Sean McDermott is taking a year off. Don't expect his break to last longer than that.
The fired Bills coach is adjusting to his new life out of coaching this spring and will happily exist in it for the duration of the 2026 season, but he's not taking his eye off the ball. First up: Unpacking his lengthy tenure in Buffalo, what worked and didn't, and how he can be a better version of himself the next time he takes a coaching job.
“Well, I think that’s part of this offseason and then the season, too, is to take the year and really process through things," McDermott said during a Wednesday appearance on The Insiders with Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. "Number one, how can we build on the success that we had in Buffalo? Because you don't want to just make a knee-jerk reaction and say, well it didn’t work. Well, it did work -- we were very successful. When you look at it, coming in, breaking a 17-year playoff drought and then changing the culture, and then eight of the nine years in the playoffs. And I firmly believe the Bills are in a really good spot.
"And so, here we are and we’re going, OK, let’s make sure that we build on what we did in Buffalo, but also go through some experiences and say, hey, we learned through that experience and how would we do it differently? And all the while, staying curious about different things that are out there; talking to different leaders in different sports or different industries outside of sports to improve as a coach but also a leader.”
McDermott's approach evokes memories of Mike McCarthy's time spent unemployed in which the latter coach dedicated himself to studying aspects of the current game in preparation of returning to coaching. He too spent a year out of coaching before returning in 2020 when he accepted the Cowboys job.
It sounds as if McDermott not approach his time off with the same intensity as McCarthy -- who went as far as assembling a team of coaches to work with him in a barn renovated into a coaching lab -- and is instead embracing his new normal, one centered around his family. It's a proper reset and refresh for a coach who spent the majority of the last decade attempting to exorcise Buffalo's football demons and repeatedly falling short in frustrating, painful fashion.
“When you think about working and being in this business -- so competitive, margins are so small -- and you’re like, hey, I wonder what it would be like one day to be that guy," he said. "And then, all of the sudden, you're that guy and you’re like, OK -- this is real. But such is life, right? You kind of go through some of the normal gamut of emotions and you turn the corner and you’re like, 'hey, you know what? This is pretty good.' It's a pretty good opportunity for me, for us as a family, and let’s capitalize on it. That’s where we’re at as a family right now.”
Eventually, the itch will return, perhaps when McDermott turns on the television to watch the Bills for the first time in the 2026 season. After all, he has plenty of relationships with individuals still employed by the team, including his former offensive lieutenant, new Bills coach Joe Brady.
He's hoping for the best for Brady but can't make any guarantees.
“It’s hard for me to know because -- and I would say this about anyone who’s never done the job before, with all due respect to Joe in this case -- it’s a different job," McDermott explained. "We can prepare all we want, having gone through it myself. But it’s a different job than any job that leads to that job.
"Joe is a very talented coach, he’s a very talented play-caller. Listen, what I saw in Joe in the four seasons, I think, he was with us, he’s going to do a good job and I’m looking forward to watching him. I think he knows and I hope he knows that I’m always here if he needs anything.”
McDermott will keep his phone close while enjoying his new primary occupation: Dad. He'll enjoy his mornings spent taking his kids to school. "When you’re hard at work, I’m going through the drop-off line," he said with the understanding this won't last forever.
Before long, he'll be ready to don a headset once again. And he'll aim to be a better version of himself when that time arrives.