Sean McDermott leaves Buffalo as one of best coaches in franchise history

Sean McDermott's tenure with the Buffalo Bills has come to an end.

The man that was hired to lead the team in 2017, and immediately broke a 17-year playoff drought, will forever have a place in Bills history. But breaking the drought was only the beginning for McDermott, forever etching himself in the franchise history books with his historic success.

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When the dust settles from the shock that was McDermott's firing, he'll go down as one of the greatest head coaches the Buffalo Bills have ever had.

Sean McDermott's stats

In nine seasons, McDermott coached 148 games, going 98-50 in that stretch (.662).

Reaching the postseason during eight of those seasons (with the exception being Josh Allen's rookie year), he went 8-8 (.500), including two conference championship appearances and a Wild Card win in six consecutive seasons.

Including the postseason, McDermott won 15 of his 43 challenges according to Pro Football Reference.

McDermott vs. Levy

The only coach ahead of McDermott in the franchise record books for most metrics is Hall of Famer Marv Levy. He coached the Bills for 12 seasons (1986-1997), the only head coach to be in Buffalo longer than McDermott's tenure of nine years.

In his 182 games, he went 112-70, holding a 14-win lead over McDermott in 34 more games. This makes the latter the winningest coach in franchise history, with a .662 win percentage beating out Levy's .615 win percentage.

MORE: Centenarian Marv Levy makes Hall of Fame history with Bills' legends by his side

Both coaches had eight playoff appearances, but postseason success is what greatly separates the two. In Levy's 19 games, he won 11, which helped infamously lead the Bills to four-straight Super Bowl appearances.

Still, when combining regular season and postseason games, McDermott's 106-58 record (.646) gives him a higher win percentage than Levy's 123-78 (.612).

While it's difficult to argue that McDermott is the best coach in Bills history, there's no competition for him as runner-up to Levy.

Jan 4, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott looks on before the game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

McDermott's historic pace

According to a report from Adam Schefter, McDermott "told his staff today [Monday] that he intends to continue coaching."

This gives him the opportunity to continue the historic pace he's set when it comes to winning, at least in the regular season. 98 wins is the second-most in a head coach's first nine seasons in NFL history, trailing only George Seifert's 106.

Not including the Bills, there are still five teams in need of a new head coach — the Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Raiders, Cardinals. With McDermott expected to be a top coaching candidate, it's likely he is able to make a lateral move to a different organization, and attempt to continue his record-setting pace of winning.

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