Everything Bills owner Terry Pegula said about firing Sean McDermott | Full press conference transcript

Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula stepped in front of a microphone for the first time in nearly six years at a team press conference to explain his heavily criticized decision to fire longtime head coach Sean McDermott on Monday.

Pegula sat with the President of Football Operations/General Manager, Brandon Beane, for nearly an hour to answer reporters’ questions. Beane was retained by Pegula and also promoted. Pegula explained his decision and more on Wednesday.

Here is a full transcript of the press conference.

Pegula’s opening statement:

I want to thank Sean McDermott for all the work he’s done in Buffalo over the last nine years. We all remember the playoff drought before Sean got here. Sean has definitely left the Buffalo Bills in a better place than when he arrived in 2017. He gave his heart and soul to trying to win a championship. I gave Sean his first head coaching job and I’m proud of that. I don’t think he’s done coaching in this league and I wish him the best. I also want to thank him and his wife, Jamie, for the kind words and thoughts that they gave to me when Kim had her sudden cardiac arrest. It was really encouraging for all the kind thoughts that they gave our family while we were going through that ordeal.

My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver. I want to take you in the locker room after that game. I looked around, first thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying. I looked at all the other players. I looked at their faces and our coaches. I walked over to Josh, he didn’t even acknowledge I was there. First thing I said to him, I said, ‘That was a catch.’ We all know what I’m talking about. He didn’t acknowledge me, he just sat there sobbing, he was listless. He had given everything he had to try to win that game. And looking around, so did all the other players on the team. I saw the pain. And Josh’s face at his presser, and I felt his pain. I know we can do better, and I know we will get better. I want to express my confidence in the guy sitting next to me, Brandon Beane, and the job he has done in resurrecting this franchise. I’m not going to sit here and defend everything that we have done as a franchise, but the bottom line is we have attracted good people here. Brandon has brought in Joe Schoen, who’s now the GM in New York, Dan Morgan, the GM in Carolina, Dennis Hickey, former GM in Miami, and our own Brian Gaine, who’s still here with us, former GM in Houston. There have been some very talented people that Brandon is associated with that he’s brought through the front door here at One Bills Drive. I’m aware there’s criticism out there about our franchise. Does anyone know what the numbers 5-2-3, 2-2-2-6 represent? I’m asking a question. No? That’s our seeding over the last seven years in the playoffs. 5-2-3, 2-2-2-6. An organization doesn’t carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players. It’s impossible to have that kind of results without having a good roster. I hear it from my counterparts at league meetings. A lot of them talk about the Bills organization and the success we’ve had through the years. Our roster is a direct reflection of the hard work that Brandon and our scouting staff has done through the years. One may complain over a deal, over a player, over a result. But the bottom line is, success over a long period of time means we’re doing something right.

We are focused on bringing a Super Bowl to Buffalo. We have an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen. I’m looking forward to having a successful coaching search. I know this is a desirable job. Our phones are ringing and we’re going to begin that process. So I’m going to turn it over to Brandon.

Q. Terry, if you thought it was a catch, why fire a coach based on a bad officiating call?

Pegula: I did not fire coach based on a bad officiating decision. If I can take you into that locker room, I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall year after year — 13 seconds, missed field goal, the catch. So I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with what we have? And that was the basis for my decision.

Q: Terry, there’s a report that McDermott voiced to you and Brandon Beane that the Bills don’t have a Super Bowl roster and you didn’t like that he did that. Thoughts?

Pegula: I don’t know where that came from, but we met all the time, talked to Sean every day. Yeah, we talk about being dissatisfied with this, being happy with that and whatnot. We communicated all the time, and I don’t know where that came from.

Q: Why did it come down to Sean or Brandon, or did it?

Pegula: I believe it was, ‘Where does the leadership of the team on the field and in the locker room, where do we go from that moment, another playoff failure?’ That’s why I decided that Sean had to leave.

Q: Terry, how far before the playoff game did you think about this being a possibility?

Pegula: After the playoff game in the locker room. If I need to keep saying that, I’ll keep saying it. It was feeling the moment, being there.

Q: What was the process for deciding between whether failures were because of coaching or roster talent?

Pegula: You see teams in the league. I’m not going to mention team names, but they have a great year, good year, and the next year the success doesn’t continue. You don’t get in the playoffs seven straight years in this National Football League, where there are very few blowouts and dozens and dozens of close games every year, you don’t get there without having talent and a great organization, and Brandon and his staff have brought in, regularly, players. I mean, look at the injuries we had this year. We’re down, guys on the practice squad contributing in big games. You don’t do that without talent in the front office.

Q: The wide receiver position has been an issue with this team. A lot of people believe you failed on the free agency market and then with Keon Coleman. How do you answer for the fact that you have not given Josh Allen a good enough wide receiver room so far?

Pegula: Can I interrupt? I’ll address the Keon situation. The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next choice. That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player. And you know, he’s taken, for some reason, heat over it, and not saying a word about it, but I’m here to tell you the true story.

Q: Terry, you’ve emphasized how important Josh Allen is to this franchise and seeing him after the game was a factor. What input did he have, if any, on this decision to fire Sean McDermott, or what conversations have you have with Allen?

Pegula: He didn’t have any input at all. I didn’t talk to Josh about this. I talked to him afterwards. That conversation will stay private, but he had no input.

Q: You’ve often spoken about the importance of having everyone in your organization in lockstep. Why you brought Brandon and Sean in at the same time. How did that dissolve?

Pegula: You can’t … I wouldn’t use the word dissolve. We all debate and argue with each other in any organization, we’re talking about a football team here, everybody has their input and not everyone agrees on everything you do inside that organization. That doesn’t mean relationships dissolve. It’s just, to me, it’s healthy. You foster debate. I disagree with you, like this guy’s told me to F off a couple times. Trust me. And I strongly disagreed with some pretty good players that he’s drafted. I’m not mentioning names, but it doesn’t dissolve the relationship. It’s just the way we operate.

Q: You said the team has hit a wall under the coaching staff. But with Sean, you guys have been in that position each year, close. Is it a risk to make a change now?

Pegula: There is definitely risk. We’ve got to make the best decision, so that’s a fact. And what was the rest?

Q: Pressure on the new coach coming in, because you’ve already established where you have been for seven straight years?

Pegula: I can tell you this. There’s desire. I don’t know about pressure right now, but there’s a lot of people that want to look at taking this job. There’s a lot of interest.

Q: Is it Super Bowl or bust in 2026?

Pegula: No. No, we can’t say that to somebody coming in, we’re making a change and it’s do your best job.

Q: How would you characterize the relationship between Sean and Brandon, and what to make of accusations that it was a Beane power play to get Sean ousted?

Pegula: Can I help about the power play part of that? I’m the kind of guy, if I sense you’re on a power play, you’re out. I don’t like power play people. We have an organization that we work together, but any sense at all that he was on a power play, he would have been gone because that’s not my type of person.

Q: Why did you find it important to speak out today? You’ve been to a lot of press conferences, but not taking questions. Why did you feel important today to answer questions?

Pegula: Well, a long part, a long duration of why I wasn’t in front of the media was Kim’s health situation. It was very traumatic, but I felt that this is a big move. Sean McDermott is well respected. He’s a great coach. And this is important for people to hear what I have to say. But don’t take my lack of appearance; it was all personal.

Q: Is Josh Allen on board with this decision?

Pegula: The starting quarterback will be part of the team to help select a new coach. He’s going to be working with us. And anything else, his feelings I want to keep that private. I don’t want this in Josh’s head. This was my decision. And I know I didn’t answer your question, but I hope in a roundabout way, his personal opinion, I keep personal.

Q: Terry, you mentioned it was a reflection of the roster that they had to play so many guys deep down the depth chart because of injuries, but they kept winning football games. So why was that also not a positive reflection on Sean McDermott’s coaching?

Pegula: Again I go back to 5, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 6. Great roster, good coaching, no Super Bowl appearance. I can;’t emphasize, if I can put you all in that room at that moment after the game, it’s like, ‘how do we overcome this.’ It’s been one year after another and that was the sense of how do we overcome this. And I just couldn’t see us doing that with Sean, that’s why I relieved him. It’s not an easy decision, trust me, we’ve had success. But what is success? Is success being in the playoffs seven years in a row with no Super Bowl appearance?

Q: With Brandon and Sean’s success and failures both so intertwined together, how were you able to distill that Brandon deserved his promotion while Sean is fired?

Pegula: (Pause) That was my decision. I could be wrong, but it was success with the players. I don’t know if anybody knows it in this room, but Josh Allen wouldn’t be here if it wasn;t for this guy (points to Beane) pushing and pushing and pulling a Houdini in that draft to get to a position where we could pick him,. So that was my decision.

Q: When expectations fall short, how much responsibility goes into coaching versus roster construction?

Pegula: That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know the answer to that really.

Q. Do you plan on being more accessible to media and fans?

Pegula: I think that’s a possibility in the future. I can’t even go watch my daughter play tennis. She’s got to No. 3 in the world, and I’ve been to like two of her matches in the last four years. We have issues in the family. But I can see me being more available in the future, yeah.

Q. How do you move forward with Keon?

Pegula: Let me talk about this issue. There’s not one player on our team that somebody else could have been drafted in their place because of others’ opinions. We listen to the coaches. The GM has an opinion. Some of our scouts I have my opinions. But I don’t think you can look at one player, even Josh, where somebody thought, ‘We could have drafted so and so here.’ What I was trying to show with Keon was we collaborate. There’s different names available at every draft pick that we could have selected.

Q: Would Sean still be here if you won in Denver or would you have made this decision if you lost in the AFC championship or lost in the Super Bowl?

Pegula: I don’t speculate on that. It is what it is. I don’t want to speculate.

Q: Players expressing displeasure with Sean being fired. Were you surprised?

Pegula: Everybody has their opinion. We can all speak our mind. I don’t look at this stuff, so I don’t even know who those players are. Trust me, I don’t look at what everybody is saying. I made the decision and it’s my decision.

Q: Clarify timeline. Did you go back and forth after the game before Monday?

Pegula: I didn’t go back on it.