The Panthers made an abrupt coaching change this week, dismissing Frank Reich after a 1-10 start. The Bills will make no such sweeping change, neither now nor immediately following the 2023 season, despite recent struggles, according to The Athletic.
Buffalo has lost three of its last four, including one-score games against the Bengals, Broncos and Eagles, to fall to 6-6 on the season. SportsLine gives them just an 18.8% chance of making the playoffs thanks to their slide. And yet head coach Sean McDermott is not currently in danger of being replaced, four sources close to Bills owner Terry Pegula told Tim Graham this week.
“Additional calamities” throughout 2023 could “alter the organization’s plans,” Graham noted, but team ownership has “neither the desire nor plans to make a coaching change.” Pegula still holds McDermott in “high regard,” per The Athletic, and “doesn’t want to meddle with the strong working bond McDermott has with Bills general manager Brandon Beane.”
This has been a trying season for the Bills. Coming off three straight years with at least 11 wins, Buffalo was widely considered a Super Bowl contender. But situational blunders, waves of turnovers and a porous defense have left the team on the edge of the AFC playoff picture, trailing both the rebuilding Broncos and Texans in the race for the conference’s final wild-card spot. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, meanwhile, was fired following Week 10, just one and a half seasons into the job.
McDermott’s track record is otherwise impressive, as he’s gone 68-41 with five different playoff appearances during his career as Bills coach. Buffalo notably went 13-3 in both 2020 and 2022 under his watch, advancing to the AFC Championship in the former season. The Bills have not moved past the Divisional Round of the postseason since that run.
