The Buffalo Bills fired their head coach, Sean McDermott, on Monday. This came right after the team lost a close playoff game to the Denver Broncos. The score was 33-30 in overtime on Saturday. McDermott had led the Bills for nine seasons.

Team owner Terry Pegula announced the decision. He said the franchise needs "a new structure within our leadership" to help the team win more. Pegula wants to give the Bills the best chance to reach the top level. He added that they owe this to the players and to Bills Mafia, the team's loyal fans.

General manager Brandon Beane keeps his job. Now, he will also act as president of football operations. His first task is to find a new head coach.

McDermott ends his time with the Bills holding a strong record of 106 wins and 58 losses. This includes playoff games. The team had star quarterback Josh Allen, who won the 2024 league MVP award. But under McDermott, the Bills never made it to the Super Bowl. Saturday's loss in Denver was part of a sad pattern. It included two losses in the AFC Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Josh Allen's Tough Game and McDermott's Defense

Josh Allen had a hard time in the loss. He made four turnovers, which is not like him. After the game, a tearful Allen said it was his fault. But McDermott stood up for him.

"It's not on (Allen)," McDermott said. The Bills were down 20-10 at halftime. Allen led a comeback and almost won in regular time. "We had opportunities, all of us," McDermott added. "I'm extremely proud of him. He's a tremendous person, tremendous leader, tremendous quarterback."

McDermott also complained about the referees. He pointed to a controversial interception by Allen in overtime. That play helped the Broncos drive for the winning field goal. "I'm standing up for Buffalo, dammit," McDermott said. "What went on is not how it should go down. These guys spent three hours out there playing football, pouring their guts out."

Earlier in the playoffs, Allen won his eighth postseason game. It was a wild-card win over the Jaguars in Jacksonville. That was Buffalo's first road playoff victory since 1992. Allen now has the most playoff wins for any quarterback who has never reached the Super Bowl.

A History of Playoff Heartbreak

The McDermott-Allen years brought steady success but no big prizes. This season, the Bills were a wild-card team. The New England Patriots ended Buffalo's five-year run as AFC East champions. Still, the Bills made the playoffs in eight of McDermott's nine years. That is the longest stretch of success for the franchise since the early 1990s. Back then, Buffalo lost four Super Bowls in a row.

The Bills have never won a Super Bowl. Their last championships came in 1964 and 1965, before the Super Bowl started in 1967.

Remembering the Damar Hamlin Crisis

One bright moment from McDermott's time happened in 2022. In Week 17, safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field. It was during a game in Cincinnati on national TV. The game was canceled. The team was in shock, waiting for news that Hamlin would survive.

McDermott helped the Bills deal with the pain. Six days later, they played again and beat the Patriots 35-23. That finished a 13-3 regular season.

What Happens Next for the Bills

McDermott's firing came one week after his college teammate Mike Tomlin left the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tomlin had seven straight playoff losses at William & Mary.

Buffalo is now the 10th team to change coaches this hiring season. Only the New York Giants (who hired John Harbaugh) and Atlanta Falcons (who hired Kevin Stefanski) have picked new coaches already.

Fans hope Beane finds the right leader to take Josh Allen and the Bills to the Super Bowl. The team has talent but needs to break through in the playoffs.

This Bills coaching shakeup, dumping Sean McDermott after nine years, 106 wins, and endless playoff heartbreaks like that OT Broncos gut-punch despite Josh Allen's MVP magic, rips open Buffalo's Super Bowl drought, ref calls fury, and leadership voids, from Chiefs AFC title chokes to Damar Hamlin resilience, pushing Pegula to elevate Beane while the NFL coaching carousel spins with 10 teams hunting fixes.

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