Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott reportedly received interest for a position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but is instead expected to take the 2026 season off and re-assess his options for the 2027 season, FOX Sports’ Greg Auman reports.
“Bucs talked to ex-Bills coach Sean McDermott to check about joining [head coach] Todd Bowles’ staff, but he’s expected to take this year off and re-assess his options in 2027. McDermott overlapped with [general manager] Jason Licht with Eagles 2003-07 and interviewed for Bucs’ HC job in 2016,” Auman wrote on his X account.
McDermott was fired by the Bills on January 19, two days after Buffalo’s AFC Divisional Round overtime loss to the Denver Broncos. The veteran coach went 98-50 and made the playoffs eight times in his nine-year tenure, which included five consecutive AFC East Division titles between 2020 and 2024.
Bills owner Terry Pegula confirmed that his decision to fire McDermott “was based on” the AFC Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos last Saturday (January 17) and felt the team hit “the preverbal playoff wall” via ESPN‘s Alaina Getzenberg. General manager and new team president Brandon Beane, whose promotion was announced amid McDermott’s firing, accepted responsibility for the team’s lack of playoff success, specifically during the prime years of reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen’s career.
“We have a MVP QB who just finished his 8th season here & we’ve got to help him get to the Super Bowl,” Beane said via NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe. “We have to get it over the top & that starts with finding the right head coach.”
The Bills finished the 2025 season second in the AFC East Division standings and sixth in the AFC, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-24, before a 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos this past weekend. Many believed Buffalo faced its most open run to the Super Bowl with the absence of the Kansas City Chiefs, who eliminated the Bills four times during McDermott’s tenure, prior to Saturday’s loss.