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Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and new head coach Joe Brady
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,” Brady said, via SI.com. “In 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 I’ve learned a tremendous amount of things from Coach McDermott,” Brady said. “How to lead. Resilience. Standards. The past nine years in this organization matter. I’m understanding of that. I’m appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of it. They matter deeply and they deserve respect. I’m so grateful for Coach McDermott, I love Coach McDermott and I’m going to do everything I can to continue to build upon the things he laid and the foundation he laid.”
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.
“I understand that I’m 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 didn’t take this job to shy away from expectations. I’m embracing it, I’m understand it and I’m meeting it full on.”
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.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
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