List of Buffalo Bills head coaches - wikipedia List of Buffalo Bills head coaches The entrance sign to the home of the Bills, New Era Field ( formerly Ralph Wilson Stadium ) The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo, New York metropolitan area. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference ( AFC ) in the National Football League ( NFL ). The Bills franchise was formed in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League ( AFL ), before joining the NFL as part of the AFL - NFL merger of 1970. There have been 19 head coaches for the Bills franchise. Buster Ramsey became the first head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 1960, serving for two seasons before being fired by Bills owner Ralph Wilson after the 1961 season. In terms of tenure, Marv Levy has coached more games ( 182 ) and seasons ( 12 ) than any other coach in franchise history. He coached the Bills to four straight AFC Championships from 1990 -- 1993, but failed to lead the team to a victory in the Super Bowl. One of Levy 's predecessors, Lou Saban, who coached the team on two separate occasions, led the team to the victories in the AFL championship in 1964 and 1965. Three Bills coaches -- Saban, Levy and Chuck Knox -- have been named coach of the year by at least one major news organization. Levy and Jim Ringo are the only Bills coaches to have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There have been six `` interim '' head coaches in Bills history. First, in 1968, head coach Joe Collier was fired two games into the season and replaced by Bills personnel director Harvey Johnson. Johnson did not serve as head coach the following season. Then, five games into the 1976 season, Saban unexpectedly resigned as head coach. He was replaced by Ringo, the team 's offensive line coach. Ringo returned to coach the team again in the 1977 season. In October 1985, Kay Stephenson was fired and replaced by assistant head coach Hank Bullough. Just over a year later, Bullough was himself fired and replaced by Marv Levy, who had previously served as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Levy would then serve as Bills head coach for the next 12 seasons. In 2016, Anthony Lynn replaced Rex Ryan for the final game of the season. Following Levy 's retirement, the Bills experienced limited success under a series of successive head coaches. Wade Phillips, the Bills defensive coordinator for the last three years under Levy, took over head coaching duties for the 1998 season. Phillips served as head coach for three seasons, making the playoffs in his first two ( the second of which was the last time the Bills made the playoffs ). After Phillips ' departure following the 2000 season, Gregg Williams was named head coach. Williams served as coach for three seasons. At the end of the 2003 season, Williams ' contract was not renewed. Mike Mularkey was named as the new head coach for the 2004 season, leading the Bills to their first winning season since 1999. The Bills experienced less success under Mularkey during 2005, and Mularkey resigned as head coach at the completion of the 2005 season. The Bills then named Dick Jauron as their head coach for the 2006 season. Jauron was the first coach since Phillips ' dismissal with prior head coaching experience, having previously served as head coach of the Chicago Bears and interim head coach of the Detroit Lions. Jauron coached the Bills to three consecutive 7 -- 9 seasons before being fired on November 17, 2009, nine games into the 2009 season. On January 19, 2010, the Bills named Chan Gailey as their next head coach ; Gailey was fired on December 31, 2012. In January 2013, Doug Marrone was appointed. He exercised his option to leave in January 2015 following the change of ownership to Kim and Terrence Pegula and was replaced by Rex Ryan. Rex Ryan was fired from the team on December 27, 2016. Anthony Lynn served as interim head coach until January 11, when the team hired Sean McDermott to serve in the role on a permanent basis. Contents 1 Key 2 Coaches 3 List of offensive coordinators 4 List of defensive coordinators 5 Notes 6 References Key # Number of coaches GC Games coached Wins Losses Ties Win % Winning percentage 00 † Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach 00 ‡ Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player 00 * Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Bills 00 * * Two coaching tenures for Lou Saban 00 ^ Two coaching tenures for Harvey Johnson Coaches Note : Statistics are accurate through week 1 of the 2017 NFL season. # Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards Ref. GC Win % GC Buster Ramsey * 1960 -- 1961 * 28 11 16. 407 -- -- -- Lou Saban * * 1962 -- 1965 56 36 17. 679 1964 UPI AFL Coach of the Year 1965 UPI AFL Coach of the Year Joe Collier * 1966 -- 1968 * 30 13 16. 448 0 Harvey Johnson * ^ 1968 * 12 10. 091 -- -- -- 5 John Rauch 1969 -- 1970 28 7 20. 250 -- -- -- -- Harvey Johnson * ^ 1971 * 14 13 0. 071 -- -- -- -- Lou Saban * * 1972 -- 1976 61 32 28. 533 0 6 Jim Ringo * ‡ 1976 -- 1977 * 23 20 0. 130 -- -- -- 7 Chuck Knox 1978 -- 1982 73 37 36 0. 507 1980 Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year 1980 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year 1980 Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year 8 Kay Stephenson * 1983 -- 1985 * 36 10 26 0. 277 -- -- -- 9 Hank Bullough 1985 -- 1986 21 17 0. 190 -- -- -- 10 Marv Levy † 1986 -- 1997 182 112 70 0. 615 19 11 8 4 AFC championships ( 1990 -- 1993 ) 1988 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year 1988 UPI NFL Coach of the Year 1993 UPI NFL Coach of the Year 11 Wade Phillips 1998 -- 2000 48 29 19 0. 604 0 12 Gregg Williams * 2001 -- 2003 * 48 17 31 0. 354 -- -- -- 13 Mike Mularkey 2004 -- 2005 32 14 18 0. 438 -- -- -- 14 Dick Jauron 2006 -- 2009 57 24 33 0. 421 -- -- -- 15 Perry Fewell * 2009 * 7 0. 429 -- -- -- 16 Chan Gailey 2010 -- 2012 48 16 32 0. 333 -- -- -- 17 Doug Marrone 2013 -- 2014 32 15 17 0. 469 -- -- -- 18 Rex Ryan 2015 -- 2016 31 15 16 0. 484 -- -- -- 19 Anthony Lynn 2016 0 0. 000 -- -- -- 20 Sean McDermott * 2017 -- present 6 0. 667 -- -- -- List of offensive coordinators The following is a list of all of the offensive coordinators that the Bills have had since 1978 : Ray Prochaska, 1978 -- 82 ( under Knox ) Jim Ringo, 1985 -- 88 ( under Bullough, Levy ) Ted Marchibroda, 1989 -- 91 ( under Levy ) Tom Bresnahan, 1992 -- 96 ( under Levy ) Dan Henning, 1997 ( under Levy ) Joe Pendry, 1998 -- 2000 ( under Phillips ) Mike Sheppard, 2001 ( under Williams ) Kevin Gilbride, 2002 -- 03 ( under Williams ) Tom Clements, 2004 -- 05 ( under Mularkey ) Steve Fairchild, 2006 -- 2007 ( under Jauron ) Turk Schonert, 2008 ( under Jauron ) Alex Van Pelt, 2009 ( under Jauron ) Curtis Modkins, 2010 -- 2012 ( under Gailey ) Nathaniel Hackett, 2013 -- 2014 ( under Marrone ) Greg Roman, 2015 -- 2016 ( under Ryan ) Anthony Lynn, 2016 * * ( under Ryan ) * * later became Bills ' interim head coach Rick Dennison, 2017 ( under McDermott ) List of defensive coordinators The following is a list of all of the defensive coordinators that the Bills have had since 1960 : Harvey Johnson, 1960 -- 61 ( under Ramsey ) Joe Collier, 1962 -- 65 * ( under Saban ) Dick McCabe, 1966 -- 68 ( under Collier ) Ray Malavasi, 1969 -- 70 ( under Rauch ) Doc Urich, 1971 ( under Johnson ) Jim Dooley, 1972 ( under Saban ) John Ray, 1973 -- 76 ( under Saban, Ringo ) Jimmy Carr, 1977 ( under Ringo ) Tom Catlin, 1978 -- 82 ( under Knox ) Bob Zeman, 1983 ( under Stephenson ) Don Lawrence, 1984 ( under Stephenson ) Hank Bullough, 1985 * ( under Stephenson ) Herb Paterra, 1986 ( under Bullough, Levy ) Walt Corey, 1987 -- 94 ( under Levy ) Wade Phillips, 1995 -- 97 * ( under Levy ) Ted Cottrell, 1998 -- 2000 ( under Phillips ) Jerry Gray, 2001 -- 2005 ( under Williams and Mularkey ) Perry Fewell, 2006 -- 2009 * * ( under Jauron ) George Edwards, 2010 -- 11 ( under Gailey ) Dave Wannstedt, 2012 ( under Gailey ) Mike Pettine, 2013 ( under Marrone ) Jim Schwartz, 2014 ( under Marrone ) Dennis Thurman, 2015 - 2016 ( under Ryan ) Rob Ryan, 2016 ( Assistant Head Coach - Defense under Rex Ryan, his brother ) * later became Bills ' head coach * * later became Bills ' interim head coach Leslie Frazier, 2017 ( under McDermott ) Notes A running total of the number of coaches of the Bills. Thus, any coach who has two separate terms as head coach is only counted once. Before 1972, the AFL and NFL did not count ties in the calculations for winning percentage. After 1972, they were counted as a half - win and half - loss. Each year is linked to an article about that NFL season. Joe Collier was fired two games into the 1968 season, after leading the Bills to an 0 -- 2 record. The Bills personnel director, Harvey Johnson, was named interim head coach. On December 21, 1971, Lou Saban joined the Bills again as head coach. He was also named vice president of football operations. Head coach Harvey Johnson was named director of pro personnel. On October 15, 1976, Lou Saban resigned as head coach of the Bills. He was replaced by offensive line coach Jim Ringo. Despite coaching the Bills to nine straight losses after Saban 's resignation, Ringo was given a coaching contract for the 1977 season in December 1976. On October 1, 1985, Kay Stephenson was fired after leading the team to a 0 -- 4 record. He was replaced by his assistant Hank Bullough. On November 3, 1986, Hank Bullough was fired as head coach and replaced by Marv Levy, the former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. On November 17, 2009 Dick Jauron was fired as head coach and replaced by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell on an interim basis. Three coaches in Bills history have had a winning record in their first season : Joe Collier ( 9 -- 4 -- 1 in 1966 ) ; Wade Phillips ( 10 -- 6 -- 0 in 1998 ) and Mike Mularkey ( 9 -- 7 -- 0 in 2004 ). Two other coaches just missed -- their teams each had ``. 500 '' records. Lou Saban was 7 -- 6 -- 1 in 1962 and Kay Stephenson was 8 -- 8 in 1983. Lou Saban 's full coaching record with the Bills is 117 regular season games coached with a record of 68 -- 45 -- 4 and a W -- L percentage of. 602. He is also 2 -- 2 in 4 Playoff games. Harvey Johnson 's full coaching record with the Bills is 26 regular season games coached with a record of 2 -- 23 -- 1 and a W -- L percentage of. 080. On December 27, 2016 Rex Ryan was fired as head coach and replaced by offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn on an interim basis. References General `` Buffalo Bills Team History ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. `` History Main Page -- Buffalo Bills ''. Buffalo Bills. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Specific Jump up ^ `` NFL History by Decade : 1961 -- 1970 ''. NFL.com. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 21. Jump up ^ `` The Month of January In Bills History ''. Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 13. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. ^ Jump up to : Hickok, Ralph ( 2008 - 04 - 17 ). `` NFL Coach of the Year Award ''. Archived from the original on 2012 - 12 - 05. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 29. ^ Jump up to : `` The Month of September In Bills History ''. Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008 - 06 - 07. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` The Month of October In Bills History ''. Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` The Month of November In Bills History ''. Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Dallas Cowboys Head Coach ''. NFL.com. Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 18. ^ Jump up to : `` Buffalo Bills History ''. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 18. ^ Jump up to : `` Fewell picked to replace Jauron as Bills coach ''. Associated Press. Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Chan Gailey relieved of duties as head coach ''. Buffalo Bills. NFL Enterprises LLC. December 31, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2012. Jump up ^ Garafolo, Mike ( 2013 - 01 - 06 ). `` Bills hire Syracuse 's Doug Marrone ''. USA Today. Retrieved 6 January 2013. Jump up ^ `` Rex Ryan named Buffalo Bills head coach ''. Buffalo Bills. 2015 - 01 - 12. Retrieved 27 December 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Bills Announce Coaching Changes ''. Buffalo Bills. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Buffalo Bills agree to hire Sean McDermott ''. ESPN. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 12. Jump up ^ `` Buster Ramsey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Lou Saban Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012 - 10 - 07. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Joe Collier Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Harvey Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` John Rauch Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Jim Ringo Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Chuck Knox Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Kay Stephenson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Hank Bullough Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Marv Levy Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Gregg Williams Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Mike Mularkey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Dick Jauron Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Perry Fewell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Jump up ^ `` Chan Gailey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 3, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Doug Marrone Coaching Record ''. Sports Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Rex Ryan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Anthony Lynn Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Sean McDermott Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks ''. Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2017. Jump up ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/GrayJe0.htm Jump up ^ Carroll, Bob ( 1999 ). Total Football II : The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. New York : Harper Collins. p. 1646. ISBN 0 - 06 - 270174 - 6. OCLC 42725290. Jump up ^ `` The Month of December In Bills History ''. Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 05. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ Cady, Steve ( 1976 - 12 - 15 ). `` People in Sports ; Dorsett Is Easily Player - of - Year Choice ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 20. Buffalo Bills Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York Franchise Franchise History Players Seasons Pro Bowl selections First - round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto Bills series Stadiums War Memorial Stadium New Era Field Rogers Centre ( Bills Toronto Series ) New Era Field II ( proposed ) Culture Buffalo sports curse Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken `` Pinto Ron '' Johnson Second String Flutie Flakes `` Shout '' ( The Isley Brothers song ) Four Falls of Buffalo Lore AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company The Comeback Wide Right Music City Miracle Rivalries Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets Division championships ( 10 ) 1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 Conference championships ( 4 ) 1990 1991 1992 1993 League championships ( 2 ) 1964 1965 Wall of Fame Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban Media Broadcasters Radio Radio Network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities : John Murphy Van Miller Mark Kelso Steve Tasker Owners Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim Current league affiliations League : National Football League ( 1970 -- present ) Conference : American Football Conference Division : East Division Former league affiliation League : American Football League ( 1960 -- 1969 ) Seasons ( 58 ) 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Championship seasons in bold Buffalo Bills head coaches Buster Ramsey ( 1960 -- 1961 ) Lou Saban ( 1962 -- 1965 ) Joe Collier ( 1966 -- 1968 ) Harvey Johnson # ( 1968 ) John Rauch ( 1969 -- 1970 ) Harvey Johnson ( 1971 ) Lou Saban ( 1972 -- 1976 ) Jim Ringo ( 1976 -- 1977 ) Chuck Knox ( 1978 -- 1982 ) Kay Stephenson ( 1983 -- 1985 ) Hank Bullough ( 1985 -- 1986 ) Marv Levy ( 1986 -- 1997 ) Wade Phillips ( 1998 -- 2000 ) Gregg Williams ( 2001 -- 2003 ) Mike Mularkey ( 2004 -- 2005 ) Dick Jauron ( 2006 -- 2009 ) Perry Fewell # ( 2009 ) Chan Gailey ( 2010 -- 2012 ) Doug Marrone ( 2013 -- 2014 ) Rex Ryan ( 2015 -- 2016 ) Anthony Lynn # ( 2016 ) Sean McDermott ( 2017 -- ) Pound sign ( # ) denotes interim head coach. Current head coaches of the National Football League American Football Conference AFC East AFC North AFC South AFC West Sean McDermott ( Buffalo Bills ) Adam Gase ( Miami Dolphins ) Bill Belichick ( New England Patriots ) Todd Bowles ( New York Jets ) John Harbaugh ( Baltimore Ravens ) Marvin Lewis ( Cincinnati Bengals ) Hue Jackson ( Cleveland Browns ) Mike Tomlin ( Pittsburgh Steelers ) Bill O'Brien ( Houston Texans ) Chuck Pagano ( Indianapolis Colts ) Doug Marrone ( Jacksonville Jaguars ) Mike Mularkey ( Tennessee Titans ) Vance Joseph ( Denver Broncos ) Andy Reid ( Kansas City Chiefs ) Anthony Lynn ( Los Angeles Chargers ) Jack Del Rio ( Oakland Raiders ) National Football Conference NFC East NFC North NFC South NFC West Jason Garrett ( Dallas Cowboys ) Ben McAdoo ( New York Giants ) Doug Pederson ( Philadelphia Eagles ) Jay Gruden ( Washington Redskins ) John Fox ( Chicago Bears ) Jim Caldwell ( Detroit Lions ) Mike McCarthy ( Green Bay Packers ) Mike Zimmer ( Minnesota Vikings ) Dan Quinn ( Atlanta Falcons ) Ron Rivera ( Carolina Panthers ) Sean Payton ( New Orleans Saints ) Dirk Koetter ( Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) Bruce Arians ( Arizona Cardinals ) Sean McVay ( Los Angeles Rams ) Kyle Shanahan ( San Francisco 49ers ) Pete Carroll ( Seattle Seahawks ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Buffalo_Bills_head_coaches&oldid=808159726 '' Categories : Lists of National Football League head coaches by team Buffalo Bills head coaches Buffalo Bills lists Hidden categories : Featured lists Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 1 November 2017, at 06 : 50. 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Question: who's the head coach of the buffalo bills
Answer: Sean McDermott