Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - In a rare appearance in front of the local media on Wednesday, Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula made it clear that the decision to fire Sean McDermott as head coach after nine seasons at the helm was his and his alone.
Sitting alongside general manager and newly appointed president of football operations Brandon Beane, Pegula says the decision to bring in a new coach for the Bills going forward was based on the results of Saturday's loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round.
"I want to take you in the locker room after that game. I looked around, and the first thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying. I looked at all the other players, I looked at their faces and our coaches," Pegula elaborated on Wednesday. "I walked over to Josh, he didn't even acknowledge I was there. The first thing I said to him was, 'That was a catch.' We all know what I was talking about. He didn't acknowledge me. He just sat there sobbing, he was listless. He had given everything he had to try to win that game, and looking around, so did the other players on the team. I saw the pain in Josh's face in his presser, and I felt his pain. I know we can do better, and I know we will get better."
While Pegula didn't agree with the call in overtime of an interception that appeared to be caught by wide receiver Brandin Cooks, he says the decision to fire McDermott did not come based on a bad officiating decision.
"I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall, year-after-year," Pegula explained. "13 seconds, missed field goals, 'The Catch'. I just sensed in that locker room, 'Where do we go from here with what we have?' That was the basis for my decision."
During McDermott's nine seasons coaching the Bills, the team managed to make the playoffs eight times, and in seven-straight games between 2019 and 2025. During that time, the Bills went 8-8 in the postseason, never secured a No. 1 seed in the AFC standings, appeared in two AFC Championship Games, but never reached the Super Bowl.
Pegula feels an organization doesn't carry that kind of track record without being a great organization and without having great players.
"I hear it from my counterparts at league meetings, a lot of them talk about the Bills organization and the success we've had through the years. Our roster is a direct reflection of the hard work that Brandon [Beane] and our scouting staff has done through the years," Pegula said. "One may complain over a deal, over a player or over a result. The bottom line is success over a long period of time means we're doing something right."
That's why Pegula expressed his full confidence in Beane and the work he did, along with McDermott over the last nine years, to help resurrect a franchise that had previously missed the playoffs for 17-straight seasons.
"I'm not going to sit here and defend everything that we have done as a franchise, but the bottom line is we have attracted good people here," Pegula elaborated. "Brandon has brought in Joe Schoen, who's now the GM in New York, Dan Morgan, the GM in Carolina, Dennis Hickey, former GM in Miami, and our own Brian Gaine - who's still here with us - former GM in Houston. There have been some very talented people that Brandon has associated with that he's brought through the front door here at One Bills Drive."
As for the decision to promote Beane to president of football operations, Pegula also owns that decision.
"I could be wrong, but success with the players. I don't know if anybody knows it in this room, but Josh Allen wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this guy pushing-and-pushing, and pulling a Houdini in that draft to get to the position where we could pick him. That was my decision," Pegula said.
When the question was asked of Beane about a perception from the fan base that the decision to fire McDermott was some kind of power play made by general manager, Pegula was quick to defend his new president of football operations.
"I'm the kind of guy, if I sense you're on a power play, you're out. I don't like power play people," Pegula boldly stated. "We have an organization that we work together, but any sense at all that he was on a power play, he would have been gone. That's not my kind of person."
Another topic Pegula was quick to come to the defense of Beane for over the years in Buffalo was the drafting of wide receiver Keon Coleman in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. This after the organization has faced some criticism for drafting a player with some maturity issues that became a problem this past year.
"The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I'm not saying Brandon wouldn't have drafted him, but he wasn't his next choice. That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff, who felt strongly about the player," Pegula interjected. "He's taken, for some reason, heat over it and not saying a word about it. But I'm here to tell you the true story."
Then a bit later in the press conference, he talked about the selection of Coleman as a collaborative move that could have gone in one direction or another.
"There's not one player on our team that somebody else could have been drafted in their place because of others' opinions," Pegula explained. "We listen to the coaches, the GM has an opinion, some of our scouts, I have my opinions. But I don't think you can look at one player, even Josh, where somebody thought we could have drafted so-and-so here. What I was trying to show with Keon was we collaborate. There's different names available at every draft back that we could have selected."
While the last nine seasons in Buffalo did not result in a Super Bowl championship, Pegula does reflect on the time very fondly with McDermott and the efforts he put in to turn the Bills into a respectable franchise.
"We all remember the playoff drought before Sean got here. Sean has definitely left the Buffalo Bills in a better place than when he arrived in 2017," Pegula said. "He gave his heart and soul to trying to win a championship. I gave Sean his first head coaching job, and I'm proud of that. I don't think he's done coaching in this league, and I wish him the best."
Now the focus will shift toward the search for a new head coach, which Pegula strongly feels is one many candidates will want to have.
"We are focused on bringing a Super Bowl to Buffalo. We have an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen. I'm looking forward to having a successful coaching search. I know this is a desirable job. Our phones are ringing, and we're going to begin that process," he said.
While Pegula acknowledges there is definitely risk with the decision to fire McDermott and the potential for high pressure on the next coach coming in, he doesn't believe there should be any kind of "Super Bowl or bust" mentality implemented with this decision.
"We can't say that to somebody coming in. We're making a change, and it's, 'Do your best job,'" Pegula said.
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