List of Buffalo Bills head coaches

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The entrance sign to the home of the Bills, Highmark Stadium (formerly New Era Field and Ralph Wilson Stadium)

The

AFL-NFL merger of 1970.[1]

There have been 19 head coaches for the Bills franchise.

coach of the year by at least one major news organization.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.

Terrence Pegula and was replaced by Rex Ryan.[12] Rex Ryan was fired from the team on December 27, 2016.[13] 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.[14]

Key

# Number of coaches [A]
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
T Ties
Win% Winning percentage [B]
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 AFL/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 correct as of end of the 2023 NFL season.
# Image Name Term[N 1] Regular season Playoffs Accomplishments Ref.
Yrs First Last GC W L T Win% GC W L
1 Buster Ramsey* 2 1960 1961 28 11 16 1 .411 — [15]
2 Lou Saban 4 1962 1965 56 36 17 3 .670 3 2 1 2
UPI AFL Coach of the Year Awards
(1964, 1965) 		[16]
3 Joe Collier* 3 1966 1968[N 2] 30 13 16 1 .450 1 0 1 1 AFL playoff berth [17]
4 Harvey Johnson 1 1968[N 2] 12 1 10 1 .125 — [18]
5 John Rauch 2 1969 1970 28 7 20 1 .268 — [19]
– Harvey Johnson 1 1971 14 1 13 0 .071 — [18]
– Lou Saban 5 1972 1976[N 3] 61 32 28 1 .533 1 0 1 1 Playoff berth [16]
6 Jim Ringo ‡ 2 1976[N 3] 1977 23 3 20 0 .130 — [20]
7 Chuck Knox 5 1978 1982 73 37 36 0 .507 3 1 2 1
Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year Award
(1980) 		[21]
8 Kay Stephenson* 3 1983 1985[N 4] 36 10 26 0 .278 — [22]
9 Hank Bullough 2 1985[N 4] 1986[N 5] 21 4 17 0 .190 — [23]
10 Marv Levy † 12 1986[N 5] 1997 182 112 70 0 .615 19 11 8 Inducted
UPI NFL Coach of the Year Awards
(1988, 1993) 		[24]
11 Wade Phillips 3 1998 2000 48 29 19 0 .604 2 0 2 2 Playoff berths [25]
12 Gregg Williams 3 2001 2003 48 17 31 0 .354 — [26]
13 Mike Mularkey 2 2004 2005 32 14 18 0 .438 — [27]
14 Dick Jauron 4 2006 2009[N 6] 57 24 33 0 .421 — [28]
15 Perry Fewell 1 2009[N 6] 7 3 4 0 .429 — [29]
16 Chan Gailey 3 2010 2012 48 16 32 0 .333 — [30]
17 Doug Marrone 2 2013 2014 32 15 17 0 .469 — [31]
18 Rex Ryan 2 2015 2016[N 7] 31 15 16 0 .484 — [32]
19 Anthony Lynn 1 2016[N 7] 1 0 1 0 .000 — [33]
20 Sean McDermott* 7 2017 2023 114 73 41 0 .640 11 5 6 4 AFC East Championships (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
6 Playoff berths 		[34]

Notes

  1. ^ Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
  2. ^ a b The Bills fired coach Joe Collier after an 0–2 start in 1968. Defensive backfield coach Harvey Johnson was promoted to interim head coach, where he went 1–10–1 to finish the year.
  3. ^ a b Bills head coach Lou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the season, with the Bills struggling at 2–3. Offensive line coach Jim Ringo took over, but would not win a game for the rest of the year.
  4. ^ a b Head coach Kay Stephenson was fired after an 0–4 start. Defensive coordinator Hank Bullough took over, going 2–10 for the remainder of the season.
  5. ^ a b After a 6-point Week Nine loss to Tampa Bay, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy to replace him.
  6. ^ a b Dick Jauron was fired on November 17 after a 3–6 start and replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.
  7. ^ a b After a 34–31 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 16 eliminated the Bills from playoff contention for a 17th season in a row, Rex Ryan was fired. Anthony Lynn lead the team as interim head coach in final match.

References

General
  • "Buffalo Bills Team History". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  • "History Main Page – Buffalo Bills". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
Specific
  1. NFL.com. Archived
    from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  2. ^ "The Month of January In Bills History". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  3. ^ Hickok, Ralph (2008-04-17). "NFL Coach of the Year Award". Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  4. ^ "The Month of September In Bills History". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  5. ^ a b "The Month of October In Bills History". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  6. ^ "The Month of November In Bills History". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  7. ^ "Dallas Cowboys Head Coach". NFL.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  8. ^ a b c "Buffalo Bills History". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  9. ^ a b "Fewell picked to replace Jauron as Bills coach". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  10. ^ "Chan Gailey relieved of duties as head coach". Buffalo Bills. NFL Enterprises LLC. December 31, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  11. ^ Garafolo, Mike (2013-01-06). "Bills hire Syracuse's Doug Marrone". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Rex Ryan named Buffalo Bills head coach". Buffalo Bills. 2015-01-12. Archived from the original on 2015-01-15. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Bills Announce Coaching Changes". Buffalo Bills. Retrieved 2016-12-27.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Buffalo Bills agree to hire Sean McDermott". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  15. ^ "Buster Ramsey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  16. ^ a b "Lou Saban Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  17. ^ "Joe Collier Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  18. ^ a b "Harvey Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  19. ^ "John Rauch Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  20. ^ "Jim Ringo Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  21. ^ "Chuck Knox Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  22. ^ "Kay Stephenson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  23. ^ "Hank Bullough Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  24. ^ "Marv Levy Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  25. ^ "Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  26. ^ "Gregg Williams Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  27. ^ "Mike Mularkey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  28. ^ "Dick Jauron Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  29. ^ "Perry Fewell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  30. ^ "Chan Gailey Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  31. ^ "Doug Marrone Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  32. ^ "Rex Ryan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  33. ^ "Anthony Lynn Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  34. ^ "Sean McDermott Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 5, 2024.

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