KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Buffalo Bills are hopeful their magical season continues beyond Sunday night with a trip to New Orleans. But no matter what happens in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs, the Bills know they won’t be searching for a new offensive coordinator this offseason.
Joe Brady, the 35-year-old play-caller for Josh Allen and the Bills, will return as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator, sources tell CBS Sports. Brady will not interview with the New Orleans Saints for their vacant head-coaching position next week, meaning the coaching cycle will be completed without Brady taking an in-person interview with any team that had a vacancy.
The Bills had the second-best scoring offense in the league this year with Brady as the full-time play-caller. He took over 10 games into last season after head coach Sean McDermott fired Ken Dorsey, and the offense flourished under Brady to end the season.
Brady took initial virtual interviews with the Saints, Bears and Jaguars. Sources say the Jets requested to interview Brady but he declined. Because the Bills won in the divisional round, league rules stipulated he couldn’t do any interviews until after the conference championship weekend.
In the time between, the Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach and the Jaguars nabbed Liam Coen. The Saints had their in-person interview process delayed due to inclement weather early in the week and didn’t get the opportunity to meet with Aaron Glenn, a top candidate, before he inked with the Jets.
The Saints are continuing their process as the last team remaining with a head-coach vacancy. New Orleans interviewed Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka this week, and the team is hopeful to schedule interviews with Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and former Packers and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy this upcoming week. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi remains as candidate as well.
Brady’s star began to rise in 2019 when he won the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football, helping LSU to a national title and Joe Burrow to the Heisman Trophy. He joined Matt Rhule’s initial staff with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 but was fired before the end of his second season. Rhule would go on to be fired five games into the next season.
Brady took a job with the Bills as the quarterbacks coach going into the 2022 season before being promoted midway through the 2023 season. He had an interview with the Falcons for their head coach position last year that was ultimately filled by Raheem Morris.
This season the Bills averaged 29.5 offensive points per game. That’s the second-most in franchise history behind the 29.6 offensive points per game averaged by the 2020 Bills. Josh Allen is expected to finish in the top-two in MVP voting this year.
The odds are in favor of Brady eventually becoming a head coach in the NFL, and continued success in Buffalo will only increase those odds. But it will be at least another year before that time comes.
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