Orchard Park, N.Y. — When the news broke that the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott and promoted general manager Brandon Beane, fans started to simmer with how the organization handled the situation.
The optics seemed to be that Beane got in owner Terry Pegula’s ear and made a power play to gain control of the organization.
Beane vehemently denied those allegations on Wednesday when he spoke to reporters alongside owner Terry Pegula.
“Those are harmful, harmful (accusations to make),” Beane said. “I walk in the door and my wife’s got tears coming down her face for stuff like that. I’m (going to) 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.”
Many fans believe Beane’s inability to build a championship-caliber roster deserves the same scrutiny and punishment as McDermott received for his coaching failures.
Pegula said Beane deserves credit for Buffalo’s sustained success since he was hired shortly after McDermott.
“I’m aware there’s criticism out there about our franchise,” Pegula said. “Does anyone know what the numbers 5-2-3, 2-2-2-6 represent? … That’s our seeding over the last seven years in the playoffs. An organization doesn’t carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players.”
Beane admitted that he hasn’t been perfect. But took issue with the idea that he would work behind the scenes to get McDermott fired.
“That’s hurtful to even hear that or say 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. People can disagree with draft picks that I make, or people I sign, or I screwed up the wide receivers, whatever it is (but) … for someone to question my character, my integrity, that’s where I draw the line.”
Pegula defended Beane.
“I’m the kind of guy, if I sense you’re on a power play, you’re out,” Pegula said. “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.”
Beane called back to 2023, when Tyler Dunne published a three-part series on McDermott that exposed a training camp team meeting in which the former Bills coach used the 9/11 terrorist attacks as an example of good teamwork.
The story went viral, and many critics began calling for McDermott’s job. Beane was one of many in the organization that stood up for the coach.
“Who stood up in front of everyone of you guys and defended him and his family and everything he’s done here,” Beane said. “And then we went to Kansas City, and we won that game, and I went down to (equipment manager) Jeff Mazurek and said, ‘Give me a game ball. I’m going to show everyone that this team has his back.’ I’ve done nothing but have everyone’s back.”
Pegula and Beane denied the report from WGRZ earlier this week that McDermott fell out of favor during a meeting with the owner and GM five weeks ago after voicing his belief that the Bills didn’t have a Super Bowl roster.
According to Beane and Pegula, the three men were in constant communication right up to the day the owner decided to fire the coach.
Beane admitted that there are always disagreements between decision-makers in an organization, though.
“It’s not like we were 100% always in agreement on every decision that he made or I made,” Beane said. “that just comes with the territory. And I would expect that with the next head coach, there’s certain things that fall into his area, whether it’s managing a game, how we scheme the game, whatever it is that are his, and there’s certain decisions that are personnel related, somebody’s got to make the final call.”
