-
Alaina Getzenberg
The Buffalo Bills have agreed to promote offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Brady is expected to sign a five-year deal, sources told Schefter.
Brady replaces Sean McDermott, who was fired last week after the Bills were eliminated by the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs. McDermott had spent nine seasons as head coach in Buffalo, taking the team to the playoffs in eight of those seasons.
Brady, 36, has been with the organization since 2022, initially joining former coach Sean McDermott’s staff as the team’s quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to interim offensive coordinator in November of the 2023 season after then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired. He was then the team’s full-time offensive coordinator from 2024-25.
Since promoting Brady (Week 11, 2023), the Bills have ranked first in EPA per play (0.14) and second in points per game (29.1). The Bills had nine games with 30-plus points this season, tied with the Rams for the most in the NFL. Allen won his first MVP award in 2024, while running back James Cook finished with the rushing title in 2025. The Buffalo offense in 2024 also broke records for most points (525) and touchdowns (65) in a season in franchise history.
Team owner Terry Pegula said the decision to move on from McDermott became clear after visiting the Bills’ locker room after the overtime loss to Denver, upon seeing the devastation and emotion of quarterback Josh Allen‘s face and around the locker room.
Allen, who turns 30 in May, was involved in the coaching search, sitting in on interviews. General manager and president of football operations Brandon Beane led the search. Pegula, his daughter, Laura Pegula, director of business operations Pete Guelli and assistant general managers Brian Gaine and Terrance Gray were also involved in the process. The search was a wide open one, per Beane.
Beane also said that they were not necessarily looking for an offensive-minded coach, however, seven of the nine candidates interviewed have a primarily offensive background.
“This is a bigger job than just a playcaller and schemer,” Beane said last week. “I think we’ve seen where guys have been excellent playcallers, but they’ve got to the head coach seat and they couldn’t handle the adversity, the conflict management … it’s a CEO job. It really is. … We’ve got to make sure we get the leadership, the CEO part.”
The William & Mary graduate and former college wide receiver has a very close relationship with Allen. Before his time with the Bills, Brady was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers (2020-Dec. 2021) and the passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach at LSU during the team’s National Championship
