Jan 19, 2026
3 min read
The Bills replaced head coach Sean McDermott after being eliminated from the playoffs.
Sean McDermott gets fired and Brandon Beane gets a promotion.
How does this happen?
Terry Pegula has been an enigma in how he hires and fires top staffers for the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabers.There is no script to guess.
For years, Pegula has insisted that it makes sense for NFL and NHL teams to operate with different front office structures.With the Bills, he preferred the personal reporting of the coach and general manager over the owner.With the Sabres, he wanted the coach to report to the general manager and the general manager to report to the owner.
Now he wants to be the same.And since Bean is the president of football operations, the flowchart flows from him to Pegula.Now there is no confusion.Beane will have the final say and will no longer have to compete with McDermott for Pegula's attention.
And that's why it's easy to see Beane not only remaining the Bills' GM after a terrible season, but strengthening his place in the organization -- the same way Russ Brandon did as GM and Kevyn Adams did as Sabers GM.
Beane and Pete Guelli watch the games with Pegula.Beane talks to Pegula about the team as the game progresses.We saw a glimpse of Pegula watching film with Beane during "Hard Knocks: Buffalo Bills Boot Camp," when the owner asked Beane who number 44 was and if he had changed positions.Beane calmly answered both questions: second-year linebacker “Buffalo Joe” Andreessen, and no.
Bean has Pegula's ear, and when it comes to power in Pegula's sporting venture, it's the most important.
It's also easy to imagine Beane becoming irritated by McDermott's repeated, veiled cheating at the Bills' bar by talking about other teams seemingly envious.
An hour after the overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, a source close to McDermott said he believes his job is safe.
Announcing, less than 32 hours after the Bills' plane landed in Cheektowaga, that McDermott had been fired while Beane and Guelli were promoted shows that this was in the works for a long time.Guelli had been chief operating officer, but now he is president of business operations, a title that gives him increased access to the department's office and strengthens his authority at One Bills Drive.
Pegula embraces the people he trusts. That's how Russ Brandon went from being fired when Pegula bought the team in 2014 to becoming president of both the NFL and NHL clubs in 2015. That's how former Bills GM Doug Whaley went from almost being fired to keeping his job for two more years.
Pegula failed to convince Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian to come out of retirement and join the Bills' front office.Then former coach Doug Marrone exercised an opt-out clause in his contract during the ownership change and left Buffalo for $4 million.So the men Pegula wanted to move on from -- Brandon and Whaley -- suddenly became too valuable to give up because the new NFL owner had no one to hire another coach.For Florida, Pegula stuck to the home office and made the connection.He swore in Brandon and Whaley as his top confidants until Pegula fired them.
Pegula has always been annoyed by fans' angry attitude toward Russ Brandon's meddling in football decision-making, and he once asked me why anyone would think a company executive would have that kind of influence.I said it stems from Brandon being the Bills GM for three years under Ralph Wilson from 2008-2010.Pegula dismissed the idea that this was true;he had no idea Brandon had ever been the general manager of the team he owned.
Adams became the Sabers GM despite having no high-level scouting or executive experience, in part because he watched games with Pegula and constantly shared opinions with the owner.
Beane's 2025 offseason will be best remembered for his opinion to WGR 550 AM morning co-hosts Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase for the Bills being weak at wide receiver and not being drafted earlier.The Bills liked Beane's performance so much that they replayed the audio before announcing the names of all the rookies they had actually selected, opening their behind-the-scenes draft documentary.The radios were right.Joshua Palmer;Khalil ShakirKeon ColemanCurtis SamuelElijah Moore and other fillies are Buffalo's biggest offensive weakness.
Injuries will limit Palmer to eight stars.Other health factors are sometimes stronger.Coleman's seat was still slow.Moore was expected in November to fill in for 32-year-old Brandon Cooks, who put in a short yardage of Shakir's faithful, wide receiver Josh Allen.
Beane's tumultuous offseason included a contract dispute with running back James Cook.Beane extended his contract with several of Cook's draft classmates but was unwilling to pay top dollar.
One significant stumbling block was Beane saying disgruntled Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay was shedding waivers and cutting defensive back Ja'Marcus Ingram to make room.Slay refused to report to the Bills and they lost Ingram to the Houston Texans.McDermott bristled every time he was asked about it.The Bills normally keep four boundary cornerbacks on their 53-man roster, but the result left them with three.
As if McDermott knowing that he was fighting for his reputation and position in the organization, he praised the opposing roastors, especially in areas where buffalo is considered missing.He praised the defensive line of Philadelphia Eagles as "The reason they won the Super Bowl last year" and the trades which landed Cornback Gorgui Ciers.
Beane admitted he tried to acquire a receiver at the trade deadline but couldn't get a deal done.
While the search for some gems later, such as Shakir, nickel back Taron Johnson and cornerback Christian Benford, and many solid starters are gathering too many previous selections, not a game changer.The most interesting fragrances are bougainvillea, bergamot, bergamot, elam and coleman.
Beane's draft record has been scrutinized, but he has a trump card that could extend his trade to take Allen seventh overall in 2018.
