Joe Brady is a name to watch regarding the Bills‘ head coaching vacancy. In the event he is not promoted as Buffalo’s Sean McDermott replacement, outside offers could be coming soon. 
Brady is set to interview with the Cardinals, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports. The sides did not speak virtually as teams around the league conducted virtual interviews during the early stages of the hiring cycle. Brady is free to meet in person with Arizona, though.
Brady has already interviewed once with the Falcons, Raiders and Dolphins. He has a second interview with the Ravens on the books as well. Clarity could soon emerge in this case, as Brady weighs his options. The 36-year-old is among the youngest candidates on the market, although this is not the first hiring cycle in which he has drawn HC interest.
After one season spent on LSU’s championship-winning staff, Brady was hired by the Panthers as their offensive coordinator. A two-year spell in that capacity did not go as planned, but he quickly landed a new opportunity in 2022 as Buffalo’s quarterbacks coach. After Ken Dorsey was fired midway through the 2023 season, Brady was tapped as his replacement. Buffalo finished sixth in scoring that year, then posted top-four finishes in each of Brady’s two full campaigns as OC.
Renewed head coaching interest from outside suitors thus comes as no surprise. The Cardinals had a head coach with a defensive background for each of the past three seasons in the form of Johnathan Gannon. As expected, he was fired on ‘Black Monday’ following Arizona’s 3-14 campaign. Gannon’s predecessor, Kliff Kingsbury, was Arizona’s most recent hire with experience as an offensive play-caller.
The quarterback situation is unclear at this point in the Cardinals’ case, although Kyler Murray could be retained for 2026. In any event, Brady – or another HC hire in position to guide the offense – would be tasked with overseeing a needed step forward on that side of the ball next season. With other possibilities to consider, it will be interesting to see how Brady feels about the possibility of taking charge of the Cardinals.
Via PFR’s HC Search Tracker, here is an updated look at where things stand for Arizona:
- Joe Brady, offensive coordinator (Bills): To conduct in-person interview
- Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Patriots): Interview requested
- Matt Burke, defensive coordinator (Texans): Interview requested
- Jeff Hafley, defensive coordinator (Packers): Interviewed 1/14
- John Harbaugh, former head coach (Ravens): Contacted
- Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator (Broncos): Interviewed 1/10, considered “strong candidate”
- Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator (Seahawks): Interviewed 1/10
- Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinator (Rams): Interviewed 1/16
- Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Interviewed 1/13
- Raheem Morris, former head coach (Falcons): To interview
- Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/9
- Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator (49ers): Interviewed 1/15
- Chris Shula, defensive coordinator (Rams): Interviewed 1/16
- Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator (Steelers): Interview requested
- Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/9
If Brady becomes the coach of the Bills, What exactly changes? If that happens what was the whole point of firing McDermott? Color me—-Confused.
The average length of stay as a HC of the Cardinals is only 3 to 4 years, with the overall history of this franchise since the days of the Chicago then St. Louis, and the present AZ Cardinals that is not a good sign for being a HC of this franchise. No wonder they are one of the last teams to hire a replacement, certain candidates are very leery of taking this job. No job security, team history speaks for itself.
I feel the same way, and with James Conner coming off an injury, the uncertainty surrounding Kyler Murray, and Marvin Harrison jr. developing slowly, I could see the new coach being one & done. I wouldn’t recommend this job to a young coordinator, it could crush their confidence to get fired so quickly.
Is it telling that the Bills didn’t make that happen almost immediately? If Brady was their guy, what could possibly be the hold up? Brady is gonna want to coach elsewhere with another QB? I don’t think so. Unless he’s really loyal to McDermott, there’s no earthly reason he wouldn’t jump at the chance. They say he and Beane have a really good relationship. Beane may be locked in on one particular coordinator (or Davis Webb) still in the playoffs. He may already know who his guy is and his guy maybe already know he’s going to get the job. Davis Webb has deep ties to the franchise, they know exactly who he is already. He’s a leader, he’s smart, he’s cool under fire… only problem is his age! Boy, you’d wish the next guy had a few more years under his belt. But if he’s special then he’s special and you just have to go for it.
Bills fans will riot if Brady is named HC when they wanted him fired as OC. Any coach can call screen passes and draw up stupid plays to get their QB killed.
Everything I read about Davis Webb sounds really great. Of all the candidates, he’s the one that sounds like a wonder kid candidate like McVay.
The problem with the Bills job is the expectations will be to reach and win a Superbowl, and anything less will be seen as a failure by Beane and Pegula. One of the highest pressure situations, especially for a new HC.
Say what you will about Brady, that offense was great this year. They are definitely not the reason we lost. It’s always the defense.
You must have been watching a different Bills offense. If not for Josh Allen winging it on many plays, they would have dies a slow death by screen play. The Texans game is the perfect example.
They literally had the fourth best offense in the league by yards and scoring and that was without a legit WR. I’d say that’s pretty good. In the playoff losses it has been the defense that let us down. You score 30 points, that oughta be enough to win.
That yardage came through the QB, RB and TEs, not the WRs. If JA had just one of Cinci’s or Miami’s two WRs, we’d be watching McDermott in the AFC championship game this weekend, and the Superbowl in two more weeks. That failure is on Beane.