Four years ago, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott gave a chance to Joe Brady, then an up-and-coming young coach breaking into the NFL.
Now, it is Brady taking over for McDermott after the Bills decided to cut ties with their longtime coach after the team’s loss to the Denver Broncos in the NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs. Brady emerged on top after the team’s wide-ranging search for a new coach, then delivered a direct message to McDermott.
Joe Brady Thanks Sean McDermott
Speaking to reporters at his introductory press conference, Brady thanked McDermott for giving him a chance as the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2022. Brady earned a promotion to offensive coordinator the next year when Ken Dorsey was fired mid-season, then he jumped into the role of head coach after McDermott’s ouster.
“I want to thank and recognize Sean McDermott,â Brady said, via SI.com. âIn 2022, four years ago, Coach McDermott gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. I had an opportunity to come here, coach for the Buffalo Bills and coach Josh Allen. I took immense pride in that.”
Brady added that McDermott had been a mentor of sorts, showing him how to run an organization.
“Over the past four years Iâve learned a tremendous amount of things from Coach McDermott,” Brady said. “How to lead. Resilience. Standards. The past nine years in this organization matter. Iâm understanding of that. Iâm appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of it. They matter deeply and they deserve respect. Iâm so grateful for Coach McDermott, I love Coach McDermott and Iâm going to do everything I can to continue to build upon the things he laid and the foundation he laid.â
Joe Brady Feeling Pressure to Succeed
Brady also credited McDermott for building a program that found sustained success. The Bills had a 16-year playoff drought when the Bills hired McDermott in 2017, elevating him from his position as defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers.
McDermott led the Bills to the playoffs in his first season in 2017, then turned the team into perennial Super Bowl contenders after drafting and developing Josh Allen.
Brady said he understands that the expectations are much higher now, with owner Terry Pegula making it clear that the Super Bowl is the only goal left.
âI understand that Iâm walking into this role in a much better position than coach McDermott did. I am not naive to that,” Brady said. “I also understand that the expectations are higher as well. I didnât take this job to shy away from expectations. Iâm embracing it, Iâm understand it and Iâm meeting it full on.â
The Bills have endured more coaching turnover after McDermott’s firing, losing defensive coordinator Bobby Babich to the Green Bay Packers. The team has also lost several position coaches, with Brady working to put his own staff together.
The team could have its eye on a pair of coaches with ties to Buffalo to replace Babich. Jim Leonhard, a former defensive back with the Bills, and former Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, have both been named as candidates to replace Babich.
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