Bills Owner Terry Pegula Massively Fails Explaining Firing Sean McDermott While Promoting Brandon Beane

Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula and general manager Brandon Beane spoke with reporters on Wednesday to largely explain why the owner fired head coach Sean McDermott but somehow promoted Beane — moves that have been resoundingly criticized in Western New York.

And the press conference left us with the feeling Pegula and Beane successfully accomplished one thing: They absolutely demolished the conspiracy theory that Beane had authored a power play to oust his longtime friend and coach while aggrandizing himself into a bigger job.

But the rest of it? The explanation why McDermott was ultimately fired and Beane not only returns but comes back as both the president and general manager of the team when he previously filled only the GM slot? 

Massive fail.

ORCHARD PARK, NY - JANUARY 14:  Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills, speaks at a press conference announcing Rex Ryan's arrival as head coach of the Buffalo Bills on January 14, 2015 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.  (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Pegula: Beane Didn't Undercut McDermott

First the success: The accusation out there that the Beane and McDermott relationship somehow fractured, and the GM proceeded to slime the head coach was properly and convincingly addressed.

"I'm the kind of guy, if I sense you on a power play, you're out," Pegula said. "I don't like power play people. 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. Because that's not my kind of person."

Beane said the allegation is "hurtful" and "for somebody to question my character like that, it is B.S. And I've never done that."

Fine, we take these men at their word and unless McDermott claims otherwise, that issue should be put to rest.

But then came the other stuff. The idea Pegula somehow saw his team lose and decided the defeat in the playoffs against the Denver Broncos, which left quarterback Josh Allen sobbing, was on McDermott's coaching but not Beane's player acquisition is stunning.

And Pegula did little to explain how he made the distinction. 

Bills Owner Discredits Coaching

The owner asked reporters if they knew what 5-2-3-2-2-2-6 meant. It's the playoff seeding the Bills have had the past seven seasons.

"An organization doesn't carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players," Pegula said. "It's impossible to have those kinds of results without having a good roster."

True but, um, it's also impossible without excellent coaching.

Pegula mentioned how a roster that suffered significant injuries was so deep that it could keep winning. But overlooked that good coaching and development of backup players by the coaching staff also might've played a role.

Pegula ultimately could not explain how much he believes the responsibility for Buffalo's playoff failures fall on coaching versus roster construction.

"That's a hard question to answer," he said. "I don't know the answer to that."

Pegula said he made the decision to fire McDermott because the team lost to the Denver Broncos and said the scene after the loss moved him.

"If I could take you into that locker room, I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall," the owner said. "Year after year of 13 seconds, missed field goals, the catch. I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here? And that was the basis of my decision."

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott yells over to the bench during first half action at Empower FIeld at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 17, 2026.

No Focus On Personnel Failures

So Pegula fired McDermott because his team allowed a comeback against Kansas City with 13 seconds to play in January 2022, because a 44-yard field goal attempt by Tyler Bass against Kansas City to tie the game in January 2024 sailed wide right, and because an officiating call that was probably correct in the Broncos game last weekend was ruled an interception for the Broncos and not a catch for the Bills.

The coach failed in not stopping the Chiefs with 13 seconds to play, but the personnel department doesn't get blamed for not providing McDermott "a closer" of an edge rusher that might have ended the game with a sack. And then continued with the same failure through drafts and free agency.

McDermott clearly failed in not getting Bass to kick the ball through the uprights but got no credit for having the team in position to succeed by making a routine kick.

And the catch? It's a coaching issue when officiating helps decide a game but the four turnovers by Allen don't get mentioned?

Dec 29, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula walks with the team before a game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Not Super Bowl Or Bust For Next Coach

The amazing thing about Pegula citing the team hitting the "proverbial playoff wall" is that the Bills are about to undergo a not insignificant roster turnover this offseason. It's an aging team that is some $17 million over the cap for 2026 and has only 49 players currently signed.

But looking at the players in that locker room on Saturday made Pegula believe McDermott could not lift the new players in 2026 to accomplish more.

And this: Pegula and Beane agreed that the goal, at least the last few years under McDermott, was to win a Super Bowl. So with the new coach, is it also Super Bowl or bust?

"No, no," Pegula said. "We can't say that to somebody coming in because we're making a change, and it's do your best job."

A lot of this makes little sense other than to believe Pegula made a decision on emotion or a hunch about a coach but didn't about the general manager. He obviously didn't think his coach could raise the players he was given to a Super Bowl no matter what, based on what had happened before, and he now faces the possibility of hiring someone with the same issue or worse.  

"There is definitely risk," Pegula admitted. "We've got to make the best decision. That's a fact."