Big Picture: How Joe Brady’s Successes and Setbacks Are Shaping a New Bills Vision

PHOENIX — Joe Brady still remembers his first day under James Franklin at Penn State. Franklin chewed out Brady for a mistake that he and the other graduate assistants made. It wasn’t the triumphant moment he’d hoped for. But in the infancy of his coaching career, he’d already locked in a core memory.

“I didn’t even know what he was yelling at me for, but it was just his [emphasis on] detail. I’ve taken that everywhere I’ve been,” the new Buffalo Bills head coach told me at the NFL owners meetings on Monday.

At age 36, Brady is stepping into one of the most coveted jobs in the NFL, rising from offensive coordinator to replace Sean McDermott, who was fired in January. With MVP quarterback Josh Allen, Brady takes on the exciting — but high-stakes — task of trying to win Buffalo’s first Super Bowl. McDermott and Allen didn’t even make it to the title game in their eight seasons together.

At age 36, Joe Brady (right) moves up from Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator to Buffalo’s head coach, replacing Sean McDermott. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

As Brady builds the Bills in his image, I realized how committed he has been to drawing influences from every step he’s taken along the way. So I asked him to play a sort of game: Could he name the most salient lesson from every stop of his coaching career?

We’ve already hit his time at Penn State. Let’s move on to his experience working for Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints, where Brady served as an offensive assistant in 2017-18. What was the biggest lesson there?

“It was [Payton’s] understanding of attacking schemes — not only just attacking the weaknesses, but with our strengths,” Brady told me. “He opened my eyes to: It’s not, ‘Hey, what coverages do they run? Oh, they play quarters. All right, so let’s get our quarter speeders.’ It’s like, ‘Who is the weakness in their quarters? And then how do we get the best person matched up on that element in the quarters.’ 

“So that was critical for me.”

It’s a good lesson. Find the opponent’s weakness. Attack it with your strength. Repeat.

In 2019, Brady moved on to LSU, where he was passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for Ed Orgeron.

“Ed O taught me to just be yourself,” Brady told me. “He was straight up from the jump, like, ‘Hey, look, I’m not good at this. I’m not good at this. I’m great at this, so I need you to do this.’ And it showed me that you don’t have to be a certain way to be a head coach. As long as you’re comfortable being yourself, everything will take care of itself.”

Stay authentic. Stay humble. Work on weaknesses and delegate when necessary.

None of that is easy. But those are outstanding goals for every line of work — and for life in general. And by the way, this was when Brady was a big deal. He was at LSU with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson when the Tigers went undefeated and won the national championship, blowing out Clemson 42-25 in the title game. It was a high point in Brady’s progression. He won the 2019 Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach.

LSU passing coordinator Joe Brady reacts during a game against Mississippi in November 2019. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

And then came what Brady once called his “downfall.” It might be more fair to classify it as a correction or a moment of non-linear progress. Regardless, in 2020, the Carolina Panthers hired Brady, then 30 years old, to be their offensive coordinator. He was the youngest active OC at the time. 

“I didn’t have success there, however that’s defined,” Brady told me. But he also emphasized: “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if I didn’t go through the Carolina days.” 

Because Brady’s rise was fast and extremely impressive, he hadn’t yet experienced adversity like he did in Carolina. But there was a unique lesson in seeing his head coach, Matt Rhule — yes, the one who fired Brady — weather the defeats with his team.

“He had standards that he believed in, and he held on to that rope,” Brady said of Rhule. “And there’s so much power in that. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’m a first-time head coach right now. These are things that I believe in, regardless of the results. Am I going to stick and hold true to it, or am I going to be like, ‘Hey, we lost, so now I can’t believe in this anymore.'”

Brady lost his job in 2021 before completing his second season in the role. The Panthers went 10-18 during his time in Carolina.

Brady was the youngest OC in the NFL when he worked for the Panthers. He calls the experience his “downfall,” but he also learned from it. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

If this was his “downfall,” he didn’t fall far. He landed as a quarterbacks coach with the Bills and McDermott. And even if that was a less impressive title, the consolation prize was Josh Allen. After never spending more than two years in any one place, Brady rose from QBs coach to OC to head coach in Buffalo, where he’s been since 2022 — studying under McDermott.

“Sean was a combination of a little bit of everything,” Brady told me. “I got to see how he’s grown, how he’s changed his thought process, his mentality. And then being able to just be like, ‘Oh, he is who he is, and he has a lot of success, and he didn’t feel like he had to be someone different.’ No matter who we signed and no matter the ups and downs of the season, he was consistent. And I hope I can bring an element of that.” 

And this is where all these influences should and could come together in a fascinating culture where Franklin meets Payton meets Orgeron meets Rhule meets McDermott. In other words, these influences should come together to create Brady’s authentic culture.

It’s notable that when Brady was named Bills head coach, he did not simply promote the coaches around him, which can be a pitfall for an internal hire. Instead, he launched a lengthy search and dug into his past stops to seek out people he thinks will elevate and build the Buffalo organization anew.

“It wasn’t easy, right? You know, there’s a lot of guys, especially on offense, that are why I’m in this position,” he told me. 

No matter the ups and downs in Buffalo, Brady hopes to remain consistent, which was a trait Sean McDermott (right) brought to the team. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

While Brady heard from several people that his most important hire would be his defensive coordinator, he didn’t agree. He thought he needed help on offense to catalyze something special. So Brady dipped into his Rolodex from his days with the Saints and looked to Payton’s staff in Denver to find his offensive coordinator.

“Getting Pete Carmichael was the biggest hire for me,” Brady said of the former Broncos senior offensive assistant and longtime Saints OC. “It was about getting a guy that was going to make my life a lot easier. … I know it wasn’t somebody that was in the room before, and that’s what made it hard. But a guy like Pete was critical for me.”

Brady added: “I wanted new. Even though things have been quote-unquote working, we have to continue to evolve, so that’s why it was important for me to go outside of my comfort zone.”

Brady’s staff will fuse Carmichael’s ideas with what the Bills were already doing in Buffalo. That’ll include voices like offensive line coach Pat Meyer (previously with the Steelers) and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree (previously with the Titans). 

As one Broncos staffer told me by text: “It’s still going to be Brady’s offense.” And that’s a highly efficient offense. But everyone could see that it wasn’t beyond criticism at the end of last season. The most obvious issue was in the passing game, where the Bills lacked explosive plays.

And since we’re discussing all the ways Brady has dipped into his past, let’s talk about DJ Moore, the receiver the Bills acquired in a major trade with the Chicago Bears. Buffalo sent a second-round pick to Chicago to bring in Moore and a fifth-rounder. The veteran receiver’s best seasons were under Brady in — of all places — Carolina. 

“Through the ups and downs in the Carolina days, DJ was consistent — his work ethic, his approach, his ability to go out there and make plays, being able to move him around,” Brady told me. “He’s played with so many different quarterbacks, and he’s found ways to have success, and that’s really hard. … I thought he would be a great addition both in the locker room and on the field. I’m excited to work with him again.”

Brady’s calculated dedication to draw upon what has worked in his career — and to learn from what has not — will be crucial in accomplishing what no Bills team has: winning a Super Bowl.