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Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady will retain pieces of Sean McDermott’s staff.
New Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady is building his coaching staff, and he’s doing so with a mixture of new and old components.
Brady hired former Bill Jim Leonhard (defensive coordinator), Pete Carmichael (offensive coordinator), and Jeff Rodgers (special teams coordinator) to start. He’s filled out other coaching positions since being named the head coach, as well.
The franchise’s former offensive coordinator took a few more steps forward when he announced that he would retain pieces of Sean McDermott’s staff.
Brady said he will retain running backs coach Kelly Skipper, tight ends coach Rob Boras, assistant offensive line coach Austin Gund, assistant wide receiver coach DJ Mangas, passing game specialist Mark Lubick, and offensive quality control coach Kyle Shurmur, according to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia.
Bills HC Joe Brady said Kelly Skipper (RB), Rob Boras (TE), Austin Gund (asst. OL), DJ Mangas (quality control/asst. WR), Mark Lubick (passing game specialist/game management) and Kyle Shurmur (offensive quality control) will be returning to the coaching staff in 2026.
The Bills currently have 21 coaches listed under Brady on their official team website and are still looking to add defensive assistants.
Bills Targeting College Defensive Coaches
GettyThe Buffalo Bills and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard have targeted college coaches for defensive assistant positions.
While building up his coaching staff, Joe Brady and Brandon Beane have given Leonhard complete autonomy to bring in the right coaches. Some of those coaches have had collegiate ties.
According to SB Nation’s Buffalo Rumblings, the Bills have hired Bobby April III as their new outside linebackers coach and Jay Valai as their new cornerbacks coach. Both come from the collegiate ranks.
Valai was the assistant head coach for defense at Oklahoma while also holding roles as the co-defensive coordinator and pass defense coordinator. He coached cornerbacks and nicklebacks as well.
April III coached linebackers for the Bills in 2015-2016. He was Stanford’s defensive coordinator before returning to Buffalo. April III coached with Leonhard at the University of Wisconsin.
Leonhard said that wasn’t necessarily their plan. However, he said there are several collegiate concepts that are leaking into professional football. So, it helps to have coaches who have recently coached at that level, according to WGR 550’s Sal Capaccio.
I asked Jim Leonhard if he/Joe Brady intentionally targeted def assistants who have recently coached in college. He said they didn’t outright target that, but there are many more concepts going up from college to NFL than ever before and it helps to have guys who’ve coached there
Jim Leonhard is a ‘Big Fan’ of Safety Cole Bishop
GettyBuffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said he is a “very big fan” of safety Cole Bishop.
Leonhard and the Bills still have plenty of work to do to tweak the defense. Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 is no easy task, as far as personnel is concerned. However, there is no doubt that Leonhard is excited about some of the players that he already has.
Leonhard spoke highly of cornerback Christian Benford during his introductory press conference and did the same of safety Cole Bishop.
“I was a very big fan of Cole (Bishop) coming out of college,” Leonhard said via Capaccio.
The Bills’ new defensive coordinator spoke of Bishop’s versatility and what he could do in his defense. Bishop is coming off a spectacular sophomore season in Buffalo’s secondary. The Bills allowed a league-leading 156.9 passing yards per game.
Bishop started just four games as a rookie last season, but became a mainstay in Buffalo’s defense this year. He started 19 games, tallied 99 tackles, and six TFLs. Bishop also tallied four interceptions and deflected eight passes.
In a different style of defense, Bishop could take another step forward in 2026.
Greg Macafee Greg Macafee is a veteran sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He most recently covered the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh for DK Pittsburgh Sports and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. More about Greg Macafee
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