Bills owner Terry Pegula: Decision to fire Sean McDermott based on playoff loss to Broncos

By Nick Shook

Buffalo’s latest postseason disappointment prompted a Monday coaching change — and a Wednesday explanation.

Bills owner Terry Pegula expressed gratitude for the nine years coach Sean McDermott gave to Buffalo, including ending the franchise’s torturous playoff drought that spanned nearly 20 years and guiding the Bills to consistent title contention, but acknowledged he needed only one experience to know it was time to make a change.

“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” Pegula explained while speaking with reporters Wednesday. “I want to take you in the locker room after that game. I looked around. First thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying. I looked at all the other players. I looked at their faces and our coaches’. I walked over to Josh (Allen). He didn’t even acknowledge I was there.

“I saw the pain in Josh’s face at his presser, and I felt his pain. I know we can do better, and I know we will get better.”

Buffalo’s loss to Denver, a 33-30 overtime defeat in a turnover-filled contest that will sting for many months, signaled an end of a coaching era for the Bills and a renewed sense of urgency for a franchise that has consistently flirted with a Super Bowl appearance but fell short each time.

Even worse, of course, are the circumstances surrounding the Bills’ latest defeat. Buffalo’s familiar foils — Patrick Mahomes‘ Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Jackson‘s Baltimore Ravens and even Joe Burrow‘s Cincinnati Bengals — all failed to reach the postseason, seemingly clearing the runway for the Bills to finally ascend to the mountaintop of the AFC.

Instead, they were sent sliding down the slope by second-year quarterback Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos. That wasn’t acceptable for Pegula, who saw the tears streaming down his players’ faces in a dejected postgame locker room and responded accordingly.

“It was where does the leadership of the team, on the field and in the locker room, where [do] we go from that moment, another playoff failure?” Pegula said, indicating he believed McDermott could no longer lead the Bills through the fires of failure. “That’s why I decided Sean had to leave.”

McDermott’s dismissal suggests the Bills hold him as the one to blame, but observers collectively note Buffalo’s roster deficiencies on both offense and defense as being a significant factor in its elimination, calling into question Pegula’s decision to retain general manager Brandon Beane, whom Pegula rewarded with an additional title of president of football operations on the same day he fired McDermott.

Pegula remained steadfast in his belief in Beane, who sat next to him during Wednesday’s media session.

“I want to express my confidence in the guy sitting next to me, Brandon Beane, and the job he has done in resurrecting this franchise,” Pegula said. “I’m not gonna sit here and defend everything we’ve done as a franchise. But the bottom line is we have attracted good people here.

“I’m aware there’s criticism out there about our franchise. 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. 5, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 6. An organization doesn’t carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players. It’s impossible to have that kind of results without having a good roster.”

While Pegula is correct in acknowledging Beane’s accomplishments in transforming the Bills into a perennial contender, it’s important to acknowledge Buffalo’s 2025 squad was one of its weakest in the last five years. Injuries at receiver exposed their lack of depth at the position — a group that has lacked a true top target since moving on from Stefon Diggs and attempting to replace him with 33rd overall pick Keon Coleman in 2024 — and defensive additions like Joey Bosa failed to produce in the most important games. Even beloved cornerback Tre’Davious White — a veteran who proved to be essential in Buffalo’s Wild Card Weekend win over Jacksonville — found himself on the wrong end of a pivotal play in the Divisional Round loss when Broncos receiver Marvin Mims Jr. spend past him off the line of scrimmage, forcing White to commit a defensive pass interference that allowed the Broncos to kick the game-winning field goal.

That sequence — plus an earlier crucial play in which Allen was intercepted (a ruling Bills fans and Pegula himself still dispute) — doomed Buffalo to an all-too-familiar fate. This time, the aftermath of playoff heartbreak included a coach’s termination, the product of too much postseason pain for one franchise to bear.

“I did not fire a 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. Thirteen seconds. Missed field goals. The Catch. So, I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with we have? And that was the basis for my decision.”

“Our roster is a direct reflection of the hard work that Brandon and our scouting staff has done through the years,” Pegula said. “One may complain over a deal, over a player, over a result, but the bottom line is success over a long period of time means we’re doing something right.

“We are focused on bringing a Super Bowl to Buffalo. We have an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen. I’m looking forward to having a successful coaching search. I know this is a desirable job. Our phones are ringing, and we’re going to begin that process.”

The timing of McDermott’s firing cost the Bills a chance to hire the two of the top candidates from this cycle in John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski, who have each accepted new jobs with the Giants and Falcons. Among the remaining openings, Buffalo is undoubtedly the most attractive thanks to Allen’s presence in Western New York.

Now, it will be up to Beane, Pegula and the rest of the Bills organization to nail their next hire. The fate of Allen’s career could depend upon it.

“We have an MVP quarterback who just completed his eighth season here, and we have got to help him get to the Super Bowl and bring a championship to Buffalo,” Beane said. “Part of the reason we’re here stinks because we have to discuss what happened this week, moving on from a head coach. I bear guilt, blame, responsibility. There’s no finger-pointing. I understand there’s things I could have done better, and we’re always looking to get better. That’ll never change. If we don’t win the Super Bowl next season and I’m up here explaining where we are and what we have to do, there will be more things that we will work to get better.

“The goal here is to bring a championship to Buffalo. … We have to get it over the top, and that starts with finding the next head coach.”