Sean Michael McDermott is an American football coach who is the head coach and defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL).
He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, serving as defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2010, and was later the defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers from 2011 to 2016. Following his six seasons with the Panthers, which included a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl 50, he was hired in 2017 as the Bills head coach and assumed defensive coordinator duties in 2023.
McDermott's head coaching tenure in Buffalo has seen improved fortunes for the franchise, which had been mostly unsuccessful during the 2000s and 2010s. In his first season, he led the Bills to their first playoff appearance since 1999, ending the longest active postseason drought in the four major North American sports. During the 2020 season, McDermott helped the Bills clinch their division and win a playoff game for the first time since 1995, en route to their first AFC Championship Game appearance since 1993.
He led the Bills to a consecutive division title the following season, the franchise's first since 1991. The Bills then clinched their third straight division title the year after, marking 3 straight years atop the AFC East.
