Sean McDermott has served as head coach of the Buffalo Bills for nine full seasons, from 2017 through the 2025 NFL season.

Hired on January 11, 2017 , McDermott stepped in to revitalize a Bills franchise stuck in a 17-year playoff drought since 1999. By the close of the 2025 season —where Buffalo posted a strong 12-5 record and reached the playoffs again—his total regular-season mark stood at an impressive 98-50 (.662 winning percentage), ranking him first in Bills history for win percentage and second in total victories.

Tenure Breakdown

Here's a year-by-year snapshot of McDermott's head coaching record with the Bills, drawn from detailed NFL coaching archives:

YearRecordPlayoff Record
20179-7-00-1
20186-10-00-0
201910-6-00-1
202013-3-02-1
202111-6-01-1
202213-3-01-1
202311-6-01-1
202413-4-02-1
202512-5-01-1

Key Achievements

  • Culture shifter : Ended the playoff curse with five postseason trips in his first six years, including three straight AFC East titles from 2020-2022—the first since the Marv Levy era.
  • Playoff consistency : 8-7 overall in postseason games as of 2025, with two AFC Championship appearances.
  • Franchise legacy : Already third in Bills wins (behind only legends Marv Levy and Lou Saban) despite no Super Bowl yet, fueling endless "what if" debates in Bills Mafia circles.

Fan & Media Buzz

Buffalo fans adore McDermott's steady hand amid tough AFC competition—think Chiefs showdowns—but whispers of needing that elusive Lombardi linger, especially after adapting through roster overhauls. Recent clips show him tweaking staff for 2026, signaling no slowdown. As of January 2026 , nine years in, he's the longest-tenured coach in a volatile NFL East.

TL;DR : 9 seasons (2017-2025), 98-50 record , transforming the Bills into contenders—still chasing the ultimate prize.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.