’ head coach. McDermott took the job before the start of the 2017 season, and Buffalo has finished below .500 just once since then. He helped guide the Bills to the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons. The team reached the conference title game twice but never made it back to the Super Bowl.
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rey Del Rio)
Many thought the Bills were a team of destiny this year, considering Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson all failed to make the playoffs.
Alas, Jarrett Stidham will take on Drake Maye for a trip to the Super Bowl.
