The Buffalo Bills have found their new head coach inside their own building.
Offensive co-ordinator Joe Brady will be promoted to head coach, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday. He agreed to sign a five-year deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Brady replaces Sean McDermott, who was fired after the Bills lost 33-30 in the AFC divisional round against the Denver Broncos.
Brady, 36, first joined the Bills in 2022 as quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive co-ordinator in 2023.
He’ll now be tasked with getting this Bills team led by MVP quarterback Josh Allen over the hump. Buffalo holds the indignation of being the only team in NFL history to win a playoff game in six straight seasons without reaching the Super Bowl.
Despite a seven-year playoff run and Allen setting many franchise passing and scoring records and earning AP NFL MVP honours last season, the Bills advanced no further than the AFC championship game, which they lost both times to Kansas City in the 2020 and ’24 seasons.
McDermott was aware of the shortcomings and addressed them in August.
“We take a lot of pride in what we’ve done here. And nobody has more internal drive and internal expectations than I do or we do. And very confident in who we are,” McDermott said. “There’s one thing that remains. We know what that is. But you can’t get there tomorrow.”
Tomorrow never came.
The Bills went 12-5 in the regular season and had their five-year run atop the AFC East end, finishing second behind the New England Patriots.
The 51-year-old McDermott finished with a 98-50 regular-season record and was 8-8 in eight postseason appearances, ranking second on the team in wins behind Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (112-70, 11-8). McDermott’s eight playoff wins are the most by any NFL coach to not include a Super Bowl berth.
Brady, meanwhile, will be embarking upon his first head-coaching job. Prior to joining the Bills, he served as offensive co-ordinator for the Carolina Panthers for two seasons. He also had stints as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints and LSU.
–with files from The Associated Press
