Explaining why time was right to fire Sean McDermott as Buffalo Bills head coach

From snow angels to a pink slip.

Just over a year ago, Sean McDermott was celebrating a Divisional Round win over the Baltimore Ravens by diving onto the snowy turf at Highmark Stadium alongside Josh Allen, as the two sprawled out to create the wintry expression.

But as the Buffalo Bills once again fell short in last year's AFC Championship Game, followed by another season that ended short of the franchise’s ultimate goal, McDermott was shown the door on Monday, concluding his nine-season run as the team's head coach.

In the minutes subsequent to his removal, many fans and Bills players alike shared their outrage, with players taking to social media to express their displeasure over their beloved coach’s ouster.

But despite their qualms, it was in fact the right time to move on from the second-longest-tenured head coach in the league.

And here’s why.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and head coach Sean McDermott warmup against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Accountability

Since he took the reins as head coach in 2017, McDermott has preached accountability.

For the first many years of his tenure, he abided by that principle. But everything changed after the Bills’ Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos on Saturday night.

After a controversial call on a Broncos’ interception went against the Bills, leading to his team’s heartbreaking defeat, McDermott lost it while shifting the blame away from him and his team. And his lack of composure spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the organization.

Before the game ended, cornerback Tre’Davious White tossed his helmet in frustration after being called for a pass interference penalty. As the team headed up the tunnel for the locker room, in a video posted by The Athletic’s James Palmer, edge rusher Joey Bosa chucked his helmet at a concrete wall, leaving a Bills staff member to retrieve it.

MORE: 7 head coach candidates Bills can target to replace Sean McDermott

Standing up for Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/ERoN20ag6R
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 18, 2026

Then, during postgame media availability, an inconsolable Josh Allen went to the podium with tears gushing from his eyes. Left tackle Dion Dawkins was also distraught in the postgame locker room before taking to social media minutes later, ripping the officials for their decision on the fateful deep-ball-turned-takeaway in overtime.

McDermott also had plenty to say about the officiating crew postgame. In his address from the podium, the Bills’ former head coach adamantly asserted that he was “standing up for Buffalo, dammit.” But from the outside, his public meltdown reeked of a cry for help from a man who knew he was one step away from walking off the plank.

And then he doubled down.

After he left the stadium, McDermott made a phone call to The Buffalo News to expand on his criticism of the officials, excoriating them under the guise of defending the city he has called home for a decade.

Sean McDermott called The Buffalo News after the game with more frustrations about the Brandin Cooks interception play in overtime.

Here are McDermott’s quotes via @JaySkurski: pic.twitter.com/eTB9SDiUHF
— Andy Young (@AndyYoungTV) January 18, 2026

All of this is not to say that players and coaches should be restricted from expressing themselves after such a devastating defeat. After all, it’s an emotional game and mental health is a real thing, even in the minds of the league’s most successful athletes and coaches.

But one of the hallmarks of this organization under McDermott’s leadership has been its mental fortitude. The franchise's ability to forge ahead, despite the most dire circumstances.

Well, that mentality dissolved in an eye blink this past Saturday. And I’m not sure after selling his soul in a last-gasp effort to save his job that McDermott was the right man to lead this team out of the depths of despair for the umpteenth time.

It was over.

Time to move on.

And the Bills did the right thing.

MORE: Terry Pegula releases statement after Bills fire Sean McDermott

The numbers

Then, if you take the emotion out of it all, the performance of the Bills’ unit that has long been McDermott’s specialty — the defense — is another sticking point in his dismissal.

I have been one of McDermott’s most vocal supporters in the past, defending him while pushing some of the well-deserved blame to Allen, who has also failed to come through in some of the team’s biggest games over the years.

With that said, the statistics thrown about by many over the years regarding this team’s defensive performance come playoff time simply cannot be ignored.

As Warren Sharp of Sharp Football pointed out on Monday, some of the stats exposing the performance of the McDermott-led defense are astonishing.

Over the last six seasons, in six playoff appearances, McDermott's team has failed to reach the Super Bowl, becoming the first team in NFL history to miss the NFL's championship game despite claiming five consecutive division titles. During those six postseason losses, the Bills allowed 33.2 points per game, were 29th in the league in defensive success rate and 27th in defensive EPA per play, per Sharp.

For a coach whose primary strength is supposed to be a game-changing defensive mind, those numbers are worthy of termination.

Sean McDermott wasn't good enough

last 6 years: 6 playoff trips, 6 playoff losses

in those losses:

33.2 ppg allowed
#29 in defensive success
#27 in defensive EPA/play

unacceptable defense in the biggest moments

it finally cost him his job:https://t.co/OnKR9OZV0z
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 19, 2026

A spark

Finally, sometimes, in business and in life, change is needed.

Relationships grow stale. Voices eventually fall on deaf ears. Motivation becomes stagnant.

That was the case here with McDermott.

Some of his players, both past and present, spoke out on his behalf, but at the end of the day, the Bills didn’t, or perhaps couldn't, get things done under his leadership.

Now, they’re in search of a new voice to carry them through. The question is, who’s it gonna be? And will he be a better option than McDermott? Well, time will tell.

MORE: History shows Bills needed to move on from Sean McDermott

All of the pressure now shifts to Team Owner Terry Pegula and General Manager Brandon Beane, who was outrageously promoted after his own failures the past several seasons. However, that is a conversation for a different day.

On this day in Bills history, it’s about McDermott and what he did and failed to do as the team’s head coach.

It’s also about moving on, as a new era is upon us.

McDermott should be lauded for everything he did for the organization, pulling it out of a 17-year playoff drought and helping usher it to the precipice of greatness. His successes should not be forgotten.

But ultimately, in sports, one is often judged by one's failures. And there were simply too many piling up for the Bills with McDermott at the helm. Those many shortcomings, and the way things ended this past weekend, were enough for him to be sent packing.

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