The Buffalo Bills promoted Joe Brady to full-time offensive coordinator, the team announced Sunday.
The move comes after the Bills made Brady their interim offensive coordinator after firing Ken Dorsey in November. Dorsey’s firing came when the team was 5-5 and struggled to finish drives consistently.
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After Brady took over the offense, Buffalo finished the year at 11-6 and first in the AFC East. The Bills reached the playoffs and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round last week.
Buffalo hired Brady in 2022 as the quarterbacks coach. Before that, he spent two seasons as the Carolina Panthers’ OC (2020 and 2021).
Why the Bills promoted Brady
The Bills’ move to make Brady the permanent offensive coordinator was an expected one based on the way the season went once he was instituted following Dorsey’s firing, and with how it sounded just after the season ended, it’s no surprise it didn’t take long. On Monday, Brady had loud support from notable offensive players to retain the job permanently — none bigger than franchise quarterback Josh Allen. On Tuesday, both coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane said they weren’t ready to discuss staff decisions that quickly, but both included how good of a job they felt Brady did once he took over. And after that, both decision-makers didn’t hide from how much Allen’s opinion mattered.
Although the Bills followed a similar pattern by promoting their former quarterbacks coach to the offensive coordinator seat with Dorsey and having Allen’s loud endorsement to boot, the Bills have at least seen what Brady has done in the role inside their building. Brady also has prior coordinator experience from his time with the Panthers, which likely helped their in-season decision as well. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills staff writer
How did he fare as the interim OC?
The offense made strides each week as Brady grew more comfortable with the role. Brady isolated a lot of concepts to help the two-dimensional capabilities of the offense, eliminated some concepts that weren’t working for them early in the year under Dorsey and reinstituted Allen as a rushing threat. Brady was lauded across the board by players and staff for his ability to communicate, breaking down the barrier between coach and player and installing a collaborative effort where everyone felt invested. — Buscaglia
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How influential was Josh Allen in the decision?
The last time Allen had the loudest voice on the Bills’ offensive coordinator, Dorsey didn’t last two seasons. McDermott and Beane readily admitted Dorsey got the gig in 2020 because keeping Allen happy was considered vital. The club wanted to avoid the recurring Green Bay Packers drama, with Aaron Rodgers alienated by too many executive decisions made without his input.
We might never know if Allen had the same amount of influence as two winters ago, but he was vocal about retaining Brady as Buffalo’s playcaller. Although Brady couldn’t install a new system on the fly, the offense surged after the switch. Some in the organization chalked up the improvement to Dorsey’s dismissal simply hammering home that desperation was mandatory down the homestretch. Buffalo hadn’t scored more than 25 points in six weeks, but averaged 27 points over the last nine games, hitting 30 points four times and winning seven of them. The lone regular-season loss was 37-34 in overtime at the Philadelphia Eagles. — Tim Graham, Bills senior writer
Brady’s history
The NFL has been hot and cold on Brady, just 34 years old. He was a scalding commodity after working one season with 2019 national champion LSU. He was the passing game coordinator for quarterback Joe Burrow, receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
After one season as the Panthers offensive coordinator, Brady interviewed for five head coaching vacancies in January 2021, but the Panthers fired him that December with five games left. Not helping was that Sam Darnold played quarterback that year and star running back Christian McCaffrey missed 10 games. — Graham
Required reading
- Bills offseason takeaways: Salary cap concerns, top free agents, Joe Brady’s future
- NFL coaching hirings, firings and interviews live tracker
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)