After the shocking firing of Sean McDermott on Monday, the Bills are in the market for a head coach for the first time since 2017. They may not look far for McDermott’s replacement, though, with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady emerging as an early contender for the position. The 36-year-old “has a lot of fans in that building,” according to Connor Hughes of SNY.
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Brady spent four seasons under McDermott, who hired the ex-Panthers offensive coordinator as the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in 2022. While Brady opened 2023 in the same role, he finished the year as interim O-coordinator after the midseason firing of Ken Dorsey.
The Bills, 5-5 when they waved goodbye to Dorsey, reeled off six wins in their last seven after Brady began calling the plays. The team earned an AFC East title and won its first playoff game before falling to the Chiefs in the divisional round. Brady did enough over two-plus months for McDermott to promote him on to the full-time gig.
The Bills finished 10th in total offense and scored the second-most points in the NFL in 2024, Brady’s first year on the job. Quarterback Josh Allen won MVP honors for the first time, but the Chiefs again knocked the Bills out of the playoffs – this time in the AFC Championship Game.
In Year 2 under Brady, Buffalo ranked fourth in both yards and scoring, and running back James Cook led the league in rushing. The Bills’ offense amassed 57 points in two playoff games, but a 33-30 loss to the Broncos in the divisional round cost McDermott his job – a role that could go to Brady.
Although Brady doesn’t have any head coaching experience, he has drawn plenty of interest around the league over the past couple of years. The Bears, Jaguars, Saints and Jets all interviewed him before hiring different head coaches last January. As part of this year’s hiring cycle, Brady has already interviewed with the Falcons, Ravens, Raiders and Dolphins. Atlanta (Kevin Stefanski) and Miami (Jeff Hafley) have since filled their HC positions, but it appears the Bills will seriously consider Brady for another promotion.
A few years before Brady took over the Bills’ offense, Brian Daboll was in charge from 2018-21. The former McDermott sidekick is often credited with helping develop a young Allen into a superstar.
Daboll and Allen, integral parts of a top-tier Buffalo offense from 2020-21, forged a close bond during their time together. They may reunite in the coming weeks, as executives around the league told Dianna Russini of The Athletic that Daboll is a name to watch for in the Bills’ search.
As someone who grew up in the Western New York area, Daboll has close ties to the region. He also carries head coaching experience, though his first try with the Giants yielded uninspiring results.
The Giants went 20-40-1 in three-plus seasons under Daboll, whom they fired in November. After going 9-7-1 and winning a playoff game in 2022, Daboll’s rookie season, the Giants won just 11 of their last 44 games under his leadership. Despite early flashes, Daniel Jones didn’t develop into the answer under center for the Giants, which played a key role in Daboll’s struggles.
Daboll would inherit an elite QB in returning to Buffalo, but it’s debatable whether he’d provide an upgrade over McDermott, owner of a 98-50 regular-season mark and an 8-8 playoff record. At .662, McDermott boasts the 15th-best all-time winning percentage among head coaches. Daboll’s .336 mark is a whopping 326 points worse.
Former Bills signal-caller Davis Webb, who played with Allen from 2019-21 and under Daboll from 2019-22 (including a year with the Giants), is another potential option to replace McDermott, Peter Schrager of ESPN relays. Webb immediately got into coaching in 2023, the first year after his playing career ended, as the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach in 2023. He continues to hold that job, but head coach Sean Payton also promoted Webb to offensive pass game coordinator this season.
Webb, who has helped 2024 first-rounder Bo Nix turn into a quality starter, has already interviewed with the Raiders and Ravens this month. Although he’s just 30 years old (he’ll turn 31 on Thursday), Webb is a strong candidate to earn second interviews with one or both of those teams.
The Broncos will host the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, meaning Webb won’t be available to meet with teams this week. He’s now focused on leading an undermanned Broncos passing attack that lost Nix to a season-ending ankle injury in their win over the Bills. No matter how far they go, the Broncos are likely to ride out the season with career backup Jarrett Stidham replacing Nix. Webb’s surging stock will continue rising if the 29-year-old Stidham performs well in his fifth career start and first since 2023. Regardless, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Bills contact him, especially considering Webb’s close friendship with Allen.
Whether it’s Brady, Daboll, Webb or another candidate, the Bills’ next HC will likely have a say in the fate of their remaining coaches, Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News reports. With the exception of offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, who retired Sunday, all of McDermott’s former assistants are still in place.
The well-regarded Kromer, 58, had two stints running the Bills’ offensive line (the first from 2015-16, the second from 2022-25). He began his NFL coaching career assisting with the Raiders’ O-line in 2001. Kromer later worked with the Buccaneers, Saints, Bears and Rams in various roles. He went 2-4 as the Saints’ interim head coach in 2012, the year of Payton’s BountyGate suspension, and was the Bears’ offensive coordinator from 2013-14.
With Kromer hanging it up, assistant OL coach Austin Gund may be in line as his successor, per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. That’ll be up to the Bills’ next head coach, but it stands to reason a Brady promotion would give Gund a better chance of returning in 2026.
The more I’m learning about Davis Webb the more impressed I am. I’d feel better about him if he’d had a few more years experience.
Yeah, he’d be an easier candidate if he went with a defensive minded head coach somewhere to be a play calling OC for at least a year first, but the way people in the game talk about him, it’s only a matter of time before he gets the big job somewhere.
Sean McVay was about the same age when he got the Rams’ job.
Sean McVay had been an offensive coordinator for three seasons and a tight ends coach for three seasons before that. This is Webb’s third season coaching at all.
Daboll fills the bald white guy Rooney Rule because Nagy is busy.