Bills Player Signals Displeasure After Unexpected Coaching Move

After missing a trip to the Super Bowl for the seventh straight season with quarterback Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott.

The news came as a shock, as McDermott had a successful tenure, making the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons and owning an overall winning record of 98-50 in the regular season.

While fans of Buffalo have shown their support for the decision, the sentiment has not been shared by several Bills players who have shown their disdain for the firing. Safety Damar Hamlin was the latest to express his displeasure, posting a tweet on X that included three broken-heart emojis.

💔💔💔.

Locker room unsettled following coaching shakeup

Hamlin has been a member of the Bills since McDermott drafted him in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. In his five seasons with the team, Hamlin has been a reliable option as a depth safety and special teams specialist.

Hamlin became notorious around the NFL when he collapsed on the field in 2023 after suffering a cardiac arrest in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, then returned the following season to play the best year of his career.

In 2024, Hamlin recorded career highs of two interceptions, 63 solo tackles and a fumble recovery. In the lead-up to his return, Hamlin expressed his gratitude to McDermott and his staff for creating a supportive environment and helping maintain a sense of normalcy that Hamlin noted was critical for him to focus on his recovery.

Hamlin was not alone in his reaction to McDermott’s firing, as teammates Jordan Phillips and Taron Johnson also expressed their displeasure on their social media.

Despite his regular-season success, Buffalo is now looking for a coach it believes can get over the Super Bowl hump, similar to when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos each fired successful head coaches, Tony Dungy and John Fox, and hired John Fox and Gary Kubiak, respectively. Both coaches went on to win Super Bowls in their first season with their new teams.

Early speculation about McDermott’s replacement centers on two former colleagues. Current Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and his predecessor Brian Daboll have both been named as potential candidates. Daboll was most recently fired as head coach of the New York Giants, but played a pivotal role in Allen’s development.

Regardless of who succeeds McDermott, the new coach will be entering with a Super Bowl mandate, as fans and the players are likely to question whether moving in a different direction was the right call.