One of the biggest surprises this offseason was the Buffalo Bills firing head coach Sean McDermott, despite the team achieving double-digit wins and reaching the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. While the move was hinted at for several years, actually pulling the plug on the operation was still unexpected.
After all, the Bills’ goal is to win a Super Bowl, and coach McDermott had brought them to the doorstep (AFC Conference Championship) twice. Nevertheless, Buffalo decided to hit the reset button, yet they promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach.
Brady has never been an NFL head coach or even a head coach at any level before. Needless to say, the move was a big gamble. Now, the Bills’ organization is catching some flak.
Bills Criticized for Hiring Wrong Coach in Joe Brady
Boasting an NFL MVP in Josh Allen, one would have thought the Bills could pretty much get their pick of the litter among the best coaches available this offseason. We saw teams hire experienced Super Bowl winners like John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy.
Another respected name, Mike Tomlin, stepped away from the Steelers this offseason and opted for a broadcasting role at NBC rather than a return to coaching.
Plus, there was always the chance to reach out to an old rival in Bill Belichick to see if he wanted to get revenge over the New England Patriots twice a year. Yet, the Bills went with the safe pick and promoted Brady instead.
Now, FS1’s Colin Cowherd is saying the Bills made a mistake in moving forward with Brady rather than someone else who he feels could actually lead the franchise to its first-ever Super Bowl victory.
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“I looked at all the candidates they interviewed for that job, and they had no interest hiring anybody but Joe Brady,” Cowherd said. “And so I don’t think the Buffalo Bills had good coaches, had great quarterbacks, had capable GMs, have good ownership. I don’t think it’s just bad luck.”
Cowherd went on to reference the more experienced (and proven) options that were on the market. Yet, it appears as though the Bills had their heart set on Brady all along.
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“There was a Harbaugh on the market. Kevin Stefanski was a two-time coach of the year. He was on the market. There was the hottest coordinator on the market, Jesse Minter, Jeff Hafley. Everybody was talking about Hafley. McCarthy won a Super Bowl. Harbaugh won a Super Bowl. They were both on the market. And they hired Joe Brady. And when I looked at who they interviewed beyond Brady, it wasn’t great. Brady is going to be fascinating because he wasn’t the best coach on the market.”
“I looked at all the candidates they interviewed for that job and they had no interest in anybody but Joe Brady… I don’t think it’s just bad luck.”@colincowherd isn’t confident Joe Brady will bring the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/Eeew5K2FCT
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 15, 2026
Time will tell whether the Bills truly made a mistake, or the NFL’s next great genius hire.
After seeing how successful Brady had been with Allen, it does make sense to entrust him with more responsibility. Buffalo ran the risk of messing up their offensive chemistry by picking someone other than Brady.
It’s an interesting thought experiment, as the Cleveland Browns essentially did the opposite this offseason. Boasting a good defense, they could have promoted Jim Schwartz, but they made an outside hire and lost their prized defensive coordinator in the process. Buffalo didn’t seem to want to take the same risk, so they promoted Brady, and the rest is history.
