John Butler reckoned the job offers would come more easily.
His career ambition is to be an NFL defensive coordinator, and those most familiar with his work insist he merits the opportunity. Butler was a Division III college defensive coordinator at 23 years old while working as a bouncer and gym teacher to pay the rent. His first full-time coaching gig was as a Division II defensive coordinator. By 40, he was Penn State’s defensive coordinator.
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Three years later, after just his second season as an NFL assistant, Butler received a big-league coordinator interview.
That was in 2016, and it remains the only time an NFL team has inquired.
Despite overseeing one of the best defensive backfields the past six years, managing his men through a slew of health calamities and adding the role of passing game coordinator, Butler felt maxed out with the Buffalo Bills and needed to go.
With a logjam of options on staff, after Leslie Frazier abruptly departed last winter, Bills head coach Sean McDermott three weeks ago finally named linebackers coach Bobby Babich the club’s next defensive coordinator.
“Bobby’s going to do a great job,” Butler said from his offseason home at the Jersey Shore. “It really just came down to us both feeling we were qualified to do the job. We both still are. The decision doesn’t change anything.
“But once that decision is made, it’s time for me to see if I can be a coordinator somewhere else. I’m at my best when I’m in charge. I ran the secondary for six years, but there’s a ceiling there.”
So Butler left. A year remaining on his contract. No job offers pending.
Butler’s exit was called a “mutual parting of the ways,” a euphemism often used by companies instead of “it would be too embarrassing if we explained what truly happened.” McDermott’s staff has lost several assistants over the years, some for promotions but others willing to leave for lateral roles. Within the past year, Frazier and Butler abandoned their posts with nowhere to go.
Yet there is no scandal, Butler asserted. He said this divorce was legitimately amicable.
“People are probably wondering why a guy who’s had so much production and so many great things to say about the organization is leaving,” Butler said. “There doesn’t have to be a crazy story behind it. I just want to run a defense in the NFL or college football. I want that opportunity, and I don’t want to wait.”
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If Tom Brady could leave the New England Patriots, if Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana could be traded, if the Beatles could break up, then surely an assistant coach can conclude it’s simply time to move on.
“I want the best for John,” McDermott said. “He’s been a big part of our success. He’s a great coach.
“But I also understand John has goals for himself.”
McDermott hasn’t revealed if he will continue to call the defense again or turn over the play card to Babich.
Butler said he doesn’t begrudge McDermott’s choice. All the players interviewed for this story expressed confidence in Babich as the next defensive coordinator. Babich, the son of retired longtime NFL assistant Bob Babich, has been on a coordinator track for years. Bobby Babich started with Buffalo as assistant DB coach to Gill Byrd in 2017, moved to safeties when Butler was hired and took over linebackers in 2022. Last month, Babich received requests from the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers to interview for their coordinator vacancies.
Babich is only 40 years old. His ascension probably would block Butler, who’ll turn 51 in April, from his dream job for a while in Buffalo.
“There’s a vision I have; there’s a vision they have,” Butler said. “When it doesn’t necessarily match, sometimes it’s best for both parties to see what else is out there.
“They’re giving me that permission, and I give them permission to hire somebody to replace me.”
To hear Butler’s players tell it, his presence will be difficult to duplicate. McDermott addressed Butler’s departure with two new assistants: nickel coach and senior defensive assistant Scott Booker from the Tennessee Titans and cornerbacks coach Jahmile Addae from the University of Miami. They join incumbent safeties coach Joe Danna, who arrived last year to replace the fired Jim Salgado.
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“There’s not too many coaches out there who can lead and communicate like John does,” former Bills cornerback Levi Wallace said. “He’s rare.”
Buffalo’s defensive backs have been honored more in the past six years than any other Bills crew since the NFL-AFL merger. Cornerback Tre’Davious White and safety Jordan Poyer were All-Pro selections, while safety Micah Hyde and nickel back Taron Johnson were voted second-team.
From 2018 through last season, Buffalo’s defense ranks second in points allowed, first in passing yards per game, first in yards per completion, first in yards per attempt, first in TD passes allowed, sixth in completion percentage, second in interceptions, second in receiver fumbles lost, first in opponent passer rating, first in passing first downs, first in average depth per target, second in air yards allowed per completion and fifth in yards after the catch.
“There are certain statistics you can’t really argue,” Poyer said. “He’s one of the main reasons our secondary is where it’s been.
“He’s a coach that deserves to be a defensive coordinator. He deserves to land on his feet in a big role. He sees how the game is changing and evolves with it. He understands the game.”
Beyond deploying stalwarts, Butler helped cultivate critically important overachievers.
Seventh-round draft choice Dane Jackson and sixth-round pick Christian Benford became effective, everyday starters. Wallace wasn’t drafted but started all 52 games he played before joining the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sixth-round safety Damar Hamlin started 13 games after Hyde suffered a season-ending neck injury early in 2022.
“He’s been the guy over the last six years that’s stood up in front of all the DBs, year in and year out,” said Hyde, “relaying the mindset of what we have to bring every day through practices every week and the game plan.
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“As you can see, we’ve played pretty well over these past six years. J.B. was the guy who held everything together and kept us going.”
Butler’s job entailed monumental feats of patchwork. White suffered season-ending knee and Achilles injuries in consecutive seasons. Poyer missed games with myriad issues that included a collapsed lung. Hyde’s recurring neck problems have been career-threatening. Veteran cornerback Vontae Davis quit at halftime in 2018.
Three of Butler’s players were driven off the field by ambulance the past two seasons. Jackson and safety Taylor Rapp suffered scary neck injuries.
Nothing compared to Hamlin nearly dying in January 2023. Hamlin praised Butler for helping him come back from unprecedented, dire circumstances to make the 2023 opening-day roster and play seven games, including both in the playoffs. But Hamlin had grown close to his coach long before the crisis.
“I feel like J.B. raised me into the NFL,” Hamlin said. “He super-accelerated my process into becoming a pro, and that was because of his approach to the game. He has that fire, and you’ve got to be able to match that passion. He truly cares, and he only wants people around who are truly willing to invest themselves.
“The only thing I had to do out there was trust my training.”
Bills defensive backs have been ball hawks. As a group since 2018, their 70 interceptions rank sixth, their 31 forced fumbles rank fourth and their 21 recoveries rank sixth. They tied for third with 28 sacks.
“J.B. always emphasized that when the ball is in the air it’s ours. Not just 50-50, but ours,” Hamlin said. “Then to be able to disguise coverages and manipulate the quarterback to make him collect too much information before he says ‘Hut!’ and make him process a defense post-snap, that’s truly one of the biggest things J.B. did.”
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Wallace’s experience is deeper than Hamlin’s, but his view of Butler’s teaching skills is similar. In addition to DB-steeped coaches McDermott and Mike Tomlin, Wallace played for Nick Saban at Alabama, where the defensive backs coaches were Mel Tucker (many-time NFL and Power Five coordinator) and Karl Scott (current Seattle Seahawks passing game coordinator).
“John explains the grand scheme of it all,” Wallace said. “Some coaches don’t always have the answer beyond, ‘Because this is what we came up with.’ But he’s a natural leader and communicator. It was easy to follow his words. He always had faith in us, always believed that we could be great. So we held ourselves to a high standard.”
A significant reason Butler hasn’t garnered more attention is that he never hired an agent. New San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly gave him that lone NFL coordinator interview in 2016, after Butler’s second season coaching the Houston Texans’ defensive backfield. Kelly went with Jim O’Neil instead.
Butler hasn’t gotten another NFL sniff, although he was linked to the University of Washington defensive coordinator vacancy filled two weeks ago by Bill Belichick’s son, former New England Patriots assistant Steve Belichick, who’ll be 37 next month.
Meanwhile, in almost every hiring cycle — seemingly out of nowhere — obscure assistants and low-level quality control coaches emerge as hot candidates to be coordinators. Remember when NFL teams fought over Doug Marrone, not once but multiple times?
Agents pump their coaching clients through influential TV analysts and insiders. Casual sports fans more readily see through bluster when it comes to athletes, but are unable to discern a coach’s wherewithal by watching weekly highlight shows. As such, folks frequently assume pundits know their stuff when propping up Kliff Kingsbury and Adam Gase and Nathaniel Hackett as brilliant minds and master motivators.
Agents also help connect their head coaches with assistants on their client roster. Many of these agents represent general managers, too.
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“The head coach and coordinator game is drastically influenced by who your agent is,” Butler said. “That’s an aspect of this profession I’ve never really come to terms with, not only getting an agent, but the right agent who can create leverage for you. I’ve failed to take advantage of that.
“I don’t want to call myself naïve, but I always thought it would come down to the product you put on the field. I’ve realized it’s not always about that. It’s about your network, representation and advocacy.”
Butler could have stayed with the Bills another season but determined a clean break would serve him better.
He explained his frustration with continuing as a position coach, that he has grown too restless. Butler reflected on his days as a Catholic University point guard. He wanted the ball in his hands, to have the responsibility, to shoulder the pressure of making the calls. Back then, Butler envisioned himself as a basketball coach after graduation, but after four years as a defensive back at Catholic, football coach Tom Clark asked him to join the staff. One season later, Butler was promoted to defensive coordinator.
“I think I always was a natural leader on the court or the field. I always wanted more,” Butler said. “I wanted to be a big factor in our games and our season. That’s a natural quality within me and just comes out in my ability to connect and relate and communicate and inspire. I’ve always done that, and a bigger role is the best next thing for me.”
Poyer, Hyde and Hamlin voiced their disappointment Butler felt the need to step along. Poyer and Hamlin each have a year left on his contract. Hyde’s deal is up, and he is pondering retirement. Wallace, a free agent after two Steelers seasons, said he’d like to play for Butler again.
All four, however, said they understood why the separation was necessary.
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“Any competitor wants to be the best and to have the opportunity to show it,” Poyer said. “In that coordinator position, he wants to make those really tough decisions. That’s in his blood, in his DNA. You want to be the one who makes the calls you live and die by.
“He deserves it, and I’m sure at some point he’ll be making those calls.”
Given that all 32 NFL head coaches are in place and college football is well beyond its 2024 hiring cycle, there aren’t many obvious landing spots with the ability to orchestrate a team’s defense. San Francisco responded to its Super Bowl loss by firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks last week, but the defending NFC champ likely won’t hire a first-time NFL play caller from outside the organization.
Butler said he might take a lateral job that offers an opportunity to advance sooner or even sit out the upcoming season to plot his next move.
Either way it shakes out, Butler sounded comfortable betting on himself.
“I’m sure there were parts of Sean that wanted me to stay, just as there were of me that wanted to stay,” Butler said. “This wasn’t a dead-on decision where I wanted out of here and he wanted me out of here. It’s just the way we grew together and grew apart. That happens.
“The finality of it is the tough part. I gave my heart and soul, the number of hours I sacrificed away from my own family, to help put a great product on the field for the organization and the Bills Mafia. To know that’s coming to an end? Those decisions are hard.”
(Top photo of John Butler: Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images)
