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Sean McDermott, Reggie Witherspoon and When Progress Stalls in Buffalo

Sean McDermott plateaued as Buffalo Bills head coach. A bold move is needed to reenergize the franchise. Look no further than UB basketball.
Sean McDermott

Sean McDermott gift-wrapped a win to the Houston Texans on Sunday. He admitted it in his post-game press conference. His inability to correctly manage marquee games continues to haunt the Buffalo Bills, and it speaks to the larger theme of his head coaching tenure: he’s incapable of leading the franchise to a long-awaited Super Bowl title.

The question now is whether team owner Terry Pegula and general manager Brandon Beane are strong-willed enough to fire a coach who led Buffalo out of the doldrums. If they need inspiration, they don’t have to look far. Just research the past few decades of the University at Buffalo men’s basketball program.

McDermott is Reggie Witherspoon. The former UB head coach took over a program in total disarray, righted the ship, and led the Bulls to new heights, but a championship never arrived. He preached culture, hard work and was beloved by his players. It wasn’t until the athletic department moved on that the Bulls reached their full potential, though.

The same story is playing out in Buffalo once again.

Sean McDermott, Reggie Witherspoon and Moving On

McDermott’s 2024 Failures and Lack of Improvement

McDermott led a new-look Bills roster to a 3-0 start. It was unexpected and drew rightful praise from around the country. Buffalo appeared to make a seamless transition to a new era without losing its status as a perennial Super Bowl contender.

Alarm bells started to ring last week, though. The coach’s decisions in a 35-10 blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens failed to meet the moment. It’s been a common theme throughout the 50-year-old coach’s time in Buffalo. He’s a defensive-minded, conservative coach at baseline, and he’s struggled to leave that mindset behind. In fact, that’s what made Sunday’s terrible decisions all the more shocking.

McDermott faced a 4th & 1 at his own 39-yard line early in the second quarter against the Ravens. The Bills were already trailing 14-3 and showed no ability to slow down Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and Co. You can’t punt in that situation. He did. Baltimore embarked on a 10-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to make it 21-3. The rout was on.

Fast forward one week to Sunday’s high-profile showdown with Stefon Diggs and the Texans. The Bills, without several starters due to injury, stormed back in the second half to tie the game.

A late defensive stop gave them the ball back, but a terrific punt by Houston’s Tommy Townsend pinned them at their own 3-yard line. At that moment, the next step was clear: three running plays to force the Texans to use their timeouts and hope you get a first down to force overtime. You aren’t winning the game in regulation with 32 seconds left, standing inside your own five, and no timeouts available. It’s OT or bust.

For some bizarre reason, Buffalo came out throwing. It was even more stunning because Josh Allen struggled all day (9 of 30) as his wide receivers failed to gain separation with No. 1 target Khalil Shakir sidelined by injury. The offensive line also had a rough performance. Throwing three times out of your own end zone under those circumstance is asinine.

The Bills predictably went three-and-out. The Texans got the ball back, C.J. Stroud completed a five-yard pass in the middle of the field because they had timeouts to burn, and Ka’imi Fairbairn knocked through a 59-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.

Buffalo deserved to lose because of McDermott’s approach. He’s made the same mistakes repeatedly across eight years at the helm. His game management remains mind-boggling at times.

Witherspoon’s UB Tenure was Virtually Identical

Witherspoon was hired by UB in December 1999 as an interim head coach. He was elevated to the full-time role a few months later.

The Buffalo native was a virtual unknown outside of Western New York. He’d coached at Sweet Home High School and Erie Community College (now SUNY Erie) in the area. Suddenly, he was tasked with turning around a program with no prestige that also had to overcome NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations under previous head coach, Tim Cohane.

Witherspoon pulled it off. It took time, but he eventually was able to establish a competitive culture. He built an impressive (at least by MAC standards) foundation of talent. The group of names will bring back memories for diehard Buffalo sports fans: Turner Battle, Mark Bortz, Calvin Cage, Yassin Idbihi, Daniel “Danny Hustle” Gilbert, Mario Jordan, Roderick “Hot Rod” Middleton, Jason Bird, and Parnell Smith.

In 2004-05, the Bulls reached the MAC Championship Game against Ohio. They built a 19-point lead in the second half. A series of coaching errors, some hot shooting by the Bobcats, and a Leon Williams buzzer-beating tip-in later, UB lost a heartbreaker in overtime.

The Bulls won at least 18 games six times in Witherspoon’s final nine years with the program, but they could never get over the hump. They were always in the mix but couldn’t raise that first MAC championship banner and make their NCAA Tournament debut.

Sound familiar? It should.

What Happened Next with UB Basketball

The UB athletic department finally moved on from Witherspoon after the 2012-13 season. It was a decision met with many of the same refrains heard today when the possibility of firing McDermott is mentioned:

“Don’t you remember what it was like before he got here?”

“He deserves more respect for turning the team around.”

“The grass isn’t always greener.”

For the Bulls, it turns out the grass was a lot greener.

UB hired former Duke standout Bobby Hurley, whose name recognition alone helped elevate the program. Hurley guided the squad to 19 wins in his first season and brought home the team’s first MAC championship one year later. He was then hired away by Arizona State.

Nate Oats, Hurley’s assistant and the current Alabama coach, took over, and before long, everything had changed. Buffalo basketball, a former Division I laughing stock, became an NCAA tournament regular, making the Big Dance four times in five years. The Bulls spent nearly the entire 2018-19 season in the Top 25, peaking at No. 14 as part of a 32-4 campaign.

None of that happens without the coaching change. Witherspoon deserved all the credit in the world for getting the program to a respectable level. He wasn’t the coach who could take the team to the promised land, though.

Will History Repeat Itself in Buffalo?

Just like UB wouldn’t fire Witherspoon midseason after all he did for the program, the same will hold true for McDermott with the Bills. He’ll be given the rest of the 2024 season to see whether the team can bounce back and return to contention.

If Buffalo’s current spiral continues, however, Pegula and Beane will face a tough decision in the offseason. McDermott earned kudos for ending the organization’s 17-year playoff drought in 2017 and making it back to the postseason almost every year since the breakthrough.

In the end, nobody remembers playoff appearances, though. They remember rage-inducing losses like the 13-second meltdown against the Kansas City Chiefs three years ago. They would remember not winning a championship despite having a likely future Hall of Fame quarterback. That’s all that matters. Titles.

That’s especially true for a city like Buffalo, which has been waiting multiple generations for a championship, either from the Bills or the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. The line “just one before I die” started as a joke but has become something closer to reality.

McDermott has brought the Bills a long way, but it doesn’t appear he’s capable of leading the franchise all the way, and that’s a massive difference.

UB didn’t reach its ultimate destination until Witherspoon was gone. The same will probably be true for the Bills. The front office must realize that before it’s too late.

Main Image: Troy Taormina – USA Today Sports

Tim Daniels

Tim Daniels

Tim Daniels is a lifelong sports fan who spent much of his youth playing soccer. He transitioned to writing in college and hasn't looked back. He spent 11 years on Bleacher Report's Breaking News Team and helped Topps launch its Ripped collecting website.

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