NFL Coaching News: Bills Fire Head Coach Sean McDermott

• After their latest playoff loss, the Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott
• McDermott takes the fall after QB Josh Allen’s gaffes in the AFC Divisional Round against the Broncos (plus a questionable call by the officials) cost them the game
• Who will get this plum job?

Odds for Next Bills Head Coach

Did McDermott Deserve To Be Fired?

As the Bills prepare to enter their new stadium, they could not walk in with the same crew from GM to head coach to players and say, “We’re gonna run it back again” and hope for a different result.

Teams in this situation have two choices:

• Change the players
• Change the coach

When a team has Josh Allen, arguably the best quarterback in the sport, and James Cook, the running back who led the league in rushing yards, there’s a foundation in place to win immediately. Since 2020, they have won 13, 11, 13, 11, 13, and 12 games.

McDermott accrued a regular season record of 98-50 in 9 years as head coach. While Mike Tomlin — McDermott’s friend and former college teammate at William & Mary — is credited for never having a losing season during his tenure as Steelers coach, McDermott had one losing season with the Bills.

But McDermott had an 8-8 record in the playoffs and never broke through to the Super Bowl.

If ownership did not believe that McDermott could get over that hump, then they needed to move on.

While there were likely several “last straws” for the Bills to finally part ways with their longtime head coach, this season was make-or-break. Presumably, McDermott knew that.

His understandably livid reaction to the officials’ call/non-call on Allen’s deep strike to Brandin Cooks, which turned into a Ja’Quan McMillan interception and led to the Broncos marching down the field and winning the game, went beyond anger at losing a game.

Presumably, he knew that the loss signaled his end as Bills’ head coach and that, in part, sparked his over-the-top reaction.

How Much Blame Is Josh Allen Due?

Allen is going to be 30 in May. It’s not old, particularly in an era where players are continuing into their 40s and figuratively even looking sideways at the QB warrants a 15-yard penalty. But his style of play will cause cumulative damage. He runs a lot and takes big hits. Although he’s bigger than most linebackers at 6’5″, 240 pounds, it takes a toll. And as Patrick Mahomes showed this season, QBs are always one play away from being out for the year.

His style can be reckless. He goes for the big play. What non-athletes do not understand is that people who are the best athletes on their teams everywhere they’ve been throughout their lives will always try to make a play.

They’re not thinking about safety, analytics, or percentages.

So when Allen tries to run with time running out in the first half and maybe, possibly get his team into field goal range, he’s not thinking “let me play it safe here.” Obviously, he was careless with the ball in Bills territory, got hit, and fumbled, leading to a Broncos field goal as time expired in the half, but that’s not why they lost.

Allen missed a wide open Dawson Knox when a completion likely would have won the game.

Was that McDermott’s doing?

The Obvious Replacement is Joe Brady

When Tom Brady left the Patriots and New England came undone under Bill Belichick, the next obstacle for the Bills was the Chiefs. They lost in the playoffs to Kansas City four times. Their other playoff loss during this run was to the Bengals at home.

This season, the Chiefs were out of the playoffs.

The Ravens were out of the playoffs.

The Bengals were out of the playoffs.

Regardless, this job will make head coaching candidates drool because of the QB.

You cannot turn on the TV without seeing Allen’s face, whether it’s in a commercial for candy bars, pistachios, soda, or whatever. He’s at awards shows with his actress wife.

And he has yet to get to the sport’s, perhaps the world’s, biggest stage. The team needs to find the head coach to make that happen.

The obvious move to maintain continuity is to promote offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach.

They, of course, need to fulfill the Rooney Rule and interview minority candidates. Mike McDaniel and Brian Flores accomplish that, but neither is getting the job.

You’re going to fire McDermott and bring in McDaniel, who the players listened to when they felt like it, and couldn’t build a defense or run a team that could play in the cold?

Allen won’t want to deal with Flores’ hard coaching.

Tomlin isn’t coaching this year. The Steelers won’t let him go to Buffalo anyway.

There will be talk about former OC and ex-Giants HC Brian Daboll, who had a good relationship with Allen. But if they’re just making a change to make a change while not flipping the place upside down, then Brady is the clearest choice.

The key is fixing a sieve-like defense and preventing the one or two plays that have cost them in the past.

It’s not McDermott’s fault, per se, but they did need to do something else because what they were doing wasn’t working at playoff time.

Expect Brady to get the job.

Then we’ll see who was really at fault.