The Buffalo Bills fired their head coach, Sean McDermott, on Jan. 19, 2026. 

McDermott had been the Bills head coach for 9 seasons. 

According to ESPN, Bills owner Terry Pegula said, “Sean has done an admirable job of leading our football team for the past nine seasons. But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.”

According to USA Today, McDermott’s end came after another postseason loss.

The Bills lost 33-30 in overtime against The Denver Broncos on Jan. 17, 2026. NBC News reported that Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Bills, committed four turnovers.

According to USA Today, “…even though McDermott led the Bills to eight playoff appearances in his nine seasons as coach his inability to get the Bills to the Super Bowl is his undoing.”

USA Today claimed that the news of McDermott being fired was shocking to many people. 

“McDermott may have done one of his best coaching jobs, winning 12 regular-season games plus a road wild-card playoff game, working with a roster that not only was questionable in terms of talent, but was then decimated by injury,” according to USA Today.

“Among all coaches in NFL history with at least 100 games, McDermott’s winning percentage is 10th-best,” according to USA Today.

According to CBS Sports, the Bills have interviewed Philip Rivers for their head coaching position. 

CBS Sports said, “It’s the first known interview for Rivers, who returned to the field in December for the Indianapolis Colts after five years on the sidelines after quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending injury.”

On Jan. 27, the Bills filled the vacancy internally, promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady to be the team’s next head coach.