Why Firing McDermott Was Right—and Why the Media Still Doesn’t Get It

[HailMary]

 

As a Bills fan: firing Sean McDermott was the right move in this moment. He built the culture, but the team outgrew his limitations. Late-game management issues, conservative instincts, and playoff breakdowns aren’t things you keep hoping will evolve when you’re in Josh Allen’s prime. A defensive “bend-don’t-break” mindset isn’t the answer anymore in a league where an aggressive Defence  and go-for-the-kill Offence decide January.

 

Now the media’s doing the predictable flip—nitpicking every interview like perfection is the bar. One answer is a red flag, the next candidate is “unproven.” That’s not insight, it’s overcorrection. And the Philip Rivers chatter says it all. The Bills were never hiring him. This front office is disciplined, not desperate. They didn’t move on from McDermott to panic-they did it to level up.

 

P.S. Let’s not rewrite history. Terry Pegula saved this franchise when it mattered and kept football in Buffalo. Brandon Beane ran the draft that landed the best football player in the world. Ownership aligned. Front office executed. Franchise quarterback secured. Stay locked into the goal. Ask the Broncos. Ask the Eagles. Ask the Rams or the Bucs—every Super Bowl team made uncomfortable decisions while the window was open. Stability doesn’t raise banners. The Bills are doing the same thing. Support the swing.

[transplantbillsfan]

13 seconds (if we trust Tyler Dunne he wanted the touch back and took over play calling duties in OT)

 

NOT giving help to Darnell Savage or Dane Jackson for the ONE #$%@ING PLAY THEY CAME ON THE FIELD FOR!!!!

 

3rd and 11 non-blitz despite showing Blitz.

 

Oh yeah... how about this last year instead of putting the ball in Josh Allen’s hands

 

[MrEpsYtown]

Media is coming around after what happened this weekend. Even Joe Marino is admitting he needed to go. Sal too. 

[HailMary]

Most national media was never going to defend this. They don’t cover Buffalo with nuance, they cover it with narratives. Local hot-take media feeds off outrage. That leaves the loudest voices skeptical by default.  The people standing up for the decision are the ones that matter: the front office and former players who understand windows and locker rooms. No leaks. No panic. No chaos. Sometimes the smartest moves don’t have cheerleaders—until they work.  Let's hope the beat reports zoom out on this and reflect. 

[FitzShowUsYourTitz]

Oh God

Hey I get it. McD needed to be gone but…

 

There was zero strategy here.  McD shoulda been fired years ago.  
Terry and I don’t think anyone can disagree, made an emotional decision to get rid of the coach. It’s valid.  But you rely on the leaders of your organization to have an actual strategy and plan going forward, which they clearly did not.  
 

No planning ahead of time, no key replacement waiting in the wings.  
Just fire him and then figure it out.  
 

10 teams hiring coaches this year.  No more Harbough… or the other Harbough or Sean Peyton or Johnson.  
 

And then there’s the roster. Objectively it lacks talent and we have serious cap issues.  
And the guy still making the draft pics and signing the FA’s is the same guy.  
 

Let’s hope it works out but it may or may not. Can we all agree a strategy here is far better than making an emotional decision that needed to be made.  
 

And the media doesn’t matter here. Flame away

 

GoBills 

Edited January 27 by FitzShowUsYourTitz

[HailMary]

On the McDermott petition:

Petitions are about emotion, not direction. McDermott deserves respect for what he built—but petitions don’t win Super Bowls. Windows do. Decisions do. The Bills honored the past and chose the future. That’s not betrayal—that’s leadership.

[BillMafia716ix]

Tampa Bay put Dungy in their ring of Honor even though he didn’t win a Super Bowl. Maybe down the road will do the same for Sean. But he had way too many bites at the apple…it had to be done. 

[US Egg]

That so much stock is put into what sports media entertainers spout is…..well, good for them that’s for sure.

[Cheektowaga Chad]

McDermotts in game coaching decisions will go down as some of worst the NFL has ever seen

 

Like when that petition was started, someone could have just sent the fake punt to hamlin and that would probably have stopped 99% of people who signed it

[prissythecat]

1 hour ago, FitzShowUsYourTitz said:

Oh God

Hey I get it. McD needed to be gone but…

 

There was zero strategy here.  McD shoulda been fired years ago.  
Terry and I don’t think anyone can disagree, made an emotional decision to get rid of the coach. It’s valid.  But you rely on the leaders of your organization to have an actual strategy and plan going forward, which they clearly did not.  
 

No planning ahead of time, no key replacement waiting in the wings.  
Just fire him and then figure it out.  
 

….

 

do teams typically have a replacement coach already interviewed with a pending offer when they go to fire their existing head coach?

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, prissythecat said:

 

do teams typically have a replacement coach already interviewed with a pending offer when they go to fire their existing head coach?

 

No.  No, they don't.  Nor do they have a ranked list of candidates or whatever the heck some around here think they ought to have.

[folz]

 

4 hours ago, FitzShowUsYourTitz said:

Oh God

Hey I get it. McD needed to be gone but…

 

There was zero strategy here.  McD shoulda been fired years ago.  
Terry and I don’t think anyone can disagree, made an emotional decision to get rid of the coach. It’s valid.  But you rely on the leaders of your organization to have an actual strategy and plan going forward, which they clearly did not.  
 

No planning ahead of time, no key replacement waiting in the wings.  
Just fire him and then figure it out.  
 

10 teams hiring coaches this year.  No more Harbough… or the other Harbough or Sean Peyton or Johnson.  
 

And then there’s the roster. Objectively it lacks talent and we have serious cap issues.  
And the guy still making the draft pics and signing the FA’s is the same guy.  
 

Let’s hope it works out but it may or may not. Can we all agree a strategy here is far better than making an emotional decision that needed to be made.  
 

And the media doesn’t matter here. Flame away

 

GoBills 

 

It all depends on what you think is an "emotional decision." Was emotion, particularly seeing the emotion in the locker room (as Terry himself stated), a part of the decision, yes. But was it a rash decision? I don't think so. [To an extent, that is just semantics, but I think you'll see what I mean.]

 

You have to remember that Terry has lived through everything we have (all of the playoff loses, etc.) but to an even elevated degree, because there is actually pressure on him to win (to make decisions and empower people). He's not just watching it, he's living it. He is also a man who runs other businesses and has to make big decisions, hire people, fire people, etc. It's not like he's emotionally immature, and just threw a tantrum and fired Sean.

 

Now, the difference between a rash decision and an emotional decision is that a rash decision is made without the full information or a consideration of the consequences. Do you really think that Terry has never contemplated firing Sean prior to that locker room? That he doesn't have the full information about Sean and his tenure? And that he's never thought about the consequences of if he did fire him? Some fans have been calling for him to be fired for 4-5 years. Of course Terry has thought about it. And things build up. Was everything perfect before the Denver game and then out of the blue Terry fired Sean? Or was it an accumulation of 5-7 years worth of disappointment and not getting the job done? 

 

Don't get too hung up on the "emotional decision" automatically meaning it's a bad/totally unprepared decision.

 

Secondly, how else do coaches get fired? There is never a good time. Things just build up and build up until ownership decides there needs to be a change. I don't think any coaching firings are well planned out, especially a year in advance to think about who else may or may not fire their coach, or who or who is not available. That's just not how it happens. And once you feel that way, you can't keep that coach another year just because you aren't sure the pool of candidates is good enough or there are too many other teams looking (especially when you are one of the more attractive jobs). The next season would be doomed from the start. 

 

And thank goodness we missed out on Harbaugh, Harbaugh, and Payton. Wouldn't want any of those guys. Johnson and Coen look like very good hires from last year (Vrable wasn't going anywhere besides NE and I wouldn't want him), but there is no guarantee that is who the Bills would have wanted and/or that those coaches would have taken the Bills job if offered. A lot of factors are involved in why a coach wants to go to certain teams over others (more than just QB, though that is big). And who is to say for sure that Johnson and Coen will be better in the long run than a Kubiak, Udinski, Webb, etc. May look that way at the moment, but we don't know.

 

Sure, you could maybe say that Terry should have fired Sean last year (because of the candidates in 2025), but that is a different conversation from whether it was a good decision or not to do it this year.

 

 

 

Having said all of that (and this part is not directed at you FitzShowUsYourTitz), we also don't need to kick Sean when he's down. Decision made, wish him well, let's move on. No need to keep trashing a guy who did so much for this franchise and fanbase, an all-time Bills head Coach. I don't think anyone can fault Sean for culture, work ethic, leadership, and effort. We all know what happened on the field (the good and the bad). But he deserves our respect. The guy absolutely poured his guts out trying to bring a Lombardi to Buffalo, just didn't happen. But he did turn this franchise from a laughing stock into a well-respected contender.

 

Edited January 27 by folz

[Pete]

https://x.com/andresmith_9/status/2013475057805467915?s=46
 

tweet has since been removed.  
 

it read:

@metfan1963, @mattparino

13 seconds was not McDermott.  Not going to be messy now but it wasn’t McD.

AndreSmithJr

(@AndreSmith_9)

[BillsPride12]

3 hours ago, folz said:

 

 

It all depends on what you think is an "emotional decision." Was emotion, particularly seeing the emotion in the locker room (as Terry himself stated), a part of the decision, yes. But was it a rash decision? I don't think so. [To an extent, that is just semantics, but I think you'll see what I mean.]

 

You have to remember that Terry has lived through everything we have (all of the playoff loses, etc.) but to an even elevated degree, because there is actually pressure on him to win (to make decisions and empower people). He's not just watching it, he's living it. He is also a man who runs other businesses and has to make big decisions, hire people, fire people, etc. It's not like he's emotionally immature, and just threw a tantrum and fired Sean.

 

Now, the difference between a rash decision and an emotional decision is that a rash decision is made without the full information or a consideration of the consequences. Do you really think that Terry has never contemplated firing Sean prior to that locker room? That he doesn't have the full information about Sean and his tenure? And that he's never thought about the consequences of if he did fire him? Some fans have been calling for him to be fired for 4-5 years. Of course Terry has thought about it. And things build up. Was everything perfect before the Denver game and then out of the blue Terry fired Sean? Or was it an accumulation of 5-7 years worth of disappointment and not getting the job done? 

 

Don't get too hung up on the "emotional decision" automatically meaning it's a bad/totally unprepared decision.

 

Secondly, how else do coaches get fired? There is never a good time. Things just build up and build up until ownership decides there needs to be a change. I don't think any coaching firings are well planned out, especially a year in advance to think about who else may or may not fire their coach, or who or who is not available. That's just not how it happens. And once you feel that way, you can't keep that coach another year just because you aren't sure the pool of candidates is good enough or there are too many other teams looking (especially when you are one of the more attractive jobs). The next season would be doomed from the start. 

 

And thank goodness we missed out on Harbaugh, Harbaugh, and Payton. Wouldn't want any of those guys. Johnson and Coen look like very good hires from last year (Vrable wasn't going anywhere besides NE and I wouldn't want him), but there is no guarantee that is who the Bills would have wanted and/or that those coaches would have taken the Bills job if offered. A lot of factors are involved in why a coach wants to go to certain teams over others (more than just QB, though that is big). And who is to say for sure that Johnson and Coen will be better in the long run than a Kubiak, Udinski, Webb, etc. May look that way at the moment, but we don't know.

 

Sure, you could maybe say that Terry should have fired Sean last year (because of the candidates in 2025), but that is a different conversation from whether it was a good decision or not to do it this year.

 

 

 

Having said all of that (and this part is not directed at you FitzShowUsYourTitz), we also don't need to kick Sean when he's down. Decision made, wish him well, let's move on. No need to keep trashing a guy who did so much for this franchise and fanbase, an all-time Bills head Coach. I don't think anyone can fault Sean for culture, work ethic, leadership, and effort. We all know what happened on the field (the good and the bad). But he deserves our respect. The guy absolutely poured his guts out trying to bring a Lombardi to Buffalo, just didn't happen. But he did turn this franchise from a laughing stock into a well-respected contender.

 

It was a dumb comment for Pegula to make at the press conference about firing McDermott strictly due to the result of the Denver game. It was clearly based on the overall performance of McDermott's tenure here

[Sweats]

I think people tend to forget that although Pegs is the owner, i'm pretty sure that he still has investors to answer to, and these investors hold a lot of sway in decisions and outcomes (more than you think). If the investors are not happy, it means they may have lost faith in the direction........this can lead to potential loss of income and less of a "bottom line" number.

 

When you potentially start ****ing around with people's money, hard choices are going to be made to right the ship and get that dollar back in line, so although it was Pegs decision to fire McD, don't think that it didn't come without a few whispers in his ear.

[strive_for_five_guy]

8 hours ago, FitzShowUsYourTitz said:

Oh God

Hey I get it. McD needed to be gone but…

 

There was zero strategy here.  McD shoulda been fired years ago.  
Terry and I don’t think anyone can disagree, made an emotional decision to get rid of the coach. It’s valid.  But you rely on the leaders of your organization to have an actual strategy and plan going forward, which they clearly did not.  
 

No planning ahead of time, no key replacement waiting in the wings.  
Just fire him and then figure it out.  
 

10 teams hiring coaches this year.  No more Harbough… or the other Harbough or Sean Peyton or Johnson.  
 

And then there’s the roster. Objectively it lacks talent and we have serious cap issues.  
And the guy still making the draft pics and signing the FA’s is the same guy.  
 

Let’s hope it works out but it may or may not. Can we all agree a strategy here is far better than making an emotional decision that needed to be made.  
 

And the media doesn’t matter here. Flame away

 

GoBills 

Totally agree.  Terry made minimal sense

at his press conference.  They say it’s better to be lucky than good though, so maybe this will still work out for the team.  

[Captain_Quint]

But he's a good guy! 

[finn]

42 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

It was a dumb comment for Pegula to make at the press conference about firing McDermott strictly due to the result of the Denver game. It was clearly based on the overall performance of McDermott's tenure here

Dumb, dishonest, self-serving, baffling (why not dump the GM that also failed?) and four years overdue. We can give him for "better late than ever," but that's about it. Pegula is the poster child for the saying, "Better to stay quiet and let people think you're a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt."

[Steptide]

I think now that the shock has wore off a bit and the dust has settled, the majority of us are thinking, why did we wait so long? After seeing Jerry Hughes comments about 13 seconds and Diggs beef with McDermott a few years ago, it's all kind of adding up. I'm actually starting to think pegula may have kept him too long 

[Southern McButterpants]

8 hours ago, FitzShowUsYourTitz said:

Oh God

Hey I get it. McD needed to be gone but…

 

There was zero strategy here.  McD shoulda been fired years ago.  
Terry and I don’t think anyone can disagree, made an emotional decision to get rid of the coach. It’s valid.  But you rely on the leaders of your organization to have an actual strategy and plan going forward, which they clearly did not.  
 

No planning ahead of time, no key replacement waiting in the wings.  
Just fire him and then figure it out.  
 

10 teams hiring coaches this year.  No more Harbough… or the other Harbough or Sean Peyton or Johnson.  
 

And then there’s the roster. Objectively it lacks talent and we have serious cap issues.  
And the guy still making the draft pics and signing the FA’s is the same guy.  
 

Let’s hope it works out but it may or may not. Can we all agree a strategy here is far better than making an emotional decision that needed to be made.  
 

And the media doesn’t matter here. Flame away

 

GoBills 

Terry didn't fire McDermott in the locker room; he made the decision. You have to remember that Terry has been in that same locker room for SIX.STRAIGHT.YEARS.  It was time to try something different.

 

I'm getting really tired of hearing that the roster lacks talent. But why does everyone think that Beane is sitting in a locked room somewhere deciding what players to bring on to the roster. Beane and McDermott were at the same level, implying that they each had equal say into the make up of the roster, draft picks and free agents.

 

You can't B word about McDermott wanting small, penetrating defensive linemen and then at the same time B word about Beane leaving the roster depleted of talent.

 

The eyes on this emoji 🙄don't roll hard enough for this constant bull💩.