It is fair to wonder, however, if Buffalo veered far enough into a new direction to justify their coaching change. Brady spent the last four seasons working under Sean McDermott, whom the Bills fired last week following their Divisional Round overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, and represents even less of a theoretical shift than former Bills OC and Giants head coach Brian Daboll might have provided for the club.
Brady was a hot commodity in the hiring cycle as Rapoport reported Broncos head coach Sean Payton wanted Brady to be his offensive coordinator, considering turning over the play-calling reins and he was also high on the Baltimore Ravens’ list for OC.
Perhaps the Bills organization felt as if it was on the right track toward that ever-elusive Super Bowl, but just needed a change in leadership. If that is the case, Buffalo hit its intended goal; Brady’s promotion should increase their chances of retaining any staff the club deems essential to their future operation.
Brady’s hiring is the latest internal promotion of an offensive coordinator to replace a swiftly fired coach in the last two years. In January 2025, the Dallas Cowboys followed a somewhat similar approach, walking down the hall to elevate OC Brian Schottenheimer to the top job following their parting with Mike McCarthy, and Schottenheimer’s offensive prowess produced the NFL’s second-ranked offense in terms of yards per game, passing yards per game and first downs per game this past season, while finishing seventh in scoring.
To those who follow both collegiate and professional football, however, Brady’s ascension feels more like a product of destiny than a traditional hiring process. After two seasons spent as an offensive assistant under Sean Payton in New Orleans, Brady served as the passing game coordinator (and thus, the aerial architect) at LSU in 2019, directing one of college football’s most prolific and overwhelming passing attacks in its history, propelling the Tigers to a dominant 15-0 season that included an SEC title and finished with a lopsided win in the CFP National Championship.
A trio of current NFL stars emerged from that Brady-led offense — quarterback Joe Burrow receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase — and Brady was instantly seen as an offensive wunderkind, making the leap from LSU’s staff to become Panthers offensive coordinator under new head coach Matt Rhule in 2020.
Brady’s rapid ascension began to settle while on Rhule’s doomed staff, leading Brady to a career reset with Buffalo in 2022. It didn’t take long for his impact to show with the Allen-led offense, regenerating buzz for his candidacy as a head coach.
In the end, he didn’t have to pack his bags and move again in order to realize those ambitions. We’ll see if it ends up being the change the Bills needed.