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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 17: Offensive coordinator Joe Brady of the Buffalo Bills looks on prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 17, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Buffalo Bills officially announced the hiring of 20 assistant coaches under new HC Joe Brady. Previously, they had announced the three coordinators that will be working under Brady: OC Pete Carmichael, FC Jim Leonard, and STC Jeff Rodgers. Now, however, the Bills have filled out their coaching staff for 2026 and are ready to attack the offseason with their full complement of personnel.
One assistant hire in particular has caught the attention of those around the league: senior assistant coach John Fox. A veteran NFL coach, Fox was a head coach in this league for 15 years, starting with the Panthers before moving on to the Broncos and Bears. He has two Super Bowl appearances on his resume and won the AFC West in each of his four seasons in Denver. In his first season in Carolina, he took the team to the Super Bowl despite winning the Panthers winning just one game the season prior.
John Fox Will Be a Big Help to New Buffalo Bills HC Joe Brady
GettyORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 19: Interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady looks on before the game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium on November 19, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
For as promising a head coaching candidate as Brady was when the Bills hired him a few weeks ago, this will be his first head coaching job at any level. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at William & Mary in 2013 before cutting his teeth as an offensive assistant, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator at several stops — most notably at LSU in 2019, orchestrating the best offense in college football history.
But Brady has never run a team, let alone an NFL team. This is why hiring Fox makes so much sense. As Jarrett Bailey pointed out, this is the same move the Rams HC Sean McVay made when he was first hired in 2017, bringing in Wade Phillips in an advisory role to ease the transition. Fox should help Brady learn the ropes and avoid some of the pitfalls common to first-time head coaches, particularly young ones.
It’s important to remember that Brady isn’t ushering in a rebuild in Buffalo — the Bills moved on from former HC Sean McDermott because they hadn’t broken through to a Super Bowl yet. Hiring Brady is supposed to raise the ceiling of an already good Bills squad, not reset the championship window in the middle of QB Josh Allen‘s prime. There’s already a lot of pressure on Brady to succeed quickly, and now he has Fox with him to help guide that process.
The Buffalo Bills Can’t Afford to Waste Years of Star QB Josh Allen’s Prime
The 2025 MVP winner, Allen is widely regarded as one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the NFL. But in his eight-year career, the Bills have made the AFC Championship Game just twice, losing in both appearances and failing to reach the Super Bowl.
It would be unfair to blame Allen for that, but the Bills are starting to run the risk of never reaching the mountaintop with their star quarterback. Allen is an elite talent. Now it’s up to Brady to maximize that talent by getting the Bills back to the top of the sport.
Ethan Woodie is an accomplished sports writer specializing in the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. He’s written for Heavy since 2025 and has years of experience writing for NFL Trade Rumors and Pro Football Focus (PFF). Woodie is an expert in draft scouting and his final 2025 Big Board was included in Arif Hasan’s media consensus board for Wide Left. More about Ethan Woodie
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