When the Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC divisional round, many believed he could have his pick of any of the open head coaching jobs.
And that may still be true, but right now, it appears McDermott may be leaning toward taking a break from coaching for a little bit, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
McDermott led the Bills to a 12-5 record this season and a 31-27 win over the third-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC wild-card round of the playoffs.
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But after failing to reach the AFC Championship Game in a year without Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, and Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, Bills owner Terry Pegula moved on from McDermott in a desperate move to keep Buffalo’s Super Bowl window open.
“[McDermott] no doubt would be one of the top candidates for basically any job around if he wanted to take one,” Rapoport stated on Sunday. “It remains unclear what Sean McDermott will firmly decide to do. But to my knowledge, he has not engaged on any of these openings.
“Based on the conversations he’s had with the people he’s talked with who have taken a year off after a long head coaching stint have said it was beneficial and worth it. We’ll see if that is the way Sean McDermott goes, but I believe that it is likely he ends up taking a year off.”
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If McDermott does take a gap year, the quality of head coaching jobs remaining likely factors into his decision.
In the last week, the Baltimore Ravens have hired Jesse Minter, the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Mike McCarthy, and the Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley, leaving the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, and Las Vegas Raiders as the only jobs remaining.
McDermott could follow in the footsteps of New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, who took the 2024 season off after being fired by the Tennessee Titans before landing the Patriots job in 2025.
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