A little over two weeks after promoting Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach, the Bills announced their 2026 staff on Friday. While most of the staff was previously reported, the hiring of John Fox as a senior assistant counts as the most interesting new development from Buffalo’s announcement.
Fox last worked as a senior defensive assistant in Detroit in 2023. He’ll now return to coaching after a two-year layoff.
An NFL coach since 1989, Fox is best known for his HC tenures with the Panthers (2002-10), Broncos (2011-14) and Bears (2015-17). Fox combined for a 133-123 record in the regular season and an 8-7 mark in the playoffs. He guided the Panthers and Broncos to one Super Bowl appearance apiece, but his teams went 0-2 in those games.
Fox had his most success in Denver, where he posted an excellent 46-18 record in the regular season. However, the Broncos’ inability to finish the job in the playoffs when Peyton Manning was still playing at an otherworldly level led the team to go in another direction in January 2015.
Eleven years later, Fox will provide an experienced aide for Brady, a rookie head coach. Like Fox’s run with the Broncos, former Bills head coach Sean McDermott couldn’t get over the playoff hump despite benefiting from a superstar QB (Josh Allen). After the Bills lost to the Broncos in last month’s divisional round, owner Terry Pegula decided the team had “hit a playoff wall” under McDermott.
Although McDermott coached the Bills to eight playoff appearances in nine years and an overall 106-58 record, he went a Fox-like 8-8 in the postseason. The Bills never got past the AFC title game during his tenure.
Brady will retain several of McDermott’s former assistants, including tight ends coach Rob Boras. In his 10th season with the Bills, Boras will add run-game coordinator to his responsibilities. In further adjustments from Brady, Joe Danna will shift from safeties coach to secondary coach; Jason Rebrovich will go from assistant defensive line coach to senior defensive assistant; and Kyle Shurmur will jump from quality control to assistant QBs coach.