Ryan O'Halloran: No place Sean McDermott would rather be than Buffalo, coaching the Bills
“We have a number of unknowns," Bills coach Sean McDermott says. "We could come out and not have it the way we need it to in the first few weeks,” he said. “I look at it as a challenge and a bit of a chess match. That’s one of the things, as a coach, you embrace.”
Sean McDermott wanted to show me a picture.
A split second after being asked about entering his eighth season as the Buffalo Bills’ coach, he snapped out of his chair and made a beeline toward his desk.
Before his first preseason game on Aug. 10, 2017, McDermott and his family took a picture on the sideline to mark the milestone.
“Here it is, the biggest reminder,” he said.
Clutching the frame, McDermott pointed out son Gavin and daughters Maddie and Kelly posing with him and his wife, Jamie. The kids were so young and excited and decked out in their Bills gear. Fast-forward to now – Maddie turned 16 last month and is a sophomore. Gavin is starting eighth grade, Kelly fourth grade.
“Oh, man, it’s gone really fast,” McDermott said during a one-on-one interview (rare) with The Buffalo News last month in his second-floor office (even rarer) at the Bills’ facility.
“The first two (kids) were born in Philadelphia, and Kelly was born in North Carolina, but I would say they all consider Buffalo to be where they’re from if they were asked. That’s pretty cool.”
Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott begins his eighth season with the team today. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
The NFL moves fast – entering Sunday’s opener against the Arizona Cardinals at Highmark Stadium, only three coaches have been in their current job longer than McDermott.
And, admit it, McDermott’s longevity – both for his family and the continuity of the Bills – is pretty cool. Average head coaches don’t stick around. McDermott ranks first in team history in winning percentage (.640) and second in wins (73) behind Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (123).
But these are interesting times for the Bills and their fan base – or, more accurately, a different kind of interesting times. The first Super Bowl title remains elusive – not as elusive as when McDermott was hired to help end the franchise’s 17-year playoff drought (the Bills qualified in his first season) and lead the organization back to equal parts relevancy and respectability (the Bills have won four consecutive AFC East titles).
The Bills went for it – football-speak for allocating significant financial resources to build the roster – in 2022 and 2023, but disappointingly exited the playoffs with second-round home losses to Cincinnati and Kansas City. The Bills knew the bill would come due eventually, in the form of a salary cap reset, to further capitalize on quarterback Josh Allen’s prime. It came due in March when loyal McDermott colonels Jordan Poyer, Mitch Morse and Tre’Davious White were released.
This season, particularly the opening six-week gauntlet that has four road games, will be one of discovery. Whom can McDermott lean on to carry out his message internally? Which new players will rise to carry the figurative flag into this next phase of Bills football? In the past few years, McDermott pretty much knew what to expect. Now? Not so much.
“We have a number of unknowns. We could come out and not have it the way we need it to in the first few weeks,” he said. “I look at it as a challenge and a bit of a chess match. That’s one of the things, as a coach, you embrace. I’m excited to watch them grow over the course of the year.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott watches a play during his team's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bills face numerous questions in McDermott's eighth year as head coach. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Changing roles for McDermott
The spotlight has turned away from the Bills, at least to start the season; McDermott has taken on more of a CEO role as the head coach; and, let’s face it, the drama level doesn’t even register on a figurative chart after wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ trade to Houston in April.Playing pop psychologist, I asked McDermott, who turned 50 on March 21, if he is more relaxed this year.
“I’m very comfortable with my staff and I’m comfortable with where I’m at in my career,” he said. “I say, ‘comfortable,’ but if you know me, I’m not content or complacent. I feel like I continue to understand my job more and more and what this team needs from me.”
What McDermott felt the Bills needed from him last year was adding defensive play-calling to his duties, the first time he held that role in Buffalo. The Bills needed a five-game winning streak to end the season to clinch the division. On the morning of the final game at Miami, the Bills faced the possibility of not making the playoffs.
Because he was so occupied with the defense, did things elsewhere fall through the cracks?
“No, because I would just work until I got it all done,” McDermott said.
Was he stretched too thin?
“No, there were enough hours in the day,” he said.
Admirable self-analysis, for sure. But externally, the cracks in the Bills’ foundation began to appear early in the season.
Something … just … seemed … off. McDermott was upset after some wins, ticked off and broiling after some losses. The Bills couldn’t get out of a midseason rut and saw their 3-1 record turn into 5-5. McDermott fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey hours after a loss to Denver.
McDermott appeared to be wound too tightly, and that impacted the locker room – players follow the lead of the head coach. Three days after Thanksgiving in Philadelphia, the Bills led the Eagles 17-7 (halftime), 24-14 (early fourth quarter), 31-28 (late fourth quarter) and 34-31 (overtime), but lost 37-34 to drop to 6-6. Things seemed to be slipping away. The Bills were in danger of not making the playoffs, which would have been a no-doubt failure.
“Not every stretch has gone well,” McDermott said. “You go back to 2017 and making the playoffs. Well, that year wasn’t exactly on a clean trajectory the whole way (1-4 stretch). You try and take a step back, make the adjustments and remain as consistent as you possibly can.”
Things got worse before they got better … a lot worse. Entering the Bills’ make-or-break game at Kansas City in early December, defensive end Von Miller was arrested in Texas on domestic abuse accusations, followed by a three-story series on the “Go Long” website (“The McDermott Problem”) anonymously quoting former players and assistant coaches and McDermott using the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists as an example of teamwork.
The 9/11 analogy was a misstep McDermott apologized for days later. But more damning, at least to me, were the comments by former employees. McDermott loyalists made him out to be the victim, even though nobody made those sources talk. A time for self-reflection? For sure. A time for self-change? Possibly.
The Bills beat the Chiefs to start a five-game winning streak to win the division and earn the AFC’s second seed.
McDermott’s top personal takeaway from last year: He needed to hire a defensive coordinator. Bobby Babich was promoted from linebackers coach and will call the defensive plays.
Delegating is often the toughest part for head coaches. They got to the top spot by being an expert in a specific phase of football (defense for McDermott) and now they have to trust their employees. That can be jarring, which is why so many head coaches call their team’s plays.
Maybe McDermott has found the ideal balance between serving as the compass of the Bills from a 10,000-foot view and offering support and ideas to his staff without being overbearing. I asked what he does better in Year 8 than Year 1.
“This is a cop-out answer, but I hope it’s everything,” he said. “God bless those people and staff members who were here with me in 2017. We made the playoffs, but I’m sure, as a first-time head coach, I had a lot of blind spots. I’m hoping, overall, those blind spots have all shrunk. Will they ever go away? I hope some of them do and some of them have.
“The more you’re in this job, the more you learn, and you learn where you’re most needed.”
Learning from other sports
Meet Sean McDermott, interior decorator.McDermott has occupied the same office since joining the Bills. Right across the parking lot is the current stadium. Look west and the steel continues to rise for the new stadium scheduled to open in 2026. The rectangular office includes a large desk, conference table and a set of leather furniture.
The walls have been decorated. Finally.
“I was mocked before I put this stuff up about how bland it was,” McDermott said.
McDermott wanted to make the office more comfortable for players to visit – instead of looking at blank walls and the whiteboard full of notes, they could glean something from the pictures and sayings. Ask questions about them. Talk about them. Learn about them.
On the wall across from McDermott’s desk are two pictures labeled “Belief” and “Love.”
“Those are core values for me and reminders for me during the journey of a season,” he said.
Oddly, on a side wall is a picture of top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott high-fiving after a tournament win. McDermott had a Zoom session with Scott during the Bills’ offseason.
“Scottie looks so relaxed out there, yet you see him on The Golf Channel, and he’s the only one on the range late at night pounding and putting in the work,” McDermott said. “That’s one of the things I got from them: They get their confidence from their preparation.”
McDermott researched the Boston Celtics and Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley, became enamored with MLB Network earlier this year because of the insight provided from managers and players during spring training. He has talked often with Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson
“Evolving every day,” McDermott said. “I’ve become a very curious person, especially the older I’ve gotten. You can always learn from somebody.”
During Sanderson’s visit to Bills training camp this summer, he and McDermott discussed having a growth mindset and time allocation.
“It’s a real mind-twister, right?” McDermott said. “There is a real bias to think everything you do as the head coach is important. I need to be intentional about what and where I choose to spend my time on. A big piece of being the head coach is understanding, ‘OK, where am I needed the most?’ It’s about creating an environment where (staff and players) can become the best versions of themselves.”
A two-row bookshelf runs nearly the length of the office. The top row are gigantic playbook binders from McDermott’s time with Philadelphia, Carolina and the Bills, one for each season dating to the early 2000s. NFL teams operate on Microsoft Surface tablets for their playbooks, but he prefers a printed-out version for easy reference.
The bottom row has books centered on football and faith; if McDermott is meeting with a player, he may point to a book and the lessons it covered.
I asked McDermott the last book he read, and again he spun around in his chair and pointed to the office’s front wall.
There is one binder on this particular shelf. It is labeled, “BLITZ VARIATION.” Since working under legendary Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and eventually succeeding him, McDermott has kept that binder close-to-hand and added his own plays to the binder.
“(Johnson) was a master at affecting quarterbacks, and there were new blitzes every week – for sure, one every week and probably on average of 2-3 the players had to learn,” McDermott said. “You talk about playbooks – now that’s a playbook.”
Coach Sean McDermott looks on during the Bills preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Highmark Stadium on Aug. 24.
McDermott enters the season with 73 regular-season wins, second in team history to Marv Levy. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Fan of the Levy slogan
Before we even sit down, McDermott points out the banner that runs atop the wall behind his desk and above the giant monitor that has an Arizona play on pause.“Where Else Would You Rather Be?”
Levy made that phrase famous among Bills fans.
“Marv’s a good man and has been good to me,” McDermott said. “I just feel like that saying is unique to Buffalo. If you didn’t know who said it and which region it was tied to, you would still say, ‘That’s a pretty good approach.’ ”
McDermott knows he can remain set in part of his approach, and knows he must be malleable in other parts. If the veteran players show the ability to lead the locker room, he will let them.
“He trusts us,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “If he is able to take a step back and let the locker room hold each other accountable instead of having to manage the small things, it takes some things off his plate.”
The Bills started their Week 1 preparation on Wednesday morning, and McDermott led a team meeting. Veteran players such as cornerback Taron Johnson and long snapper Reid Ferguson, they know the hallmarks of a McDermott speech by now, and this was no different. Starting the season well. Preaching of fundamentals. Execution and energy. Having the right mindset. Control what you can control.
“He has a great pulse on the team and what we need,” Miller said. “It’s not just his way or the highway. He has his principles and he is able to teach those to all different walks of life in this locker room.”
McDermott’s contract runs through the 2027 season. He and Beane have the trust of owner Terry Pegula to shepherd the Bills into the new stadium so long as they keep winning, keep building around superstar quarterback Josh Allen and remain in Super Bowl contention.
The McDermott kids are growing up in the area, and they participate in sports – Sean likes to be low-key at their events, standing down the foul line in the outfield during Maddie’s softball games or on top of the bleachers of the opponent’s team during Gavin’s football games. He wants the event to be about his kids and their teammates and not about how the Bills’ coach is in attendance.
This could be a fascinating Bills season. Scan the predictions and they are picked to win the AFC East or not make the playoffs. They might lose some early-season games they’re not supposed to and win some late-season games as an underdog. Allen will make it all interesting.
It doesn’t take a genius – or a sports writer – to connect the dots on why Levy’s slogan carries weight with McDermott.
There is no place he would rather be than Buffalo.
