Buffalo’s latest early playoff exit led to the firing of long-tenured head coach Sean McDermott, but after interviewing nine candidates for the job, the team stayed in-house to replace him. Joe Brady, McDermott’s offensive coordinator for the past two-plus years, became the Bills’ head coach on Tuesday.
Although Brady carries no head coaching experience, the Bills believe they found a “CEO of their football operation” in the 36-year-old, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says. Indeed, Brady won the Bills over during the “CEO portion” of his interview, Jordan Schultz reports.
“When we started this process, we were looking for a CEO-type head coach,” said general manager Brandon Beane, who added that Brady will provide a “fresh, new vision for the Buffalo Bills” (via Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News).
As he adjusts to his CEO position, Brady will continue to call the offensive plays in 2026. Asked how he’ll handle juggling both roles, Brady said he learned from former boss Sean Payton, whom he assisted in New Orleans from 2017-18.
“I’ve been in the room and seen how his day-to-day goes, and seen what that looks like from a game-planning standpoint,” Brady told One Bills Live. “Being with the defense also, and then, okay, now I can get ready to go call a game … That’s 20-plus years of doing it from Sean Payton, so I’m understanding of that. There’s going to be growing pains with it.”
Less than a week into his head coaching tenure, Brady has already pried two notable assistants from Payton’s staff in Denver. After hiring Pete Carmichael Jr. as his offensive coordinator on Friday, Brady brought in Jim Leonhard as his D-coordinator on Saturday.
Before joining Payton in Denver as an offensive assistant in 2024, Carmichael was his OC with the Saints from 2009-21. Payton, not Carmichael, called the offensive plays during their long-running partnership in New Orleans. Carmichael will now take on a similar role in Buffalo.
The Bills’ Brady-led offense is coming off its second straight top-five finish in points. Quarterback Josh Allen won the MVP award in 2024, Brady’s first full season in charge. Allen took an active role in the Bills’ HC search, sitting in on all interviews, though he wasn’t involved in assembling a list of finalists or the hiring itself, Peter Schrager of ESPN reports. The 29-year-old is fully on board with Brady’s promotion, though (via Syndey Ciano of the team’s website).
“He’s a real human that guys can get behind and understand and play for,” Allen said. “I thought in his interview, the vision that he had for this team … He’s going to continue to keep working hard and trying to find ways for our team now to be put in successful positions.”