What we learned about Sean McDermott’s firing from Bills owner Terry Pegula, GM Brandon Beane
Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula said he decided to fire head coach Sean McDermott after the Bills’ loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC’s divisional round playoffs based on the result of the game and the tearful reaction from quarterback Josh Allen.
Pegula held a news conference Wednesday alongside general manager Brandon Beane, who was retained and promoted, to explain the move. McDermott’s firing and Beane’s promotion drew strong reactions from fans and current and former Bills players.
Pegula defended his decision to keep Beane by saying the team has had enough talent to be successful in the playoffs, but hit “the proverbial playoff wall.”
Under McDermott, the Bills reached the divisional round in six straight seasons and twice advanced to the AFC Championship Game (in 2020 and 2024) but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in both appearances.
McDermott’s teams made the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons, including in his first year in 2017, when the Bills snapped a 17-year playoff drought. His 98 wins are second in franchise history, behind only Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, who won 112 games over 12 seasons and reached four Super Bowls.
Terry Pegula reveals the process behind his decision
Pegula made an emotional decision Saturday night upon witnessing the despondent wreckage inside the Bills’ locker room and didn’t tell Beane about it until Monday morning.
And McDermott’s fate was tightly tethered to one controversial officiating call in the Broncos’ favor.
Curious as it all sounds, that’s what the Bills’ owner and his newly promoted president of football operations said during his explanation as to why McDermott was fired after a seventh consecutive postseason.
Pegula said it was his decision alone, directly the result of seeing Allen so forlorn after falling short of the Super Bowl yet again.
“I looked around, first thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying,” Pegula said in his initial remarks. “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.’”
Pegula was referring to the hotly debated interception the Bills believe was caught by receiver Brandin Cooks. The officials said cornerback Ja’Quan McMillan stole it away on the ground and awarded an interception at the Broncos’ 30-yard line with 7:55 left in overtime.
Instead of the Bills being in field-goal range and advancing to the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos converted the turnover — with help from dubiously inconsistent pass interference penalties — into victory.
Allen wept at his news conference and blamed himself for the loss. The reigning MVP committed four of Buffalo’s five giveaways. Allen can’t be blamed for the controversial jump-ball interception or his fumble while absorbing a vicious blindside sack, but his fumble at the end of the first half that gifted Denver three points and his bad interception near the end of the third quarter were certainly a major reason why he was dejected.
The interception ruling also likely added to Allen’s feelings of helplessness.
The owner didn’t like that scene — and fired McDermott.
I asked Pegula how a bad call could decide McDermott’s fate after nine years, a 98-50 regular-season record, eight playoff appearances and five AFC East championships.
“I did not fire coach based on a bad officiating decision,” Pegula said. “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.”
If Allen hadn’t cried, then would McDermott still be employed at One Bills Drive?
Sounds like maybe so.
Pegula was asked six different ways why he fired McDermott and promoted Beane. He hired them both in 2017, Beane arriving just four months after McDermott. By and large, they share the same record, the same successes, the same failures.
Each time, Pegula was unable to reconcile how he determined the roster was better than the coaching staff. He repeated how the Bills were seeded fifth, second, third, second, second, second, second and sixth since Allen joined the club in 2018. When asked why coaching doesn’t receive credit for that run of success, Pegula failed to articulate.
“I go back to 5-2-3-2-2-2-6,” Pegula said. “Great roster, good coaching, no Super Bowl appearance. I can’t emphasize, if I could put you all in that room after the game, it’s like, ‘How do we overcome this?’ It’s been one year after another.“I just couldn’t see us doing that with Sean. That’s why I relieved him. It’s not an easy decision, trust me, with that success. But what is success? Is success being in the playoffs seven years in a row with no Super Bowl appearance?”
Asked a follow-up question about why Beane deserved a promotion, Pegula paused a beat.
“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,” Pegula pointed 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.” — Bills columnist Tim Graham
Brandon Beane grew emotional during the news conference when he was questioned about the circumstances around his promotion and Sean McDermott’s firing. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Brandon Beane defends his character
One of the biggest moments during the 53-minute news conference was when Beane stood up for his character. The fan base has wondered why Beane remained in his position, with a promotion, while the Bills fired McDermott, despite the two working collaboratively for the last nine seasons with the same roster and the same results. Fan perception is that Beane made a power play of some kind to be the last one standing. Speaking for the first time since the Bills announced the moves, Beane passionately defended his character, red-faced and on the verge of tears, calling it “hurtful and harmful,” citing all the hard work he’s put in throughout his career.
“I worked 19 seasons, starting as an intern in Carolina and worked my way up. I came here and I’ve never tried to do that,” Beane said.” I would love for anyone who’s making that accusation to walk in these doors and ask any person, player, coach, trainer — anyone. Like, people can disagree with the draft picks that I make, or people I sign, or I screwed up the wide receivers, whatever it is. Those are harmful, harmful things that, you know, I walk in the door and my wife’s got tears coming down her face for stuff like that. I’m gonna damn try hard to win a Super Bowl here, I am. But for somebody to question my character like that, is BS. And I’ve never done that. If you remember, in 2023, there was an article written on Sean accusing things, who stood up in front of every one of you guys and defended him and his family and everything he’s done here? And when we went to Kansas City, and we won that game, and I went down to Jeff Mazurek and said give me a game ball, I’m gonna show everyone that this team has his back. I’ve done nothing but have everyone’s back. And so for someone to question my character, my integrity, that’s where I draw the line.”
Beane’s reaction came across as very real, and while there were plenty of moments where the Bills strayed and made some contradictory statements throughout the entire news conference, this was the general manager’s strongest moment of the day. To Beane’s credit, he has been entirely well-received throughout the building during his tenure, and over the years, many have raved about his character and what it’s like to work for him.
There’s no doubt that Beane and McDermott’s relationship hadn’t been quite as strong as it had been earlier in their tenure together, and there were some disagreements throughout the time, but the raw emotion to the public perception that he made a power play to oust McDermott was as animated as he’s ever been at a news conference in all his time in Buffalo. — Bills beat writer Joe Buscaglia
A puzzling assessment of Keon Coleman
When Beane was asked about the lack of top-tier wide receivers on the roster, including the decision to draft Keon Coleman, who has been disciplined three times since Buffalo drafted him in the second round in 2024 and has not materialized as a reliable target for Allen, Pegula interjected.
“I’ll address the Keon situation,” Pegula said. “The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but (Coleman) wasn’t his next choice. It was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff, who felt strongly about the player. He’s taken, for some reason, heat over it and not said a word about it. But I’m here to tell you the true story.”
About 25 minutes later, Beane attempted to clarify that Coleman was his pick and he stood behind it, but at that point, the damage had already been done.
“He was my pick. I made the pick,” Beane said. “Terry’s point was that we might’ve had a different order of personnel versus coaching, and I went that way. But ultimately, I’m not turning in a pick for a player that I don’t think we can succeed with. So don’t misunderstand that. Keon Coleman is a young player that has been here two years, has two years left on his deal. It’s up to us to work with him and develop him.
“His issues have not been on the field. It’s been maturity things that he owns; I give him credit. He doesn’t make excuses, which I appreciate. He busted his tail and had a great offseason. He had an excellent camp, no matter who he went against. Made a bunch of plays. The Ravens game, he ends up with 100-whatever yards and you’re right: ‘Man, this kid’s going to take off.’ But some of the maturity stuff got in the way, and you can naturally lose confidence in teammates or coaches, and that’s understandable.”
My first reaction to what Pegula initially said about Coleman, by today’s NFL standards, was absolute shock. Coleman was the team’s top draft choice in 2024 and has sputtered from a once-promising prospect to now being the subject of passing the blame by the team’s owner in just two seasons.
The first, and most wild part of Pegula’s statement is that Coleman is still on the roster, and any trade the Bills could have sought out for Coleman this offseason to recoup something on their investment took a major hit.
Well beyond that, Pegula’s comments about someone still on the roster, to essentially blame people that are no longer in the building for a pick that didn’t go well, are unlikely to have a positive impact on the Bills’ current roster. There has long been a “we’re all in this together” vibe permeating throughout the Bills locker room whenever ownership, the front office, the coaching staff and players were discussed. Many looked at it as a family. However, the team’s owner throwing under the bus both the coaching staff and a player many in the locker room are friends with, while he’s still on the roster, was simply an astounding thing to do to defend the team’s general manager moving forward. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
