Bills HC Sean McDermott named as a 'hot-seat candidate'

One outlet has identified Buffalo Bills head coach as a "hot-seat candidate" ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Jan 21, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott reacts against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 AFC divisional round game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Sean McDermott is objectively the most successful head coach employed by the Buffalo Bills over the past several decades. He’s overhauled the team and put his distinct stamp on it since his hiring in 2017, instilling an oft-talked-about culture that has allowed the Bills to become one of the league’s most competitive teams over the past half-decade. He’s already the franchise’s second-winningest head coach of all time, leading the team to four consecutive AFC East titles and to the playoffs in six of his seven seasons at the helm.

McDermott, in addition to general manager Brandon Beane and quarterback Josh Allen, are the architects of Buffalo’s recent stretch of contention… but some feel as though the time for a change is imminent.

The sideline boss, for all the positive change he’s ushered into Buffalo, has struggled to ‘get over the hump,’ often making questionable decisions in crucial moments that have directly led to unfavorable outcomes. The team has appeared in just one AFC Championship game over its recent run of prominence, that 38-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 NFL season being the closest it has come to even sniffing the Super Bowl.

This, to some, simply isn’t good enough, especially considering that the team is quarterbacked by a perennial MVP candidate in Allen. Pundits and fans alike have proposed the idea of moving on from McDermott in favor of a new voice with fresh ideas and a different perspective. CBS Sports writer Cody Benjamin is among this camp; in a recent article ranking eight NFL coaches who are “on shaky ground” entering the new campaign, the analyst listed McDermott as a “hot-seat candidate.”

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“Not only does McDermott come from the Andy Reid tree, but his head-coaching resume all but mirrors Reid's early Philadelphia Eagles career, when year after year of regular-season success -- and resilient locker-room culture -- was overshadowed only by a failure to reach the big game,” Benjamin wrote. “In that way, it's hard to envision Buffalo truly eyeing a change up top. And yet McDermott's teams have reached just one AFC title game in five seasons with MVP-level Josh Allen as the full-time quarterback. Now overseeing an overhauled roster, the coach's long-term prospects are cloudier than usual.”

Bills head coach Sean McDermott is fired up after a field goal. / JAMIE GERMANO / USA TODAY NETWORK

Benjamin notes that McDermott is now “overseeing an overhauled roster,” something that would seemingly signal internal confidence in the sideline boss. The team made a concerted effort to get younger this offseason, maneuvers executed to elongate their championship window—McDermott was retained amid the changes, indicating that the team is confident in his ability to lead the team into a refreshed era.

McDermott’s security and job status will ultimately come down to how the team performs in the 2024 season (which, of course, can be said for every coach in the NFL). If the team dramatically underperforms expectations, then yes, McDermott will likely be shown the door come yearend. If Buffalo, however, constructs a season similar to its recent campaigns (stout in the regular season with a few playoff wins), it would be difficult to imagine the team moving on from its head coach, especially considering that the team is viewing this season as a transitionary one. 

That said, Allen isn’t getting any younger. He still has several prime seasons left and he is demonstrably successful under McDermott, but if the team ever reaches the point where it feels that it’s succeeded all it can with the veteran at the helm, a move may be necessary.

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