Sean McDermott ’98

Football was a key part of Sean McDermott’s William & Mary experience. He went from a walk-on defensive back at W&M to a two-year starter, team captain and all-conference performer.

The son of a football coach, Sean knew he wanted to take a similar path, and he joined the Tribe’s staff as a graduate assistant. He made the jump to the NFL in 1999 by taking a scouting position with the Philadelphia Eagles, and he moved up the ranks of the defensive staff. He coached the Carolina Panthers’ defense for six seasons before being hired as the 20th head coach of the Buffalo Bills. During his inaugural year at the helm in 2017, the team broke an 18-year postseason drought, and in 2021, Sean led Buffalo to its first playoff wins in a quarter century.

Sean credits William & Mary for sharpening traits critical to his success in coaching, such as professionalism, resilience, a strong work ethic and a collaborative spirit. He also sees these traits in Joe Brady ’13, DJ Mangas ’12 and Christian Taylor ’07, all former W&M players and coaches he hired to join his staff in recent years.

In early 2026, after Sean served as head coach for nine seasons, the Bills ended his contract. However, he reportedly told his staff that he intends to continue coaching. “Nobody wants to be the best more than I do, but bigger than that is the mark that we make and the platform that I’ve been given to use the right way to help others and for them to see what it looks like, for a William & Mary student to see me and say, ‘I can do that; I can become the top in my profession and go about it the right way,’” Sean says. “If they can say that Sean McDermott went about it the right way, that’s good enough for me.”

Learn more about Sean

• Read the feature article Buffalo Brotherhood in the W&M Alumni Magazine.
• Watch a video about Sean and the fellow alumni on the Bills’ coaching staff.
• Read about the Principled Achievement Award he received from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business.