From college teammates to NFL coaching vacancies, learn why Sean McDermott's playoff struggles and impressive regular-season record warrant consideration.
Mike Tomlin and Sean McDermott have a few things in common. Notably, they were college football teammates at William & Mary before becoming successful NFL coaches.
Now, both are unemployed: one by choice, the other not. Tomlin resigned from the Pittsburgh Steelers last week after 19 seasons, and McDermott was fired by the Buffalo Bills on Monday. Both were eventually done in by a lack of postseason success.
Could McDermott replace Tomlin?
Tomlin’s 192 regular-season wins are tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most in Steelers’ history. However, the end of Tomlin’s time with Pittsburgh was marred by losses in his last seven playoff games, the last being a 30-6 drubbing by the Houston Texans in an AFC Wild Card game on Jan. 12.
Tomlin’s skid matched the longest streak of postseason futility in NFL history by a coach, which was set when Marvin Lewis lost seven straight playoff games from 2005-15.
McDermott had a 98-50 regular-season record with the Bills and took them to the playoffs eight times in his nine seasons. However, the Bills never made it to the Super Bowl under McDermott and were eliminated from this year’s playoffs in painful fashion last Saturday, losing to the Denver Broncos 33-30 in overtime in an AFC Divisional game.
The Steelers are in the process of finding a replacement for Tomlin and have conducted or scheduled interviews with nine candidates. Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley dropped out of the running on Monday when the Miami Dolphins hired him to replace the fired Mike McDermott. Pittsburgh has reportedly had second interviews with Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.
McDermott’s .662 regular-season winning percentage stands out. He also ended a string of 17 consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance by the Bills by reaching the postseason during his rookie year in 2017.
McDermott's Bills also handed the Steelers perhaps their most demoralized loss this season with a 26-7 win on Nov. 30. That left the home crowd at Acrisiure Stadium chanting for Tomlin to be fired.
However, McDermott was dinged by many analysts for his 8-8 playoff record despite having franchise quarterback Josh Allen for eight of his nine seasons. The path to a Super Bowl never seemed clearer than this season, with superstar QBs Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs all having their AFC teams miss the playoffs.
Yet the Bills missed the Super Bowl again and haven’t been there since 1993. Is that all McDermont’s fault, or is general manager Brandon Beane at fault for poor roster construction around Allen? Bills owner Terry Pegula let his thoughts be known Monday when he fired McDermott and retained Beane.
The 51-year-old McDermott would be one of two outliers in Pittsburgh's coaching search, as a candidate both over 50 and with NFL head-coaching experience. The Steelers also plan to interview Mike McCarthy, 62, who coached the Packers and Dallas Cowboys.
So, there is a question of whether McDermott fits with the Steelers. They certainly owe it to themselves to find out.