So close, yet so far. That has been the Buffalo Bills’ story ever since Sean McDermott took over the reins in 2017. While not winning the Super Bowl eventually cost the head coach his job, McDermott left no stone unturned to bring glory back to the Bills, even if that meant introducing ‘outrageous’ measures.

“Bills used to allow media to travel through their facility from the media room to the fieldhouse,” Alex Brasky wrote via an X post on January 19. “But on one occasion, a reporter saw information posted within the facility and captured it, then shared it. McDermott was NOT happy. Confronted the reporter angrily.”

“Ever since, Bills media was forced to walk outside from the media room to the fieldhouse,” Brasky added. “As years went on under McDermott, covering the Bills on the beat was similar to covering the Kremlin. Once, I took a photo of the team’s “ping pong leaderboard”… I was later asked to take the photo down. Outrageous paranoia.”

The measures taken by Sean McDermott might not come from ‘paranoia’, but from the lack of infrastructure. Unlike other facilities, Highmark Stadium’s outdated design forced the former Bills head coach to take some drastic measures. But the new facility will have an exclusive level for media, broadcast, and game operations, with vertical transportation to take media personnel directly to the locker rooms, preventing such leaks in the future.

Moreover, media restrictions weren’t limited to just McDermott’s era. The Bills have always been strict about their media regulations, and in 2016, they unveiled a wide-ranging policy restricting media from reporting on who threw an interception during practice or what someone might overhear during a post-practice team huddle.

Under the heading, “Practice Reporting,” the Bills barred the media in 2016 from divulging personnel grouping, which includes which players were practicing with the starters. They were also prohibited from revealing what occurred during practice sessions, such as dropped passes, interceptions, or even a quarterback’s completion percentage.

These ‘rules’ weren’t exclusive to the Bills. The New England Patriots and even the Saints introduced similar measures back in the day to prevent leaks through the media.

For decades, the relationship between NFL athletes and reporters has worked the same way. NFL players open up their workplace, including locker rooms, and reporters serve as the bridge between the team and the fans. That openness helps drive attention, interest, and ultimately revenue. However, the landscape also started to shift during the 2024 season when the NFL Players Association pushed back on locker room access. 

In a statement released in October 2024, the NFLPA labelled the media policy as “outdated” and noted that NFL players would start asking for interviews to happen elsewhere.

Amidst the media restrictions, the Bills fell short once again this year. But did General Manager Brandon Beane and Bills President Terry Pegula fire Sean McDermott purely because of the results, or was there more to the decision than meets the eye?

Why did the Buffalo Bills fire Sean McDermott?

Under Sean McDermott, the Bills posted a 98-50 overall record in nine seasons. They also reached the playoffs eight times in nine years and made the AFC Championship Game twice with McDermott. So, McDermott’s firing seemed to be less about what he did and more about what he didn’t do in Buffalo. He never got Buffalo to a Super Bowl, and perhaps more importantly, he no longer fit the organization’s long-term vision.

“Sean helped change the mindset of this organization and was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team,” Bills’ owner Terry Pegula said in a statement after firing McDermott. “But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.”

Despite Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s rise into one of the NFL’s elite players, the Bills kept falling short with Sean McDermott at the helm. The Bills lost twice to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game and suffered another painful exit this past season after going 12-5 and losing their grip on the AFC East title.

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Buffalo’s latest playoff heartbreak came in a 33-30 Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos. The game ended in overtime and featured controversial calls, but it also included five turnovers from the Bills that were hard to ignore. In a strange and frustrating bit of history, the Bills also became the first NFL team to win a playoff game in six straight seasons without ever reaching the Super Bowl.

Now, the pressure to make it to the Super Bowl is only getting heavier for the Bills as Josh Allen turns 30 this year. The Bills are also moving into a new $2.1 billion stadium next, so everything points to a fresh start. As such, two days after the latest playoff exit, Sean McDermott’s tenure ended in Buffalo, where he helped transform a team into a consistent winner. But McDermott also leaves behind serious questions about whether his approach ultimately held the Bills back when it mattered most.