Sean McDermott was officially introduced as the 20th head coach in Buffalo Bills history on Friday.
At 42, McDermott is the fourth youngest coach in the NFL, but believes his journey through the NFL ranks has prepared him to help turn the organization around and hopefully end a 17-year postseason drought.
"He is a smart, decisive, faith-based winning," Bills Owner Terry Pegula said.
"I’ve trained to become a head coach since I was born. Conversations about sports football and life were a part of the conversation at the table ever since I was young," he said. "Getting into the NFL at an early age, around the greats of Andy Reid and the greats that come from his tree, I’ve taken note upon note and learned very step along the way."
"To win in this league it's about players and winning. We have a guy that can maximize player development and consistently give our team a chance to win," added General Manager Doug Whaley.
Since the firing of Rex Ryan and the bizarre press conference with Whaley on Jan. 2, the Bills have been a punchline amongst local and national media pundits, but McDermott said the Bills "were the best job on the market."
"I’m not into making promises, you’ll find that out soon enough," he added. "The promises I’ll make is we’ll be competitive and we’ll work hard every day. We’re going to compete on a daily basis. We’re going to build a culture, a daily standard of winning in how we do things. You have to earn the right to win in this league, and I've learned that. "
There is some uncertainty within the building as McDermott takes over team that has 24 unrestricted free agents, four restricted free agents to evaluate, and a major contract decision looming with quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
While GM Doug Whaley will have control over the 53-man roster, McDermott will go through the roster and make evaluations on players moving forward for the 2017-2018 season.
"Obviously QB play in this league is critical. I know, I just met Tyrod about 10 minutes ago and had a nice conversation. Whether it’s Tyrod or any other position I’m going to evaluate every position group and every player with a methodic nature."
“We look forward to being apart of this great city and this passionate fan base. This is our type of town. We look forward to making Buffalo our home.”
