Analyst pitches wild Sean McDermott replacement if Bills make coaching change

With former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick being “fully invested” in coaching again in 2025, several current head coaches could be under even more pressure to meet expectations this season.

And while there’s been no mention of Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott being one of those guys on the hot seat, Fox Sports Radio’s Colin Cowherd believes if the Bills suffer another playoff blunder in 2024, Belichick lurking on the free-agent market could prompt Buffalo to move on from McDermott to try and maximize Josh Allen’s prime years.

“The Buffalo one is really intriguing to me,” Cowherd said . “Not because Sean McDermott is not a good coach — Andy Reid was a great coach and Philadelphia moved off him — but you get to a point with McDermott now is that the receiving corps seems light, the offense has been productive with Josh Allen, but we worry about that side progressing. …Houston’s rising, [Justin] Herbert’s got [Jim] Harbaugh, Ravens are still elite, here comes Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence has his best roster — I think Sean McDermott, without being on the hot seat, I think there is a sense you just can’t win the division again.”

McDermott has had a successful seven-year run as the Bills’ head coach. He’s compiled a 73-41 record with six playoff appearances, four straight division titles and one AFC Championship game appearance, but he hasn’t been able to get Buffalo over the hump and into the stratosphere with the Kansas City Chiefs or Cincinnati Bengals.

With Allen being 28, if the Bills fail to get to the conference championship game this season, there’s at least an outside chance that management could get desperate enough to try and shake things up.

Belichick could also be intrigued at the kill-two-birds-with-one-stone benefit of catching Don Shula’s wins record while also making his former employer miserable from within the division.

“The Buffalo [job], (Belichick) can come back and rub it in the Patriots’ face,” Cowherd added. “And we know Belichick can hold grudges — you don’t think he wants to face the Patriots twice a year and rub it in Robert Kraft’s face? You’re out of your mind.”