Who is Joe Brady? What to know about new Bills offensive coordinator

ORCHARD PARK - When Joe Brady - who became the Buffalo Bills’ interim offensive coordinator Tuesday morning after Ken Dorsey was fired - took over that position with the Carolina Panthers prior to the 2020 NFL season, there was a glaring shine on the young wunderkind coach.

Brady had just helped produce one of the most dynamic offenses in the history of college football. That 2019 LSU team, which went 15-0 and won the national championship by blowing out Clemson in the title game, scored 726 points against a schedule that featured victories over seven teams who at the time LSU played them, were ranked in the top 10.

Of course, it certainly helped Brady that he had Joe Burrow at quarterback throwing an FBS record 60 touchdown passes on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. And Brady could scheme Burrow’s passes to future NFL star wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, and he could call running plays for Clyde Edwards-Helaire who piled up 1,400 yards on the ground behind an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award as the nation's best offensive line unit.

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Just 30 years old at the time, Brady won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach, an honor named for coaching legend Frank Broyles, and it was a foregone conclusion that an NFL team was going to hire him following LSU’s title run.

Joe Brady's performance as offensive coordinator in Carolina

He was flying high, considered the next big thing when he was hired by Carolina and given the responsibility of fixing the Panthers’ stagnant offense, but he quickly found out how difficult coaching could be when he didn’t have some of the best players in college football history on his side.

Brady’s offenses were considered massive failures, not that anyone should have been surprised given that his quarterbacks during his time with the Panthers were Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Cam Newton and P.J. Walker.

His first Carolina team ranked 24th in points and 21st in yards, and it only got worse in 2021 when the Panthers finished the season finished 29th in points and 30th in yards with Brady not even getting a chance to see it through to the end as head coach Matt Rhule fired him in early December.

How Joe Brady joined the Buffalo Bills coaching staff

When he became available, the Bills took an immediate interest because they knew the chances were high that their own offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, was going to be getting a head coaching job during the 2022 hiring cycle.

Sure enough, when Daboll was hired by the Giants, Bills coach Sean McDermott, with quarterback Josh Allen consulting, decided to promote his QB coach, Ken Dorsey, to offensive coordinator. The prevailing thought was that Dorsey had been coaching in Daboll’s system since joining the Bills in 2019, and continuity would be good for Allen and the offense.

Having seen the wonders Brady had worked with Burrow, McDermott filled his QB coach vacancy by giving Brady a chance to revive his career as Allen’s new mentor. There was high hopes that he could take some of the things he taught to Burrow and impart them on Allen as a way to further his development.

How much of an impact Brady has had on Allen is tough to gauge because we don’t really know how much influence he truly had, but with Dorsey packing his belongings Tuesday, now the canvas is all Brady’s, at least for the final seven games, as he will try to convince McDermott to give him the permanent job.

When McDermott was asked if Dorsey’s offense became too predictable, and if true, whether that factored into the decision, he said, “The best thing to do right now is not get into kind of what the reasons were that led to this change, but just overall what we can do about it going forward, and that’s really what I’m focused on right now.

“I just felt this was the right time. Certainly an unfortunate situation, but overall, trying to instill some new energy in our offense, new confidence, new consistency in terms of the production, producing at a more consistent level.”

McDermott admitted that Brady’s past experiences as a coordinator and play-caller were important in choosing him to succeed Dorsey.

“He comes with some experience, and I think overall, just his day-to-day command of his job more than anything,” McDermott said. “It’s like anything else, some of this is a projection and I also want to see what he can do in this role. He has a close relationship with Josh as the quarterback coach … he’s got some ideas and we’ll see where it goes from here.”

As for who will now assume the role of QB coach, and where will Brady be stationed on game day - on the field or in the coaching booth in the press box - will be figured out as the week goes on, a short week as it following a Monday night game.

Joe Brady becomes fourth offensive coordinator in McDermott era

In his first season as an NFL head coach in 2017, McDermott opted to hire a veteran coach in Rick Dennison to run the offense, but that was a critical mistake and he rectified it in 2018 by bringing in Daboll.

Daboll was given the gift of Allen when Buffalo picked him seventh overall in the 2018 draft, and over the next four years he helped Allen become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. McDermott also brought in Dorsey in 2019 to be the QB coach and he, too, played a role in lifting Allen to stardom.

Last year, Dorsey moved into the OC role and the Bills continued to build on the successful foundation Daboll set in place as the Bills ranked second in the NFL in both points and yards and Allen enjoyed his third straight 35-plus touchdown pass, 4,000-yard-plus passing season.

However, there was noticeable decline in Allen, and the offense’s play in the second half of 2022, culminating in a disastrous 27-10 home playoff loss to Burrow, Chase and the Bengals. And that regression has continued in 2023 as the Buffalo offense has struggled mightily over the last six weeks, enough to prompt this change.

How this will play in the locker room remains to be seen, but McDermott feels he needed to do something, if for no other reason than to give the players a fresh outlook.

“I think it’s important that those guys feel, ‘hey, something’s changed and there’s something new that we can be excited about in terms of, you know, an opportunity to improve, really,’” McDermott said. “I think that’s a piece of it, but also, it just got to be the right time right now to make the move and see if we can get some energy about our offense.”

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Joe Brady is new offensive coordinator for Buffalo Bills: What to know