Sean McDermott's sabbatical world tour stops in LA

Sean McDermott isn't out of football. He's just out of a building for the first time since 2017. The Bills fired him in January after 9 seasons, a 98-50 regular season record, and a bitter 33-30 overtime exit to the Broncos in the divisional round that closed the book on a run that never produced a Super Bowl. Instead of scrambling into another head coaching gig this offseason, McDermott reportedly chose to take the whole year off and target a return in 2027.

So what does a sitting-out-a-year former head coach actually do with his time? Apparently, go on a league-wide field trip. According to Adam Schefter, McDermott spent Friday at Rams training camp, not angling for a job on Sean McVay's staff, just sitting in and watching one of the more respected operations in football run its day-to-day. It's the kind of access almost nobody outside a front office gets, and it tracks with reporting that this is one stop on a broader tour of a few franchises McDermott wants to study up close.

The Rams make sense as a stop. McVay has built one of the league's more consistent contenders over the last several years, and there's real value for a coach like McDermott in seeing how a different program structures practice, manages a quarterback room, and runs its building without having to actually run it himself. It's also a low-stakes way to stay sharp and stay connected to the league while the coaching carousel spins without him this cycle.

None of this means McDermott is quietly auditioning for a job in LA. Reports out of the visit were clear he's not joining the Rams' staff — this is closer to a sabbatical curriculum than a job interview. But it does keep his name in circulation, and Schefter has already suggested McDermott will absolutely be a head coach again next year.

For Bills fans, the whole thing is a little bittersweet: a coach who took Buffalo from irrelevant to perennial AFC East champ is now touring other buildings on his year off instead of running his own. For everyone else, it's a reminder that the 2027 coaching cycle already has a name to watch, and he's spending this year doing his homework in person.