Allen\u2019s role makes him partially responsible for whoever gets the gig.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s earned it,\u201d retired coach Bruce Arians said of Allen\u2019s seat at the interview table. Arians, alongside quarterback Tom Brady, won the Super Bowl five years ago with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
Many NFL coaching experts consider this year\u2019s options weak. There are no guarantees, but Allen will be helping the Bills cull an unexceptional list. Arians praised McDermott\u2019s 2025 performance because, he said, the Bills had \u201ctheir worst roster in the last three years, going into the playoffs\u201d and suggested that a step back appears inevitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see the candidate pool being that great this year,\u201d Arians said. \u201cA lot of guys maybe getting a second chance, but you\u2019re not going to hire somebody that\u2019s just won a division title five times. They have a lot of building blocks to put back together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho the hell\u2019s behind door No. 2?\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Kurt Warner is cautious about Allen\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n
Despite all of Warner\u2019s credentials \u2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame, Super Bowl MVP, two-time league MVP, Walter Payton Man of the Year \u2014 even he wouldn\u2019t feel comfortable helping his team select a head coach. He played for five coaches: Dick Vermeil, Mike Martz, Tom Coughlin, Dennis Green and Ken Whisenhunt. Allen has played eight seasons for one coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never think it\u2019s a bad thing to have your top guys involved and wanting to be engaged in the process,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m an expert on being able to pick a head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cSean McDermott was fired. Why was he fired? Does Josh Allen even know exactly why? Because from the outside, it looked like Sean McDermott did so many things right. They\u2019ve got to make sure the next coach does all the same things right and then does the next thing that they\u2019re looking for to put them over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warner noted that players, regardless of how popular or talented, don\u2019t know what head coaching truly entails. He stressed the importance of Allen acknowledging that.<\/p>\n
Fulfilling the quarterback\u2019s biggest needs doesn\u2019t always align with the organization\u2019s. It\u2019s critical to recognize the difference. Warner, an NFL Network analyst for the past 15 years, added that he doesn\u2019t even feel secure casting his All-Pro vote for position groups with which he\u2019s unfamiliar, such as defensive line, without calling some experts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we as players,\u201d Warner said, \u201chave an intimate knowledge of all the stuff it takes. I think it\u2019s very difficult to really be part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Bills owner Terry Pegula cited Josh Allen\u2019s emotional reaction to the playoff loss as a reason why he fired coach Sean McDermott. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
We haven\u2019t heard from Allen since the Bills fired McDermott. The last time Allen spoke to reporters, he sobbed and took the blame Saturday night after losing in overtime to the Denver Broncos.<\/p>\n
Pegula cited Allen\u2019s dejection as a reason McDermott had to go. Pegula\u2019s opening statement attempted to lead us into the theater of the mind, to imagine the sulking husk of a man many of us in the Western New York media actually saw inside the Empower Field at Mile High visitors\u2019 locker room. We saw Allen sob at the lectern, saw him slumped totally within his locker stall with the thousand-yard stare. We watched left tackle Dion Dawkins turn away from reporters in tears and receiver Brandin Cooks bawl.<\/p>\n
Could the Bills go too far trying to appease Allen and his teammates?<\/p>\n
On his podcast this week, 17-year NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick advised the Bills against hiring a friend to keep Allen happy. They have interviewed Allen\u2019s pal and former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and reportedly are interested in speaking with Broncos assistant Davis Webb, a former Allen backup the Bills once offered to make their quarterbacks coach because of a tight bond with Allen. On Friday, they also interviewed quarterback Philip Rivers<\/a>, who came out of retirement this season for a three-game stint with the Indianapolis Colts but whose only coaching experience is at the high school level.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel like in general, overall this year, if I\u2019m looking at something where I say, \u2018Gosh, maybe Josh took a step back this year,\u2019 it was the consistency of that pre-snap command and wizardry, and that\u2019s something that has to be demanded out of him every day,\u201d Fitzpatrick said on his podcast with fellow Amazon Prime analyst Andrew Whitworth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason why I think they need a veteran coach, somebody with a little bit more of an iron fist, is if you bring in a young, cool, hip head coach, he\u2019s going to be buddies with Josh. He\u2019s going to suck up to Josh. He\u2019s going to go golfing with Josh. That\u2019s not what he needs. That\u2019s not what\u2019s best for his career. What\u2019s best for his career is he has somebody that comes in and pushes him every single day because there is another level that Josh can get to, especially mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he has to be coached hard. And if you bring in a young guy, I just don\u2019t see it happening. I see him wanting to be his friend more than his coach.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, Superman doesn\u2019t need Jimmy Olsen telling him what to do.<\/p>\n The Bills have said we won\u2019t hear from Allen again until after the new coach has been hired.<\/p>\n Even if he disagreed with McDermott\u2019s ouster, Allen almost certainly will be on board with the new coach. A seat at the interview table is as close to equity in an NFL team as an active player will get.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have no problem putting my name on the line for anything that I was confident and comfortable in,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut, as a player, I don\u2019t know what boxes I need to check to make sure this guy\u2019s the right guy. That could be tough to be stamped with.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say Josh liked two guys and they hire the third guy. Even if it\u2019s not a guy Josh endorsed, if he was part of the process, he\u2019s still going to be tied to that in some way, shape or form if it doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n Buffalo fans have agita about squandering Allen\u2019s prime years and how much longer they\u2019ll have him. He\u2019ll turn 30 in May. He dealt with various injuries this season, appearing on the final injury report with foot, knee and finger problems. He absorbed a career-worst 40 sacks.<\/p>\n There always has been an urge to protect and defend him. He is Buffalo\u2019s greatest athlete since 2001, when Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek got sick of inadequate Stanley Cup opportunities and forced a trade, and its finest quarterback since Jim Kelly lost four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s.<\/p>\n No wonder the Bills yearn to keep Allen content and involved.<\/p>\n The Bills last year awarded him the NFL\u2019s richest contract, a six-year, $330 million extension that includes $250 million in guarantees. At an April ceremony for the Bills\u2019 new stadium, Pegula quipped that Allen \u201cnow makes more money than I do.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n