After the Buffalo Bills officially introduced Joe Brady as their new head coach on Thursday, he didn’t wait long to start bringing in his staff. His first hire was bringing in Pat Meyer, from the Steelers, as the new offensive line coach, then he brought in Pete Carmichael from the Broncos as his offensive coordinator. Brady and Carmichael worked together in New Orleans under Sean Payton.
Then on Saturday, Brady hit a home run in hiring Broncos’ pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard as his next defensive coordinator. With what Leonhard has been able to do the last two seasons with the Broncos, bringing him to Buffalo should instantly improve the defense.
In addition to these hires, Brady and the Bills also hired Jeff Rodgers from the Arizona Cardinals as their next special teams coordinator.
While the hiring of Leonhard was by far the most dynamic, the hiring of Carmichael could easily be the most impactful to keep the stability on offense.
Bills hiring Pete Carmichael has chance to be best hiring for 2026 season
Jordan Dajani and Bryan DeArdo from CBS Sports put together a list of grades of the coordinators that have been hired and the Bills received an A- for the hire of Carmichael. DeArdo went into detail about how Brady has the advantage of getting Carmichael who has plenty of experience working with Drew Brees in San Diego and New Orleans.
DeArdo also talked about how Carmichael has been part of some great rushing attacks that featured LaDanian Tomlinson, Mark Ingram, and Alvin Kamara.
"In Carmichael, Brady is getting an experienced coach who worked closely with Drew Brees for 19 of his 20 seasons with the Chargers and Saints. Carmichael won a Super Bowl in 2009 as the Saints' offensive coordinator. Quarterback aside, Carmichael has been part of several successful rushing attacks featuring Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, Mark Ingram, and Alvin Kamara. "Bryan DeArdo, CBS Sports
Brady is still calling the offensive plays for the Bills, but having Carmichael to help with the development of the offense is great for familiarity, and it grows the ceiling for what this offense can do.
Carmichael won’t just have the chance to work with Josh Allen, he also gets the chance to keep elevating the Bills’ rushing attack that was the best with James Cook. Being an offensive coordinator isn’t just about playcalling, it’s also about development of the players and Carmichael has a ton of experience with working with some of the best to ever play the game.