Buffalo Bills fire head coach Sean McDermott after playoff loss to Broncos

The Buffalo Bills have fired head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons.

It’s a move that caught many by surprise: McDermott is out as the head coach, while Brandon Beane has been promoted to president of football operations and general manager.

Bills owner Terry Pegula made the decision to fire McDermott after yet another playoff disappointment in Saturday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.

McDermott had great success in turning around an organization that had a 17-year playoff drought, which he broke in his first season in 2017.

McDermott had a record of 98-52 in the regular season and was tied for the longest tenure of any coach before he was let go. His run included eight playoff appearances in nine years and five consecutive AFC East division titles, which came to an end with the New England Patriots taking the crown this season.

As good as the Bills had been, winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal, especially when you have an MVP quarterback like Josh Allen as the face of the franchise. McDermott was 8-8 in the postseason, making the conference title game twice, but never able to get over the hump with a number of heartbreaking playoff losses.

Bills owner Terry Pegula said in a statement, “Sean has done an admirable job of leading our football team for the past nine seasons. But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.”

Pegula also thanked McDermott and wish the best for Sean, his wife Jamie and their family.

The new leadership structure has Beane in charge of all football operations and leading the search for a new head coach. It’s an interesting development since Beane arrived shortly after McDermott and the two worked together with the Carolina Panthers. They were often seen as a package deal. There was even growing sentiment among observers that Beane might be in trouble; instead, he assumes even greater control in the front office.

McDermott’s final news conference after the playoff loss to Denver on Saturday included an impassioned and somewhat out-of-character criticism of the officials after a controversial interception call in overtime, saying “I’m standing up for Buffalo, I’m standing up for us.”