Rex Ryan believes there’s only one person the Bills can hire after their stunning firing of Sean McDermott Monday morning.
The ex-Jets coach, who also coached the Bills, declared on ESPN’s “Get Up” that Buffalo should hire their former nemesis, Bill Belichick, after getting ousted by the Broncos Saturday in an overtime heartbreaker.
“Get the guy that has proven he can go to the Super Bowl,” Ryan said.
“That’s the only guy, in my opinion, you replace Sean McDermott with.”
Ryan added that Belichick should hire Brian Daboll, fired by the Giants in November, as his offensive coordinator.
Daboll, a Patriots assistant under Belichick from 2000-06 and 2013-16, was the Bills’ offensive coordinator with a young Josh Allen at quarterback from 2018-21.
Belichick, 73, and the Patriots parted ways after the 2023 season, and after losing out on the Falcons job, worked in television during the 2024 season.
He then shockingly took the University of North Carolina job in December 2024, a tenure that has turned into a circus in part due to his relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, a regular presence on the Tar Heel sideline before games.
UNC went 4-8, including 2-6 in the ACC, during Belichick’s first season. And while he has committed to the school publicly, speculation about an ultimate NFL return have followed him ever since he stepped foot in Chapel Hill.
The Bills seemingly had their best chance yet at reaching the Super Bowl under McDermott, with their longtime kryptonite, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, not making the playoffs.
But after defeating the Jaguars in the wild-card round, the Bills lost in overtime in Denver after multiple controversial calls, including an overtime interception that a “pissed off” McDermott railed against after the game.
“It’s hard for me to — and I’ve had a chance to look at it — it’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled,” McDermott said. “If it is ruled that way, then why wasn’t it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right?
“That would have made a lot of sense to me, to make sure that we have this thing right, because that’s a pivotal play in the game. We have the ball at the 20 [yard line] and we may be kicking a game-winning field goal right there, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
