On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the Buffalo Bills announced the hiring of Joe Brady as their next head coach. With many other impressive names linked to the job, like Jaguars’ offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, LA Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, and former Giant head coach Brian Daboll, this wasn’t the most flashy hire for the team. It’s also likely not the one most fans wanted.
Still, there are some things to be excited about. If Brady is given enough time and ample resources, he’ll likely win over a lot of his doubters.
Joe Brady Brings Continuity
On the same day the hire was announced, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Brady would continue calling plays for the Bills as their head coach. This isn’t uncommon across the league, as many big head coaching names still call their teams’ offensive plays.
According to CBS Sports, as of the 2024 season, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and Matt Lafleur were among the many coaches still doing so.
Some Bills fans might see this hire as complacency because ownership is choosing to keep around a piece from the previous regime, but it’s better to look at the hire from the bright side.
Bringing in a new offensive coordinator would’ve meant quarterback Josh Allen would need to learn his fourth new offense in just his ninth season.
Obviously, when a team has success on offense like the Bills have had the past nine seasons, there’s going to be a revolving door in the coaching staff. That doesn’t just apply to the offensive coordinator position, but the entire staff as a whole.
At some point, the team needed to lock down a permanent offensive play caller to take some of the pressure off Allen. Having to learn a brand-new offense every other year makes it difficult to maintain a rhythm. Now that there’s going to be a familiar voice building things, it’ll help the team build continuity rather than complacency.
The Bills will have the opportunity to build on the offense that carried them for large portions of the 2025 season without having to worry about their play-caller leaving. That alone is a bright spot for 2026.
Brady’s Impressive Resume
It would be remiss not to mention Joe Brady’s impressive resume. At just 36 years old, he has already built a big name for himself.
His most impressive accomplishment so far is obviously the work he did during the 2019 season at LSU. As their passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, Baton Rouge is where he began to garner a lot of attention.
Brady helped lead one of the greatest college football offenses ever that season. Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns while completing 76.3% of his passes, all of which led the country. The team also had wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who caught 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns, and Justin Jefferson, who hauled in 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Following his one season at LSU, Brady was hired by Matt Rhule to be the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Even though Carolina only picked up 10 wins in two seasons there, Joe Brady wasn’t at fault.
During the 2020 season, Brady lost Christian McCaffrey after just three games, but still managed to help the offense have four players accumulate over 1,000 scrimmage yards.
His time in Carolina was short-lived, but that’s how he ended up in Buffalo as the team’s quarterbacks coach for the 2022 season. Following the firing of Ken Dorsey, Joe Brady took over as the Bills’ offensive coordinator in Week 11 and never looked back.
Bringing Firepower to the Buffalo Bills
Joe Brady helped turn around the Bills’ running game during his time as offensive coordinator, eventually leading the team to become the top rushing offense in the league. This past season, the Bills led the league in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns. Adding this kind of balance to a team that used to be heavily reliant on a vertical passing attack was much needed.
It goes overlooked because of the lack of talent in the wide receiver room the past two years, but Joe Brady is a much better offensive play-caller than he gets credit for. If the front office is patient and brings in targets for the passing game, things could turn around quickly.
“The biggest thing for me is you have to surround your system with the players that you have,” said Brady in his media availability after being hired. “You don’t make players just to fit a system, you make a system to fit players.”
Filling the Coaching Staff Out
After trying and failing to win a Super Bowl for seven straight playoff appearances, the Bills needed to bring some level of change to the organization. Sean McDermott brought a standard to an organization that many viewed as a lost cause. He helped build a winning culture, and the city will always be thankful for what he accomplished.
He unfortunately couldn’t get the team over the hump.
As of Thursday, Jan. 29, much of the Bills’ new staff outside of Joe Brady remains unhired. The team will look to fill those positions in the coming weeks, but their first hire, reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, is former Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer who will take the same position with Buffalo.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team is also interested in hiring Denver Broncos defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard.
It remains to be seen how the staff will shake out, but with the news reported so far, the team appears to be targeting a mix of experienced position coaches and young, promising coordinators. There will likely be a scheme shift on both sides of the ball to cater more towards Joe Brady’s philosophy, but that’ll be a good thing.
Not a Fresh Start, but a New Beginning
The Bills insisted on running things back for seven straight seasons. The fan base respected the previous regime, but it was time for a new beginning.
Things didn’t seem to end on a good note with Sean McDermott, Brandon Beane, and owner Terry Pegula, so emotions have been running high recently. When the dust settles, though, Bills fans will come to appreciate the Joe Brady hire.
In the words of Joe Brady during his introductory press conference, “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here, right now.”
He is committed to the team, and in time will prove to be the perfect hire for the Buffalo Bills.
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