The Buffalo Bills have their new head coach, announcing on Tuesday that offensive coordinator Joe Brady will take the job. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport was the first to break the news.
Brady has been with the Bills since 2022, starting as the quarterbacks coach before gradually moving up to serve as the offensive playcaller. He has spent the past three seasons as the Bills' offensive coordinator, helping Josh Allen to win his first MVP award in 2024 and powering the offense behind James Cook to lead the NFL in rushing in 2025.
The Bills also considered Brian Daboll, Grant Udinski, and Davis Webb for the job, but decided to promote from within once again this offseason, following in step with Terry Pegula’s decision to promote Brandon Beane to President of Football Operations.
Buffalo Bills choose continuity by elevating Joe Brady from within
The Bills and Brady have agreed to a five-year contract, which now begins the Bills' offseason efforts to forge a squad for 2026 and beyond that can compete in the postseason after years of heartbreaking ends.
Brady, who is 36, becomes the youngest active head coach in the NFL. The Bills seemed to favor younger candidates in their search, but none has the resume that Brady has built in his short career.
Brady got his breakout start with the LSU Tigers in 2019 at just 29 years old. The season ended with one of the most dominant offensive showings in college football history with Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase at his disposal. Bills Mafia now puts its hopes in Brady recreating that magic in Buffalo.
Of course, that means Brandon Beane will need to find wide receivers this offseason to help Brady and Allen do so. Nonetheless, Brady proved in 2025 that he can make an offense work with the ground game at the forefront.
Still, while Bills fans are already familiar with Brady, the pressure is on for him to deliver. Sean McDermott was fired for the sole reason of getting stonewalled in the postseason year after year. Brady will be held to a similar standard, surely, but how long of a leash Pegula and Beane will give him is what remains to be seen. Unless, of course, Brady is the man who can lead this team to the Super Bowl and bring a Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo for the first time.