Sean McDermott Head Coaching Interviews

[SectionC3]

Lots of quiet so far on this front, which is a little surprising given the number of openings and McDs W/L record.  Any thoughts on the crickets?  I'm not sure if it's McD not wanting to deal with rebuilds (Arizona/Cleveland) or otherwise being selective (doesn't strike me as a Vegas kind of guy, in addition to the rebuild issue there), of if it's just that there isn't a ton of interest.  The latter piece is what I'm interested in, because it suggests that perhaps the league views the record as an underachievement with a generational quarterback and what some might perceive as a competitive to good roster.  

[H2o]

I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't catch on somewhere until the next cycle, or if he steps away for a couple of years tbh. The dust is going to have to settle on this entire situation imo. At this point, with the openings that remain, I'm not sure where he really fits. It's not Baltimore or Cleveland. Maybe Arizona, but do they want to go that route? I think the Raiders want an offensive minded coach to put with Mendoza. 

[Charles Romes]

I think the teams in need of a HC will like McDermott from a culture building perspective but be scared about implementing his unique defense. It takes too long to learn, so you can’t place developmental players into it. Not hard hitting enough. Confuses bad QBs but gets shredded by good ones. Never maximizes DL talent. Small defenders always injured so the practice squad is used up just to fill the game day roster rather than for player development. Worst part may be McD has to be both the DC and HC. I don’t think any fan base will be very excited to see ‘ol Shaq, Po and Tre rolling into town.  

[stlbills13]

Other than Arizona there's not a job open now that's a good fit on either side 

[GunnerBill]

I don't know if he wants to coach in 2026. I imagine he is still pretty bruised by the events of this week. He may well be taking some time before deciding whether he wants to dive back in.

[SectionC3]

11 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

Other than Arizona there's not a job open now that's a good fit on either side 

A fair point.  Let me ask this: was there a bad fit for John Harbaugh?  Seems like there was a lot of interest there.  But not so much in McD, which is interesting and maybe telling.  

[Shortchaz]

I don’t think he’s going to demand a hundred million dollar contract. 
 

his best fit is:

1) db coach

2) defensive coordinator 

3) head coach 

 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a defensive coordinator/AHC position with a strong team. 
 

Maybe go be db coach for the chiefs for a year. Get back inside a locker room with highly successful coaches and see if there’s something more to be learned. take a step back and go to school.

[OldTimer1960]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I don't know if he wants to coach in 2026. I imagine he is still pretty bruised by the events of this week. He may well be taking some time before deciding whether he wants to dive back in.

Edited January 22 by OldTimer1960

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Shortchaz said:

I don’t think he’s going to demand a hundred million dollar contract. 
 

his best fit is:

1) db coach

2) defensive coordinator 

3) head coach 

 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a defensive coordinator/AHC position with a strong team. 
 

Maybe go be db coach for the chiefs for a year. Get back inside a locker room with highly successful coaches and see if there’s something more to be learned. take a step back and go to school.

 

He is not taking a DC role, nor a DB role. His next job in the NFL will be as a Head Coach. 

[SectionC3]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I don't know if he wants to coach in 2026. I imagine he is still pretty bruised by the events of this week. He may well be taking some time before deciding whether he wants to dive back in.

I had this convo with somebody else yesterday.  He apparently said he wants to coach, but that could have been in the moment bravado.  The kids are getting older, and it’s hard to square the family man thing with rapidly uprooting the family to work an enormous number of hours when he’s already going to make $12m a year (or thereabouts, from what I gleaned) to stay home for the two years.
 

He also strikes me as a guy who would be excellent on TV.  It’s not the worst option if he wants to be around for the kiddos for a bit. 

Just now, GunnerBill said:

 

He is not taking a DC role, nor a DB role. His next job in the NFL will be as a Head Coach. 

His record supports this, and his ego won’t let him be a DC.  (At least not now.) 

Edited January 22 by SectionC3

[Shortchaz]

10 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He is not taking a DC role, nor a DB role. His next job in the NFL will be as a Head Coach. 

Sure, I don’t doubt it. He has options. 

Edited January 22 by Shortchaz

[OldTimer1960]

If I were the Jets, I would look hard at bring him in to fix that culture.  I wouldn’t want to have to face him 2x per year - you might argue that his schemes is not the best, but I have not seen a McDermott team that didn’t play hard or one that quit no matter the circumstances.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

33 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I don't know if he wants to coach in 2026. I imagine he is still pretty bruised by the events of this week. He may well be taking some time before deciding whether he wants to dive back in.

Head over to Orchard Park High School, and volunteer as an assistant wrestling coach.  Enjoy whatever funds the Bills still owe him.

[FTLBillsfan]

A lot of this is due to the timing. Most teams in need of a HC have already hired their HC or completed interviews. Since Pegula still has to pay him, rather than get into a bad situation, he may just step away for a year like Mike Vrabel did and wait for just the right situation. 

I wonder if Miami is having a little buyer's remorse with Hafley since they hired him about the same time that McDermott was fired. Does anyone think that they would have loved to stick it to the Bills twice a year with the Bills former HC? Personally, I am glad that did not happen.

I see Pittsburgh or Baltimore as possibly desirable to him. But because McDermott had a similar "playoff wall" as Tomlin and Harbaugh, they may not be interested.

[BuffaloBillyG]

38 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He is not taking a DC role, nor a DB role. His next job in the NFL will be as a Head Coach. 

I think he has hot that threshold where he doesn't have to take a DC role. He's a Head Coach now. 

 

However, I point to the season where he took over as DC. He spoke a few times about how much he missed being in front of the defensive room. He seemed refreshed from it. Much happier too.

 

If nothing materialized at a HC level this year and he wants to coach, which has been reported by Schefty and Ian, taking a DC role to a first time HC (Joe Brady for instance) wouldn't shock me. 

[LetsGoRed]

2 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

I think he has hot that threshold where he doesn't have to take a DC role. He's a Head Coach now. 

 

However, I point to the season where he took over as DC. He spoke a few times about how much he missed being in front of the defensive room. He seemed refreshed from it. Much happier too.

 

If nothing materialized at a HC level this year and he wants to coach, which has been reported by Schefty and Ian, taking a DC role to a first time HC (Joe Brady for instance) wouldn't shock me. 

So when the Bills hire Brady, we get McDermott back? Everyone wins! 😈

[JGMcD2]

39 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

A fair point.  Let me ask this: was there a bad fit for John Harbaugh?  Seems like there was a lot of interest there.  But not so much in McD, which is interesting and maybe telling.  

There were 10 openings, but only 9 where he was a realistic candidate. By the time he became available, three had already been filled, with a fourth following shortly after. That left Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh.

 

I think he’s earned the right to be selective - similar to Harbaugh, who ultimately was only seriously linked to two teams once everything settled. Of the remaining options, there are three I wouldn’t really touch if I were him. For the other two (Baltimore and Pittsburgh), he doesn’t represent enough of a philosophical shift, and he also doesn’t align with what they’re reportedly looking for.

 

Timing matters as well. Several teams are already deep into their processes, and for better or worse, it’s difficult for organizations to pivot that dramatically so late in the cycle.

[Royale with Cheese]

There’s not really any good openings other than Buffalo.  Lamar has peaked and I think will decline.  He will still be good but I don’t think MVP anymore.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

2 minutes ago, LetsGoRed said:

So when the Bills hire Brady, we get McDermott back? Everyone wins! 😈

I see two diametrically opposed petitions incoming.

[Kirby Jackson]

44 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

If I were the Jets, I would look hard at bring him in to fix that culture.  I wouldn’t want to have to face him 2x per year - you might argue that his schemes is not the best, but I have not seen a McDermott team that didn’t play hard or one that quit no matter the circumstances.

He seems like a better fit somewhere that is a mess than somewhere that is close. He was great at building culture, establishing a foundation and raising the floor. McDermott could not get over the top. The Jets are a great example of somewhere that he could do good work. Arizona feels like a fit. Cleveland might be a fit as well. He didn’t seem like a guy that the Ravens should hire. 
 

The rumor that I saw a couple of days ago is that he doesn’t want to go to a rebuilding situation. I have no idea if that’s true or not. It’s tricky because that seems like where he would be best.