The Buffalo Bills have just made a home run hire to fix the defense that was average at the very best last season. According to Ian Rapoport, the Bills are set to hire Broncos’ defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard as their next defensive coordinator. This is the second Broncos coach that the Bills are hiring, as they hired Pete Carmichael as their next offensive coordinator.
Sources: The #Bills are hiring #Broncos defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard as their new defensive coordinator. They have agreed to terms.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2026
A big hire for new coach Joe Brady. The former player, Leonhard was coveted. pic.twitter.com/rdWu9YX8wM
Leonhard was a player for the Bills during their playoff drought and now he will be coming back to Orchard Park to fix a defense that desperately needs the help. With Sean McDermott being fired from the Bills earlier this month, it’s no surprise that a good amount of position coaches on the defense are no longer there.
The biggest one was Bobby Babich, who joined the Packers as their defensive pass game coordinator. The Bills just got a huge upgrade from Babich to now Leonhard.
Bills deliver huge hire of Jim Leonhard to fix the defense
Leonhard got into coaching first at the college level at Wisconsin and then with Illinois, before getting to the NFL level with the Broncos and working with the defense the last two seasons. He is a rising coach that was set to get a coordinator job sooner than later. Now he gets his first coordinator opportunity in Buffalo under Joe Brady.
Leonhard will be tasked to fix this Bills’ run-defense that was giving up a ton of yards per game last season. The good news is that he will be taking over a pass defense that was among the best last season, and that is Leonhard’s specialty. So, he will get to fix the defensive line while also continuing to elevate the secondary.
When Brady was hired as the head coach, the biggest immediate task was to find a solid defensive coordinator that could help the defense. He knocked this hiring out of the park with Leonhard.
He will be a first-time coordinator and he will look to show that he can become a future head coach in the NFL. Considering that Denver has been one of the best defensive teams the last two seasons, Bills fans are hoping that Leonhard can now transform this defense especially in big games.
We all know that Buffalo’s defense has been the main reason why they couldn’t get over the hump. Leonhard now walks into a situation where he is on another AFC contender, but with higher expectations because of the defensive letdowns by the Bills over the last few seasons.