Bills OC Joe Brady, up for the NFL's Assistant Coach of the Year, looks to add another feather in his cap
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady is a finalist for the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year, which will be handed out as part of the NFL Honors broadcast.
Joe Brady has built an impressive resume at just 35 years old.
On Thursday night, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator has a chance to add the most impressive bullet point yet on his resume.
Brady is a finalist for the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year, which will be handed out as part of the NFL Honors broadcast. Twenty awards and the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class will be revealed at the Saenger Theatre. The event starts at 9 p.m. and will be televised by Fox and NFL Network.
The other finalists are Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has built an impressive resume at just 35 years old. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Brady’s first full season as the Bills’ offensive coordinator did not end the way he nor anyone involved with the team hoped it would. But the disappointing end doesn’t take away from the job he did in guiding the offense to an average of 30.9 points per game in the regular season, which was second in the NFL. The Bills became the first team in NFL history to record at least 30 receiving and 30 rushing touchdowns in the same season.
In 2019, while serving as LSU's passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, Brady won the Broyles Award as college football's top assistant coach.
“Joe is wired the right way,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “I thought he did a really good job in taking what he had, in terms of finding the strengths of the players, connecting with them as people, keeping us on a pretty good path all season long, which is hard to do when you go through some ups and downs.”
The Bills gave up just 14 sacks, which was the lowest total in the NFL and had just eight turnovers, also the lowest total in the league. The offense finished drives in the red zone with touchdowns 71.6% of the time, the second-best rate in the league.
“I thought Joe did a really good job,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “He’s got that hat on his desk that says ‘Everybody eats.’ … I think he and (quarterback) Josh (Allen) really spread that motto, and I think it was contagious.
“We won games in different ways. I think that shows the strength of a unit, of how you win in different ways. I think Joe really embraced, ‘Hey, this week we just need to run the ball. Hey, this week we’re going to let Josh air it out.’ ... He never went in – him or Josh – trying to force feed the ball to a certain place. Or only run the ball, only throw the ball. I loved our balance.”
The Bills tied an NFL record by having 13 different players catch a touchdown pass, and they scored at least 30 points 12 times, tying a single-season franchise record and leading the league.
The day before the AFC championship game against Kansas City, Brady took his name out of the running to become the New Orleans Saints’ head coach. That means he’ll be back to guide the Bills’ offense in 2025.
“Not implementing a new offense, but really building off of what we've put in throughout the year and things that we like and we dislike, and just trying to tweak certain things,” Allen said when asked what having continuity at offensive coordinator will mean heading into next season.
Fangio is coaching in Sunday’s Super Bowl for Philadelphia, while Glenn (New York Jets) and Johnson (Chicago Bears) have both left the Lions to become a head coach.
Former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll won the Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2020.