The Pittsburgh Steelers are moving forward with the head coaching candidacy of Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. However, a new candidate for the Steelers’ head coach opening has suddenly emerged — Sean McDermott.
That also means another team has entered the market for a new head coach, potentially giving the Steelers more competition.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday morning the Buffalo Bills have fired McDermott as their head coach. Buffalo moved on from McDermott two days after the team lost to the Denver Broncos 33-30 in the AFC divisional round.
In nine NFL regular seasons, McDermott posted a 98-50 record, which is an incredible .662 win percentage. But he went 8-8 in the postseason, failing to lead the franchise back to the Super Bowl despite having MVP quarterback Josh Allen.
This news could potentially impact the Steelers head coaching search in two ways. McDermott is another head coaching candidate they could potentially pursue.
If the Steelers don’t want McDermott, another team could hire him as head coach, giving Pittsburgh a better opportunity to hire someone else.
But it also means the Bills head coaching job is open. With Allen still in place, it could be a more enticing landing spot than the Steelers.
Will Steelers Consider Sean McDermott?
McDermott wasn’t in his position with the Bills as long as Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh were in the AFC North. But similarly, McDermott leaves Buffalo after tremendous regular season success but playoff failure.
McDermott experienced just one losing season as Bills head coach. He earned a playoff berth in every campaign but one and won at least 11 games each of the past six seasons.
Incredibly, in each of those six years, the Bills also won a playoff game.
But they won multiple playoff games in one January just twice under McDermott. The Bills failed to get back to the Super Bowl despite five straight division titles.
Buffalo lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs four times in the postseason from 2020-24. One of those contests was at home. The Bills also surprisingly fell to the Cincinnati Bengals at home in the 2022 postseason.
With that amount of postseason failure, the Steelers might pause to seriously consider McDermott a candidate to replace Tomlin, who lost his last seven playoff games in Pittsburgh. Steelers Nation is dying for more playoff success, so hiring a coach who couldn’t get “over the hump” with much better quarterback play than what the Steelers have experienced recently probably doesn’t make sense.
McDermott, though, will be a strong candidate for some franchise who hasn’t been to the postseason in a long time. In his first season with the Bills, McDermott ended Buffalo’s 18-year postseason drought. Tyrod Taylor was his quarterback that year.
Steelers Set to Interview Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver Again
About two hours before the McDermott firing occurred Monday morning, the big news around the Steelers head coaching search was with Weaver.
Rapoport reported the Steelers are set to interview Weaver for a second time this week. This interview will be in person.
The Steelers also have a second in-person interview scheduled with Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Weaver is currently a candidate for the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals too. He interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons as well, but the Falcons hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski as their next head man.
Weaver has three years of NFL defensive coordinator experience. In 2024, his Dolphins unit finished fourth in yards allowed and 10th in scoring defense.
From 2021-23, Weaver was a defensive assistant with the Ravens under Harbaugh.
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