Buffalo Rumblings
It’s been a whirlwind 72 hours for fans of the Buffalo Bills. First, the Bills can’t overcome five turnovers and suffer another disappointing playoff loss to the Denver Broncos. Then, just as the magnitude of the loss is setting in, owner Terry Pegula sends shock waves through Bills Mafia by firing head coach Sean McDermott.
As if that wasn’t enough to process, not only was McDermott canned despite leading the Bills to the postseason in eight of his nine seasons, the man who didn’t do enough to solidify the roster, general manager Brandon Beane, not only keeps his position, he receives a promotion.
Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks catches you up on one of the craziest three-day stretches in franchise history,
When the Bills hired Sean McDermott to take over as coach for the 2017 season, Buffalo was a football wasteland. The team had just missed out on the postseason for the 17th consecutive year when McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane arrived in Buffalo. But during McDermott’s tenure, he changed the culture, raised expectations and transformed the Bills into perennial Super Bowl contenders.
After nine seasons, McDermott leaves Buffalo with a regular-season record of 98-50 (second-most coaching wins in franchise history, trailing only Hall of Famer Marv Levy), and 8-8 in the postseason. The Bills made the playoffs in eight of those nine years, including five straight AFC East titles from 2020-2024. The Bills won at least one playoff game in the last seasons, but Buffalo only has two AFC title game appearances to show for its regular-season success, and McDermott was never able to get the Bills over the hump and back to the Super Bowl.
Wanting to seek a change, owner Terry Pegula dismissed McDermott on Monday, and the ripple effects were felt throughout the NFL. We discuss why McDermott was relieved of his duties, why some Bills beat reporters feel the move was the right one to make, hear past and current players react to the firing, and learn how Buffalo squandered much of the good will it built up with fans by dismissing the popular McDermott.
