The Buffalo Bills will be the most watched non-playoff team this week after they decided to fire head coach Sean McDermott early Monday morning. The Bills suffered another heartbreaking playoff loss on Saturday against the Denver Broncos, and Terry Pegula decided that it was time to make a change, as he confirmed in his and Brandon Beane’s press conference on Wednesday.
Buffalo has already started their head coaching search as they have interviewed their offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who is interviewing other teams across the league. Today, the Bills will be interviewing their former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and Colts’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
The rest of the known candidates for the Bills include:
-Jaguars OC Grant Udinski
-Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver
-Commanders run-game coordinator Anthony Lynn
On this list, Daboll and Lynn are the only coaches that have been head coaches in the NFL. The rest would be first time head coaches if they were to get the job.
There are different directions that the Bills could go with this search, and former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick made his case on why the Bills “should not hire a young head coach” as he stated on “Fitz & Whit” with Andrew Whitworth.
“If you bring in a young, cool, hip head coach, he’s gonna be buddies with Josh. He’s gonna suck up to Josh. He’s gonna go golfing with Josh. It’s not what he needs” says Fitzpatrick. “What’s best for his career is he has somebody that comes in and pushes him every single day” said Fitzpatrick.
"There's another level Josh can get to, especially mentally, but he has to be coached hard. And if you bring in a young guy I just don't see it happening."
— Fitz & Whit (@fitzandwhit) January 21, 2026
Why the Buffalo Bills should NOT hire a young head coach. pic.twitter.com/Fb2XUqjbwL
Ryan Fitzpatrick believes Bills must bring in veteran head coach
There are risks and rewards for going with either a young coach or a veteran that has been in the league for some time and has been a head coach. We have seen first-time head coaches thrive and fail. The same with veteran head coaches as well.
The process for the Bills has to be very detail-oriented and the front office must be able to sell to the fanbase that who they go with will be the one that can do what McDermott couldn’t do; bring a Super Bowl back to Buffalo.