‘I bleed for that win:’ Our 1 on 1 with Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott
Is this the year? The Bills, again, have a legitimate shot to reach the Super Bowl. Go Long sits down with Sean McDermott, the man who's always been central to everything in Orchard Park.
ORCHARD PARK, NY — All playoff pain on your mind is on his mind. Sean McDermott doesn’t hide those losses deep into his subconscious. He cannot pretend like those games never happened. Bury “13 Seconds” and the rest of those defeats or use them? Before the question is even finished, he interjects — “no way” — and pops off a leather chair to grab something at his desk on the other side of his office.
When he returns, McDermott is clutching a thick packet of papers stapled in the left corner: his 2024 postseason plan. Flipping through the pages, he lists off a slew of sections: “mindset,” “the game,” “distractions,” “first-round bye,” “Super Bowl.” The printed notes are curated with immense detail. All of this serves a simple purpose. The 50-year-old head coach believes it’s his duty to prepare players for every conceivable scenario on and off the field they could encounter.
This thought brings to mind one conversation with Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, one that McDermott labels an enlightening moment this year. Sanderson, the former Olympian, told him that he became a better head coach when he realized being the head coach wasn’t all that important. That is, it’s best to think: What do they need from me right now? So, that’s McDermott’s compass. He tries to fill in gaps, tries to serve a “Dad”-like role and guide 53 players the right direction.
Outside, the wind’s whistling. Bitter cold is in the forecast. Darkness blankets all of Western New York well before dinnertime through the month of January. An ominous day-to-day backdrop to the anxiousness giving locals goosebumps. Another sterling regular season is complete. Another playoff moment is imminent. McDermott is set to guide his seventh Bills team into the postseason and this group — again — has a legitimate shot to reach the Super Bowl. To win the Super Bowl. To bring a parade to Delaware Avenue and eternal happiness to an entire city.
This coach didn’t grow up in Buffalo but knows he’s become a Buffalonian to his core.
He takes it one step further. McDermott, a devout Christian, believes he was placed in this position as the team’s head coach for a “greater purpose.”
Imagining what a championship could do — for everyone — he pauses. He gets emotional.
“I bleed for that. I bleed for that win,” says McDermott, pointing to his chest. “And that’s real. What I want for people, for these fans, is for the true light to be shown on what this place really is.”
These Bills locked up their fifth straight division title by Dec. 1, the No. 2 seed by Dec. 29 and will now host the Denver Broncos in the AFC wild card round at Highmark Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. (EST). For the first time since 1990, Buffalo went undefeated at home. The head coach has won 66 percent of his regular-season games. That’s better than the likes of Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Mike Tomlin and, for good measure, a trio of icons from different eras: Bill Belichick, Joe Gibbs and Curly Lambeau. The force of nature at quarterback — 6-foot-5, 237-pound maestro Josh Allen — may become the third player in Bills history to win NFL MVP. The roster, assembled by GM Brandon Beane, is championship caliber. All fun. All worth celebrating. Yet, the same locals who were thrilled to see Buffalo eke into an “in the hunt” graphic on CBS in mid-December were slamming the “Simulate to Playoffs” button the morning after Patrick Mahomes pranced off their field in the divisional round last season. Expectations have changed.
Legacies are defined… now.
This team’s fate will be decided by the man seated right here.
Go Long wanted to get inside the mind of the man himself: Sean McDermott.
He’s not particularly animated. He doesn’t F-bomb through a testosterone-fueled postgame speech locker room, nor does he see much upside in delving deeper than the surface level at the podium. By design, this coach has been somewhat of a vague mystery to the public since his arrival on Jan. 11, 2017. Many others who’ve passed through this building obviously had a lot to say in our series one year ago. Now, it’s time to hear from McDermott.
The plan was to squeeze in 15 minutes last week. Most all head coaches are typically too busy to sit down at length in May. Let alone January. But once McDermott starts to open up, he keeps going, and going, and going — with candor. We chat inside his office for more than an hour. On one wall is a canvas print of McDermott and former Bills coach Marv Levy. Behind the desk is a written definition of the word, “Coach.” On his desk is a sign that perfectly encapsulates this moment: We didn’t come this far, to come this far.
Among the topics discussed…
“Head space.” Years past, he’s seen how expectations become “a load of bricks” on his players’ shoulders. But how can a coach actively mold the psychology of a team?
The next pressure-packed playoff moment. It’s inevitable. In a split-second, McDermott must push the right buttons with the game on the line. How does he plan to attack that moment? One criticism of the coach in the past was tightness in big moments. We get his perspective.
Josh Allen. Of course, he says the QB should win the MVP. McDermott pinpoints what he has loved most about Allen’s game this year on and off the field.
Big picture, McDermott explains why he believes what’s built at One Bills Drive is bigger than one quarterback.
What makes this edition of the Bills more equipped to go all the way? McDermott does not hesitate with his answer.
He doesn’t believe he’s gone through a metamorphosis, but this is also true: The Sean McDermott of old probably wouldn’t recognize the one doing snow angels with Allen on live TV. He opens up on his overall evolution as a coach — and what’s changed in 2024.
How he’s trying to get this team to think positively, think “we’re going to win” in the clutch.
One desire never changed. It only gets stronger.
As you’ll see, this conversation gains steam when McDermott thinks about the people who call Buffalo home. Winning in this city has become personal. This day, so much runs through his mind. The sight of an old steel mill on Route 5. The conversations with parents at his kids’ sports games. The memory of one of his earliest speeches as this team’s head coach. Back in 2017, McDermott told players they could be a part of “the biggest turnaround in professional sports history.”
Once again, the Bills are just a few wins away from history.
Win it all and nothing in Buffalo will ever be the same again.
Our conversation is below.
Tell somebody on the outside that we’re sitting down like this, and they’d expect a cage match one year ago. The fact that we got to know each other (last offseason), I’ve been around the team this year, it says a lot about you. … I think there’s a natural impulse for anybody —coach or player — when something critical is written to go on the offensive. Declare it all “lies.” Outside looking in, it seems like you’ve been reflective. Your press conference in the moment was heartfelt. We sat down. How do you think you’ve evolved as a person and as a coach this past year?