Jon Gruden’s Live Reaction to Sean McDermott Firing: ‘That Makes Me Sick'

The Buffalo Bills firing Sean McDermott was one of the early live sports TV highlights of 2026 as all the talk shows were on-air when news broke that the team was moving on from their longtime head coach.

Adam Schefter ran off the Get Up set. Ian Rapoport told Kyle Brandt he couldn't talk on Good Morning Football.

And on FS1's Wake Up Barstool we maybe saw the most interesting and entertaining moments as host T-Bob Herbert broke the shocking news to the panel, which included Barstool founder Dave Portnoy and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, who was sickened by the news.

The Bills have fired HC Sean McDermott

“That makes me sick, that makes me absolutely sick... I don’t think you can do much better than Sean McDermott…” - @BarstoolGruden pic.twitter.com/AWQ96Ra9Lp
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) January 19, 2026

"That makes me sick," said Gruden. "That makes me absolutely sick. I mean, I have no idea what the hell's going on in this league. They fired 10 head coaches this year. Good luck to Buffalo and now I'm really glad they lost the game, personally."

Portnoy, a Patriots fan, then jumped in to say he didn't like the firing because of how close the team was to their goal and then asked who they would get to replace McDermott.

"I don't think you can do much better than Sean McDermott," Gruden answered. "I mean, hell, their whole defense was beat up the whole year. Their whole D-line, their linebacker corps, their secondary. For them to fire Sean McDermott after a season like this, I can't say I'm surprised based on what I've seen owners do in the NFL the last several years, but this one really hits me hard. This makes me sick."

Having Gruden on while it happened was fortuitous scheduling for the show. This was as good a TV moment as either of the other networks had when the news was breaking. Even if they didn't get to send out a tweet with a breaking news graphic.

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