Sean McDermott viewed as an elite coach in latest head coach rankings

No matter how great a team can be, the players can only go as far as the head coach takes them. Look at the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 when they had drafted Trevor Lawrence, who was supposed to bring the Jaguars to the next level with his potential. Yes, the Jaguars still did not have the best roster but former head coach Urban Meyer wrecked the roster to the point where he was fired in the middle of his first season. It ultimately led to the Jaguars landing the number one overall pick in 2022.

The Buffalo Bills have had stability on their coaching staff since Sean McDermott was hired back in 2017. After going through head coach after head coach after head coach since Marv Levy, the Bills finally found their most successful coach since Levy.

McDermott brought the Bills back to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years in his first season with Tyrod Taylor as his quarterback. Since 2019, he has brought the Bills to the playoffs every single season which includes winning four division championships (the third time Buffalo has won four consecutive division titles).

Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports shows that McDermott is still among the best head coaches in the league in a latest head coach rankings list. McDermott was placed in the top ten at #9, but the only problem with the coaches ahead of McDermott is Chargers’ head coach Jim Harbaugh being placed two spots on top of him. Putting Harbaugh above McDermott is ridiculous because Harbaugh has been out of the NFL since 2014 and is now coming to a Chargers team that outside of Justin Herbert, doesn’t have a lot of talent.

When it comes to McDermott, he has posted a 73-41 record (.640 winning percentage) but has come up short in the playoffs every year. McDermott currently has a 5-6 playoff record with a majority of his losses coming from Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs. With the way that the Bills have ended each season the past few seasons, there have been mixed emotions on whether or not McDermott is the right guy for the Bills.

Every coach has their flaws, there is no denying that. However, McDermott needs to prove that he can bring this Bills team further than he already has. Having a quarterback like Josh Allen and not making it to the Super Bowl atleast once is unbelievable. At the same time, McDermott has brought stability to the Bills organization and Bills Mafia went through almost 20 years of chaos with both the coaching staff and the roster. There is no denying that McDermott is still among the top head coaches in the league, but he will need to perform better in the playoffs.