The Buffalo Bills started a new era of football this season when they parted ways with head coach Sean McDermott and promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach.
It’s never easy for a coach to be fired and then have to watch his replacement take over the job he once held. However, it is probably even more difficult when the person who replaces you has worked on your staff for several years.
McDermott hired Brady to be the Bills’ quarterback coach in 2022. They have a working relationship, and even though Brady took over McDermott’s job, he is still proud of him.
“I think Joe is going to do a great job,” McDermott said Wednesday on the “Jim Rome Show.” “You know he was with us for four seasons on my staff. He had a chance to watch, learn, and grow. Joe came to us from a situation in Carolina. He is a College of William & Mary grad. I’m a William & Mary grad, and the information I got on Joe was that he was a hard worker and really smart, and those are two great qualities, as well as being a good person, so we snagged Joe up, and it was to our benefit. Joe is a heck of a coach, and I think he is going to do a great job.”
Brady Joined the Bills Four Seasons Ago
Brady joined the Bills in 2022 as quarterbacks coach and quickly advanced to offensive coordinator. The Bills appointed Brady as offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2023 season after parting ways with Ken Dorsey.
Josh Allen and the offense started to improve under Brady over the last two seasons. Allen even won his first league MVP in 2024, when he recorded 3,731 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, six interceptions, 531 rushing yards, and 12 rushing touchdowns.
It felt like the Bills were ready to move on from McDermott after falling in the playoffs once again, losing to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round in January. Buffalo seemed willing to bring in an offensive-minded head coach, and there is no better option than hiring Brady, who has already worked with Allen for four seasons.
Brady Has a Lot of Respect for McDermott
Even though Brady is now the head coach in Buffalo, he was upset when he heard the news that the Bills had fired McDermott.
“I was broken,” Brady said in June on the “SHOUT!” podcast with Matt Parrino, via NFL Network’s Kevin Patra. “I was broken for a guy that I worked for. Was also broken for the rest of the coaching staff that is sitting there, like, we’re all out of jobs right now. There was a lot of emotion going on.
“It also dawned on me that the only thing I won’t be is the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills,” he said. “I’m only in Buffalo because of Sean and the opportunities that he gave me.”
It’s hard when coaches and players see one of their mentors lose such a great job, but it has to be even harder for Brady, who ended up taking over McDermott’s job.
Brady is going to have a huge set of shoes to fill this season, and even though the Bills never got to the Super Bowl with McDermott, he did have great success reaching the playoffs in eight of nine seasons.
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