This past Monday morning, the Buffalo Bills made the decision to fire Sean McDermott after 9 seasons and now they are right in the middle of searching for a new head coach. Prior to today, the Bills interviewed Joe Brady, Brian Daboll, and Lou Anarumo. The schedule for today and this weekend were to interview candidates Anthony Weaver, Anthony Lynn, and Grant Udinski.
Then early this morning, Albert Breer reported that the Bills were then going to interview Mike McDaniel, who was the former Dolphins head coach and had just agreed to become the Chargers offensive coordinator. You would think that news was big enough, right? Wrong.
Later on in the day, Adam Schefter reported that former Chargers and Colts quarterback Philip Rivers would also be interviewing for the head coaching job of the Bills. That had so many reactions and it's completely understandable. Bringing in someone to interview for the head coaching job despite not having any college or professional coaching experience is a very bold move.
Then again, Rivers is a great leader and has shown excellent leadership qualities that could give him an advantage. Don't think it could? Well, Ian Rapoport reported that Buffalo has been "looking for a leader" and that it is "hard to imagine a better one."
Buffalo has been looking for a leader. Hard to imagine a better one. We shall see. But this is pretty real. https://t.co/VtbwihYEo4
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 23, 2026
Philip Rivers appears to be very serious candidate for Bills' open HC job
Rivers is one of the many candidates that will talk with the Bills in this search, but he is the one candidate that no one saw coming. However, he does bring not just playing experience with the ability to read a defense, but his leadership is off the charts.
It would not be the route that most fans thought the Bills would take, but there are worse options out there. Do I believe Rivers is the answer? Who knows. There is so much risk, but sometimes in order to hit the home run you have to swing big. How the rest of this story plays out will be something that all fans, not just Bills fans, will want to pay attention to.