ORCHARD PARK — Sean McDermott doesn’t seem like he’s much for nostalgia.
Rewind to Thanksgiving week 2023, his Buffalo Bills were preparing to travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. McDermott grew up in suburban Philadelphia, then spent his first 10 seasons in the NFL as an Eagles assistant and was returning home for the first time as a head coach.
McDermott downplayed it, insisting he was a Western New Yorker now.
He offered a little more when asked about returning to Charlotte Sunday to face the Carolina Panthers, for whom he was the defensive coordinator from 2011-2016. There might be a little more nostalgia there.
Then-Panthers coach Ron Rivera offered a lifeline to McDermott, who was fired by Eagles coach Andy Reid as a scapegoat after two seasons. McDermott helped Carolina reach the Super Bowl in 2015, which helped earn him the Bills job two years later.
“Great organization that was very kind to me and helpful to my career,” McDermott said. “… I learned so much from being there. It was a great time for our family. … Learned a lot from being there but I’m super happy being here and being a part of this community as well.”
Before labeling McDermott a curmudgeon, it’s important to note the NFL isn’t often a place for nostalgia. McDermott returned to Carolina in his second game as Bills coach, a 9-3 loss, and then again for a 2022 preseason game.
Through McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane’s days in Carolina — and now former Bills director player of personnel Dan Morgan is the Panthers’ GM — 29 former players and coaches who were employed by the Panthers have been hired by the Bills since 2017.
All told, the Bills have four players and five coaches who have been employed by the Panthers. That includes defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor and offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Brady, once the hot name in coaching after calling plays for LSU’s 2019 national championship team featuring Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, was fired 28 games into his coordinatorship in Carolina from 2020-2021 and head coach Matt Rhule was canned the next year.
It will be Brady’s first game back since being fired, just as it will be for safety Sam Franklin Jr., linebacker Shaq Thompson and wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who last played for the Panthers in 2021. But none of them are expecting a joyful homecoming, not even Thompson.
Thompson played 123 games in 10 seasons for the Panthers. When Thompson signed with the Bills in the spring, he had never played for another team besides Carolina. He was released by the Panthers in consecutive offseasons after suffering season-ending injuries and finally opted to go elsewhere.
“It’s a business, right? Wasn’t the first time (they cut me), right?” Thompson said. “… So it is what it is. They’re playing well without me and I’m playing well here. So we both got our wins.”
NFL players build workplace relationships just like everyone else, but it’s also a job and the rest of the world changes employers and cities all the time. The consensus difference in returning for the first time, though, will be walking into the visitor’s locker room.
“Never really been over there,” said Franklin, who played for the Panthers from 2020-2024. “So it’s going to be a little weird. But at the same time, once the game starts, emotions go out the window and it’s business time. I’m not looking at it like I have a problem with anybody or anything like that. I’m just coming to play football, do what I got to do to help my team win.”