The Bills firing Sean McDermott and promoting Brandon Beane feels like ego, not a plan, and it could waste Josh Allen’s prime. This isn’t some clean, confident “next step” for a contender. It looks like a front office power grab that blew up the chain of command and expected everyone to clap. Now Buffalo’s searching for a coach like a team that thought the whole league would beg for the job.

Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott, then promoted Brandon Beane: explain that to me

Look, if you fire your head coach after nine seasons, that’s already a nuclear move. But firing Sean McDermott and then turning around and giving Brandon Beane a bigger title at the same time is the part that makes people’s stomach turn. It tells fans exactly what happened inside that building: somebody wanted more control, and somebody else decided it was easier to hand it to him than deal with the tension.

Bills fans aren’t mad because they think McDermott is perfect. They’re mad because the message is backwards. The coach is the scapegoat, the guy who built the roster gets a promotion, and we’re supposed to pretend that’s “accountability.” That’s not accountability. That’s picking sides.

And then you see the petition. Tens of thousands of signatures in days asking ownership to bring McDermott back. People don’t do that because they’re bored. They do it because they don’t trust the direction, and they think the people in charge are turning the franchise into a soap opera.

Sean McDermott wasn’t flawless, but the 2025 Bills weren’t some broken team

Here’s what drives me nuts. Buffalo just went 12-5. They scored 481 points. They were not some 6-win joke that needed a total teardown. The Bills finished with the top rushing offense in the league: 2,714 rushing yards, 159.6 a game, and 30 rushing touchdowns. That’s not luck. That’s a team with an identity.

And while everybody loves yelling about defense whenever Buffalo loses in January, their pass defense allowed fewer yards than anybody in the league, too. Again, not a broken team. A very good team that keeps getting its heart ripped out at the worst time.

So if the argument is “we hit the playoff wall,” fine. I get it. Nobody in Buffalo is throwing parades for divisional round exits. But the “playoff wall” is not only coaching. It’s roster. It’s roster construction under pressure. It’s depth. It’s the difference between having a good plan and having the best players in the biggest moments.

That’s why the Beane promotion is gasoline on a fire. You can’t sell “the roster is championship caliber” and then treat the coach like the only reason you’re not holding a trophy.

The Brandon Beane problem is the vibe, not just the moves

I’m going to say what a lot of fans are thinking but don’t want to put on a bumper sticker. Beane comes off like he expects everyone to agree with him. Like he’s the smartest guy in every room. Like his word is the word.

And if you’re stacking Super Bowls, that attitude just becomes “confidence.” But Buffalo is not stacking Super Bowls. Buffalo keeps ending up in the same place: close enough to taste it, not good enough to finish it.

When a GM publicly talks like the roster is ready, and the team keeps coming up short, that’s when confidence turns into arrogance. That’s when fans start calling you “the greatest GM of all time according to himself,” because they’re tired of being sold the same story.

Now add this part: if McDermott didn’t want to publicly cosign the “we’re perfect, we’re ready” message, that’s not disloyalty. That might be honesty. And in some workplaces, honesty gets you shown the door.

That’s why the whole thing feels toxic. Not because of one headline, but because of the power dynamic it screams.

Bills head coach candidates: this is what “picking up scraps” looks like

Buffalo’s coaching search should be the easiest sales pitch on Earth. “Come coach Josh Allen. Here’s a ready-made contender. Go win a Super Bowl.” That should be the pitch.

But here’s the real pitch right now: “Come coach Josh Allen, and by the way, the GM just got promoted after firing the last coach, so hope you like office politics.”

You can feel it in the candidate list. You’ve got serious names in there, sure. Brian Daboll makes sense because he’s already done the Josh Allen thing. Joe Brady makes sense if you want continuity and you don’t want to restart the offense from scratch. Lou Anarumo makes sense because he’s a proven defensive mind and he’s coached in big games.

But then you’ve got Philip Rivers getting an interview, and I’m sorry, that’s where the whole thing starts sounding like a franchise that thought it was shopping at the luxury dealership and is now checking Facebook Marketplace.

Rivers was a tough quarterback. He was smart. He competed like hell. None of that automatically turns into “NFL head coach,” especially with basically no real coaching resume at the pro or college level. If Buffalo hires him, that’s not a “bold move.” That’s a vibes hire.

And if you’re interviewing him, it says one of two things. Either you’re trying to get cute, or the top tier of coaches looked at the Bills job and said, “Yeah… I don’t love the reporting structure there.”

The Bills thought coaches would crawl to Buffalo, and they misread the league

This is the part fans don’t want to admit because it hurts. Josh Allen is a magnet, but he’s not the only factor.

Coaches don’t just pick quarterbacks. They pick owners. They pick GMs. They pick stability. They pick whether they’re going to get undermined after one bad month. They pick whether they can build a staff, install a system, and actually run the team.

Buffalo just told the whole NFL: “Our coach can win 12 games, set team records, and still get fired. Our GM gets rewarded while it happens.” That’s not a normal billboard to put up.

So if Buffalo expected some hot-shot coach to leave a stable situation to come “kiss the feet” of the front office, they were dreaming. The league isn’t built like that. Coaches have egos too, and they’re not walking into a building where the power structure looks like a trap.

That’s why you end up with a wide net. That’s why you end up with weird names. That’s why you end up “considering everything,” because the “obvious” choices don’t look so obvious when they start asking questions about who’s really in charge.

Josh Allen is the only reason this hasn’t already turned into a full meltdown

Josh Allen threw for 3,668 yards with 25 touchdowns and 10 picks this year. He’s still a one-man problem for defenses, and he’s still the face of the franchise. Buffalo scored 28.3 points a game in 2025. That’s Josh Allen’s world, and everybody else is living in it.

So imagine being him right now. You just got bounced in overtime in a divisional game. You’re standing there with that “again?” feeling in your chest. Then you look up and the organization responds by firing the head coach you’ve been with for years, promoting the GM, and turning the next hire into a public circus.

If I’m Josh Allen, I’m not demanding a trade tomorrow. I’m also not pretending this is normal. I’m watching every move. I’m listening to every meeting. I’m paying attention to whether this feels like a football operation or a corporate ladder-climbing contest.

Because here’s the ugly truth: quarterbacks like Allen can survive dysfunction for a while. They can win in spite of it. But eventually, even the best quarterback gets tired of being the guy who has to cover for adults making messy decisions.

So what’s the Buffalo Bills plan, if they actually have one?

If Buffalo wants to convince anyone this was more than a power move, the plan has to be obvious fast.

First, hire a coach with backbone. Not a “good collaborator.” Not a “great communicator.” Backbone. Somebody who can disagree with Beane without it turning into a silent war. Somebody who commands a locker room and doesn’t need to ask permission to lead it.

Second, make the chain of command clean. If the new head coach feels like a middle manager, this dies. You can’t win a Super Bowl with a head coach who’s constantly worried about pleasing upstairs.

Third, stop pretending the playoffs are a coin flip. Buffalo’s close, but close is not the goal. The goal is getting over Kansas City-type problems, getting over late-game problems, getting over “one mistake ruins the season” problems. That takes talent, depth, and decision-making that doesn’t panic when the lights get bright.

And lastly, the front office needs to humble itself. The Bills are a strong franchise with a great fan base and an MVP-level quarterback, but they aren’t royalty. Coaches aren’t lining up to be treated like disposable parts. Players aren’t lining up to play for dysfunction. The Bills need to act like a team trying to win, not a team trying to win arguments inside the building.

Bottom line: Buffalo is playing with fire, and the fans can smell it

This could still work. That’s the frustrating part. Josh Allen is good enough to drag the Bills into contention even when the organization is acting weird. If Buffalo nails the hire, stabilizes the building, and gets the roster right, they can make everyone look stupid.

But right now, it doesn’t feel like a plan. It feels like someone wanted to be the boss, and the Bills let him be the boss, and now they’re shocked the rest of the league isn’t applauding.

Bills Mafia doesn’t want excuses. They don’t want “trust us.” They want a Super Bowl, and they want an organization that looks serious. If this coaching search ends with a desperation hire and a front office victory lap, you can start talking about wasting Josh Allen’s prime for real.

And if I’m Josh Allen, I’m not waiting forever to see if this place figures out what it’s doing.

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