Joe Brady does not intend to deny the past to prepare for the future, when he will now be the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
Before presenting his vision for strengthening the defense by injecting the elements he had instilled into Josh Allen’s offensive unit when he was coordinator for the last two seasons, Brady first paid tribute to his immediate predecessor during his press conference on Thursday.
Brady admitted he would have had to start from scratch if Sean McDermott hadn’t laid the foundation of a winning culture during his nine seasons as head coach before he was fired last week.
Brady’s challenge will be to take this team, which has accomplished everything except a Super Bowl appearance, one step closer to success.
“I am aware that I come into this position in a much better position than McDermott. I’m not naive,” Brady said.
“I also understand that expectations are higher. I did not take this job to shirk those expectations. Certainly not, he added. I fully assume them. I understand them. And I devote myself entirely to it. »
At 36, Brady will have a tall task ahead after McDermott went 98-50 on the season and 8-8 in the playoffs, ranking second on the team in wins behind Hall of Famer Marv Levy. He transformed the Bills, long considered losers, into a winning club from one season to the next.
And Brady will now have to address the team’s playoff deficiencies.
Owner Terry Pegula felt the Bills had hit a playoff wall when he decided to fire McDermott two days after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Broncos in Denver. It was the Bills’ third straight three-point loss in the playoffs.
The Bills also became the first NFL team to win a playoff game six years in a row without reaching the Super Bowl.
Brady was hired Tuesday following a six-day recruiting process during which the Bills conducted nine interviews before choosing their only internal candidate.
Although he has no prior head coaching experience, Brady brings continuity and experience to a team that has made the playoffs the last seven seasons and is led by an elite quarterback in Allen.
“We all know Joe. Joe is an offensive genius, said general manager Brandon Beane. Joe’s offensive units know how to attack in several ways. But what my team and I took away from this process was Joe’s vision for running a football team. »
Brady began his coaching journey as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints in 2017. He returned to the NFL as offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers before being fired after his second season in 2022.
He came to the Bills as quarterbacks coach the following year.
Brady credited Sean Payton, who led the Saints during his time with the team, for providing him with “a doctorate in offense.” And it’s an approach that he wants to pass on to the entire team.
“Our mentality, for the future, is to face an anonymous and faceless opponent, and it is up to him to play against us, not the other way around. And I mean it,” Brady said.
“It doesn’t matter what day of the week, what time of day, whether it’s outside or inside, it doesn’t matter. Just put the damn ball down and play,” he added.
Brady spoke as Allen sat in the front row. The silhouette of the Bills’ new US$2.1 billion stadium stood out through the tinted windows of the team’s practice facility.
“The culture starts with them,” Brady said, pointing to Allen and several of his teammates in attendance. It’s the players in the locker room who set the tone, regardless of the head coach. And my role is to make sure that they can express their personality, that they can play in accordance with their personality. »
