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Alaina GetzenbergJan 31, 2026, 11:11 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Alaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n BUFFALO, NY. — Former Bills<\/a> player Jim Leonhard is expected to be hired as the team’s defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.<\/p>\n The hiring will mark a change in direction on the defensive side of the ball after Sean McDermott was fired following nine seasons leading the Bills and their defense.<\/p>\n Leonhard, 43, is currently the defensive pass game coordinator\/assistant head coach with the Denver Broncos<\/a>. This year, the Broncos’ defense put up 68 sacks, four short of tying the single-season record (72, 1984 Bears<\/a>), and allowed the second-fewest yards per game (278.2).<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Leonhard joined the Broncos in 2024 as the defensive pass game coordinator\/defensive backs coach.<\/p>\n Prior to that, he was a senior football analyst at Illinois<\/a> and spent 2016-22 coaching at Wisconsin<\/a>, including all but one year as the defensive coordinator and spending some of the 2022 season as interim head coach.<\/p>\n Undrafted out of Wisconsin, Leonhard played for the Bills from 2005 to 2007 and in 2013. The 10-year NFL safety and special teams player also played for the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, New York Jets<\/a>, Broncos and Cleveland Browns<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leonhard marks the second Broncos coach that new Bills coach Joe Brady is set to add to his staff in a coordinator role. The Bills are also set to hire Pete Carmichael as their offensive coordinator, according to a source. Brady worked under Broncos coach Sean Payton in 2017-18.<\/p>\n Brady and Leonhard have not overlapped on a coaching staff previously.<\/p>\n “I only get one opportunity to be a head football coach,” Brady said during his introductory news conference. “I’m not in the business of hiring my friends, and making sure I want to get the best football coaches for these players cause they deserve that, and so, that’s what’s important to me.”<\/p>\n