Josh Allen spoke candidly about Sean McDermott’s firing, admitting he feels responsible and calling the decision emotional after the Buffalo Bills’s playoff loss.
Josh Allen couldn't hide how much Sean McDermott’s firing affected him.
When the Buffalo Bills quarterback learned that the team had fired its long-time head coach, his reaction was immediate and emotional. Allen said he got the call from owner Terry Pegula and reached out to McDermott right away.
"Very, very emotional," Allen said. "I’ve got nothing but love and respect for Coach McDermott."
McDermott had been Allen’s head coach for the entirety of his NFL career, overseeing his rise from raw prospect to franchise quarterback. Allen acknowledged how deeply intertwined their journeys had been over the last eight seasons.
“The last eight years of my life, he’s been through ups and downs of me as a player, as a person,” Allen said. “He’s seen me grow up, in a sense.”
But Allen went a step further, placing responsibility squarely on his own shoulders for how the season ended, and, in his mind, how it may have led to McDermott’s dismissal.
“I’d be lying to you if I’m sitting here saying that I feel like I had part in it,” Allen said. “Because if I make one more play, that game in Denver, we’re probably not having this press conference right now. We're probably not making a change."
Allen didn’t shy away from that reality, calling it “the hard part” to process as he continues to replay the season-ending loss in his mind.
“That’s reality. It is what it is now,” he said.
Despite the pain of how the season ended and seeing his only NFL coach lose his job, Allen was careful to balance his gratitude for McDermott with optimism for what comes next. He credited McDermott with setting the foundation for the Bills’ sustained success and said he remains thankful for everything the former head coach brought to the organization.
At the same time, Allen made it clear he believes the franchise is aligned moving forward under new head coach Joe Brady.
“I’m very fortunate and thankful for Coach McDermott and everything that he’s done and the trajectory that he’s set here for our players,” Allen said. “At that same time, I’m very looking forward to Joe and everything that entails with him becoming the head coach.
"I do believe in what he had talked about in his meetings, what he's talked about, really, the last few years that he's been in the quarterback room, of just the mindset that he has, the togetherness, being you with us. I can go on and on about how good of a coach I think Joe is. But he's also a great human being."
With Brady has head coach moving forward, Allen admits that the goal hasn't changed. While it may be a new voice at the top, the goal remains to bring Buffalo something it's never had before.
“I'm very, very much looking forward to that challenge, and continuing the chase, and to chase something great, and that is to bring a Lombardi Trophy here to Western New York.” Allen said.
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