Three major AFC Super Bowl contenders made significant head coaching changes this offseason. The Buffalo Bills parted ways with head coach Sean McDermott and promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to take over. The Baltimore Ravens parted ways with John Harbaugh and appointed Jesse Minter as head coach. Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin stepped down from being the Steelers‘ head coach, and Pittsburgh hired Mike McCarthy.
It’s unusual to see three Super contenders make head coaching changes, and that means all three new coaches are going to face a lot of pressure to win from day one. Sports Illustrated’s NFL insider Albert Breer believes there will be a good amount of pressure on Brady, Minter and McCarthy this season.
Pressure is on the Three New AFC Head Coaches
“Sean McDermott, John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin spent a collective 46 years leading those three franchises—and those teams weren’t exactly disasters last year, with two making the playoffs and the third getting knocked out of the playoff race on the last play of its season,” Breer wrote on Monday. “That means there’s a high bar for Joe Brady, Jesse Minter and Mike McCarthy, respectively, coming in.”
“In the case of Brady and Minter, how they’ll be judged will be based largely on their ability to get MVP quarterbacks over the championship hump in the prime of their careers (no pressure!). With McCarthy, there’s the reunion with Aaron Rodgers and the organizational decision to not just stick with an aging core, but double down on it with older vets such as Michael Pittman Jr., Jamel Dean and Rico Dowdle coming into the fold, meaning the time is now.”
Usually, when teams make head coaching changes, it’s because the team hasn’t performed well, and they are typically in a rebuilding period. However, for Brady and the other two coaches, that is not the case.
Brady, Minter and McCarthy are going to have zero time to figure things out. Minter and Brady have never been head coaches before, so they will need to learn a lot on the fly while trying to win meaningful games.
“Which highlights the commonality between the situations of the three: Their honeymoons will be short,” Breer added. “And all will be expected not just to get their teams to January, but win when they get there. As such, it’ll be interesting to see how the new coaches run their respective training camps.”
The Bills Moved on From McDermott After Nine Seasons
Buffalo moving on from McDermott after this season was a shock. McDermott coached the Bills for nine seasons and missed the postseason once, which came in Allen’s rookie season.
Buffalo has always aspired to make the playoffs under McDermott, but it’s what happened when the Bills got there that was concerning. The Bills consistently fell short in the postseason, and after losing to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round last season, it felt like the final straw.
The Bills knew they had to make a change somewhere, and moving on from Allen was never going to happen, so changing head coaches was what it came down to.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Bills HC Joe Brady Put on Notice With Training Camp One Week Away appeared first on HEAVY.