The last five days have been arguably the worst stretch of days for the Buffalo Bills in about a decade. First, the Bills lost a heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos on Saturday, Jan 17. to eliminate them from a playoff picture that should have been their’s to dominate.
Then, in the early hours of Monday, Jan 19. the Bills made the controversial decision to fire head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons with the team. Almost simultaneously, Buffalo owner Terry Pegula announced that he was promoting general manager Brandon Beane, adding the title of “President of Football Operations” to his list of responsibilities.
Bills fans have plenty of differing opinions on whether the McDermott firing was warranted; it’s probably close to a 50/50 split amongst the Bills mafia.
But every Bills fan seems to agree that McDermott’s departure from the organization hasn’t been handled well, bordering on the line of straight up disrespect.
Bills Fans Furious At Organization’s Disrespect For McDermott
The firing of McDermott was announced around 9 a.m. on Monday morning. The Bills didn’t post their tribute video for McDermott on social media until 6 p.m. on Tuesday night. In between the firing announcement and the tribute video being posted, Buffalo promoted Brandon Beane, who many argue is more at fault for the Bills’ shortcomings than McDermott was.
It’s a slap in the face to the Buffalo Bills fanbase that has grown to love this team during McDermott’s tenure after so many years of mediocrity and disappointment. Whether the change needed to be made at head coach or not, it was handled so poorly by the organization that they’ve quickly alienated much of their fanbase.
Here is the tribute video for McDermott:
And here are a number of comments from Bills fans across X and Instagram:
“Over 24 hours too late. This once great team is crumbling before our eyes as you grasp at any semblance of Admirability. Sell the team!”
“Community is so important to Buffalonians, and it went from feeling like the Bills were one of the good guys, doing things the right way, to being just like every other team in sports,” Buscaglia wrote. “Fair or not, that’s how it came across.”
McDermott vs. Beane: Who Was at Fault?
For all of the Bills shortcomings on the field, a McDermott problem, there was an equally critical personnel problem, a Beane problem.
Case in point, the Bills wide receiver room. Outside of the strong, but inconsistent Khalil Shakir, the Bills wide receiver room was a hotbed of drama and poor play. Keon Coleman had what felt like a dozen different issues throughout the season, and the onus of that fell onto the shoulders of McDermott to handle.
With Coleman’s issues lingering, Beane brought in a very washed up Brandin Cooks and an equally washed up Gabe Davis. Not a fix.
He also began the season with a bunch of depth receivers like Josh Palmer, Tyrell Shavers, Elijah Moore, and Curtis Samuel. That is solely a personnel issue and that falls on the shoulders of Brandon Beane.
Bills Fans Slam Team for Delayed Tribute Video to Sean McDermott After Firing