Joe Brady now will be tasked with helping to get Josh Allen to the Super Bowl for the first time in the star quarterback’s NFL career.
Brady, the Bills’ offensive coordinator, is being promoted to head coach as the replacement for fired Sean McDermott, per multiple reports.
The 36-year-old, who interviewed for other head coaching openings, was Buffalo’s offensive coordinator for the last two-plus seasons, taking over for Ken Dorsey in the middle of the 2023 season. He was the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in 2021 and ’22.
Before he joined Buffalo, Brady was the Panthers’ offensive coordinator for two seasons.
McDermott, the second-longest coach in Bills history behind Hall of Famer Marv Levy, was fired two days after Buffalo was eliminated in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs by top-seeded Denver. Team owner Terry Pegula said a few days later that Allen “had no input” on the firing of McDermott.
“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” Pegula said. “I did not fire Coach based on a bad officiating decision. If I can take you into that locker room, I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall year after year — 13 seconds, missed field goal, the catch.
“So, I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with what we have? And that was the basis for my decision.”
GM Brandon Beane was promoted to team president when McDermott was fired and headed up the search for the next coach.
The Bills registered the second-most wins (98-50) of any NFL team in regular-season play since 2017 during McDermott’s nine seasons as head coach. They qualified for the playoffs eight times and reached the AFC Championship Game twice in that span, but they have not appeared in the Super Bowl since making four straight trips (all losses) under Levy from 1990-93.
Philip Rivers, who attempted a playing comeback late this season with the Colts, former Giants head coach and former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski also were among those to interview for the position.
Allen reportedly played an active role in the search, sitting in on the interviews.
Despite finishing in second place in the AFC East this season to the Patriots, the Bills appeared to have a strong chance to reach the Super Bowl this year, especially with injured Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs missing the playoffs. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens and Joe Burrow and the Bengals also were among those teams that did not qualify.
The 29-year-old Allen gave a tearful press conference after committing four of Buffalo’s five turnovers in the 33-30 loss to Denver. The 2024 NFL MVP also threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns while adding 66 yards on the ground.
“Extremely difficult. I felt like I let my teammates down,” Allen said that day. “I haven’t been doing a lot of talking other than I love my teammates. Extremely sorry and disappointed.”
