Before the Buffalo Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to the role of head coach this past winter, Brady worked on the staff of former Bills head coach Sean McDermott from 2022 through the 2025 season.
During an appearance on the latest edition of the “SHOUT!” podcast, Brady opened up about the Bills’ firing of McDermott in January.
Joe Brady was left “broken” by the Sean McDermott firing
“I was broken,” Brady explained, per Kevin Patra of the NFL’s website. “I was broken for a guy that I worked for. I was also broken for the rest of the coaching staff that is sitting there, like, we’re all out of jobs right now. There was a lot of emotion going on.”
Brady first became Buffalo’s offensive coordinator on an interim basis during the 2023 season and later held the full-time job through the team’s brutal 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs this past January.
As for McDermott, he guided the Bills to eight playoff trips during his nine seasons as the club’s head coach. However, he and MVP quarterback Josh Allen went 0-4 against the Kansas City Chiefs in postseason play from January 2021 up until the Bills showed McDermott the door.
“It also dawned on me that the only thing I won’t be is the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills,” Brady said about his immediate reaction to the McDermott news. “I’m only in Buffalo because of Sean and the opportunities that he gave me.”
Why Joe Brady doesn’t want to be Sean McDermott 2.0 for the Bills
The perception exists that Brady was Allen’s handpicked candidate to replace McDermott. That said, it’s fair to wonder if the decision to move on from McDermott shows that Brady may be facing a Super-Bowl-or-bust mandate as it pertains to possibly holding onto his job for longer than a couple of seasons.
“Sean did such a great job being Sean,” Brady added during the podcast. “I don’t want to be coach McDermott — not in a negative way. I want to be Joe Brady.”
Allen may never again have to go through a coaching change before he calls time on his playing career if Brady isn’t McDermott in a good way regarding the Bills’ pursuit of a championship.