Over the course of the history of the NFL, we have seen head coaches who have been great and horrible. Some were with a team for a long time, and some not so much. The Buffalo Bills have had some great coaches, and of course some bad coaches over the course of their franchise history.
Sean McDermott has the chance to become the best head coach in Bills history if he can help deliver the franchise’s first Super Bowl. He will pass Marv Levy as the best in team history, but McDermott is facing an uphill challenge that the Bills have been stuck in the last five years: getting to the Super Bowl.
Buffalo has fallen short at the hands of the Chiefs in four of the last five playoffs and McDermott deserves a good amount of blame considering the fact that it’s been the defense that has hurt their chances of getting past KC. It’s a big reason why the Bills went heavy on bulking up the defense this offseason.
Sean McDermott still recognized as one of best HCs (but barely)
Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports created a tier list (#1-#3) of the NFL’s head coaches going into the 2025 season. McDermott is still viewed as one of the top coaches as he was placed in the top tier, but at the very bottom of it at No. 12 overall. Here’s what Benjamin said about McDermott:
"We're reliving Andy Reid's Eagles tenure now, with McDermott -- a Reid disciple -- routinely shepherding talented Bills teams to the playoffs, only to be ousted by comparable foes on the doorstep of the ultimate game. It might be now or never for his defense in the bright lights, but as long as he's paired with Josh Allen, he's proven reliable about navigating hiccups to at least clinch January ball."Cody Benjamin, CBS Sports
Having Josh Allen at quarterback is what makes McDermott one of the elite coaches, but he has also shown that he can set a great culture in Buffalo. However, that can only go so far as his team needs to produce on the field. One part of his team does, while the other has struggled heavily in the playoffs.
There has been a lot of debate about McDermott’s future in Buffalo amongst fans. The thing is, the front office has built great continuity and unless things completely fall apart, I don’t see McDermott going anywhere anytime soon. At the same time, if things keep going in the direction of coming up short in the playoffs (especially to the Chiefs) it makes you wonder if the Bills will have a conversation about how to get past them, and whether or not it will involve McDermott.