Bills Coach Addresses Using 9/11 Hijackers as Example of Teamwork

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott said Thursday he immediately regretted and apologized for making a 9/11 reference and using the hijackers as an example of good teamwork during a previous team meeting.

"My intent in the meeting that day was to discuss the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team," McDermott said at a press conference. "I regretted mentioning 9/11 in my message that day, and I immediately apologized to the team. Not only was 9/11 a horrific event in our country's history, but a day that I lost a good family friend."

McDermott's comments come in response to a long-form series published by Tyler Dunne of Go Long, which is titled "The McDermott Problem."

What Did McDermott Say?

In the second installment of a the three-part series, Dunne detailed a "9/11" speech he said was made by the Bills coach during Buffalo's training camp in 2019.

Dunne wrote: "At St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., McDermott's morning address began innocently enough. He told the entire team they needed to come together. But then, sources on-hand say, he used a strange model: the terrorists of Sept. 11, 2001. He cited the hijackers as a group of people who were all able to get on the same page to orchestrate attacks to perfection. One by one, McDermott started asking specific players in the room questions. 'What tactics do you think they used to come together?' A young player tried to methodically answer. 'What do you think their biggest obstacle was?' A veteran answered, 'TSA,' which mercifully lightened the mood."

Newsweek reached out to the Bills for additional comment from general manager Brandon Beane and the team's ownership.

The 49-year-old declined to address other aspects of the article during his press conference, which was not previously scheduled and lasted roughly six minutes.

McDermott said he wanted to speak on this topic in the aftermath of the story because it is very important to him and something he takes "very seriously." The seventh-year Bills head coach called the September 11 terrorist attacks a "horrific event" several times on Thursday. McDermott said he plans on meeting with the team later in the day to make sure, "We're all on the same page, and even guys that weren't here understand how I feel about the 9/11 event."

Buffalo also had a discussion about the speech the same day it occurred, he said.

"One player didn't seem—that I didn't make my point clear enough," McDermott said Thursday. "So right then and there I said we're getting together as a team and I'm going to address this with everyone. That was before practice. So we had a team meeting and within an hour—this is a few years ago—so within an hour, and it was actually at the start of practice, I brought everybody together and said this was the goal, this was the intent, and I apologize if anyone whatsoever felt a certain type of way coming out of that meeting.

"If anyone misinterpreted or didn't understand my message, I apologize. I didn't do a good enough job of communicating clearly the intent of my message. That was about the importance of communication and that everyone needs to be on the same page, ironically enough. So that was important to me then and still is now."

There were no hard feelings carried over between Bills players and McDermott after that meeting, the coach claimed on Thursday.

McDermott was named Buffalo's head coach in 2017. He has a 68-41 record coaching the franchise. He is currently under contract with the Bills through the 2027 NFL season. The Bills (6-6), losers of three of their last four games, next play on Sunday afternoon in a road game against the Kansas City Chiefs (8-4).