The past few weeks in Orchard Park have been a bit tumultuous.
After surprisingly firing longtime head coach Sean McDermott following a devastating loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional round on January 17th, Buffalo Bills’ owner Terry Pegula moved swiftly to make changes at One Bills Drive, saying the team had seemingly hit a “proverbial playoff wall” in his opinion.
From a bird’s eye view, the initial supposed changes seemed to be more about remaining with the status quo rather than making any sort of real change at all.
Instead of being given their marching orders along with McDermott, general manager Brandon Beane and offensive coordinator Joe Brady were the recipients of promotions from Pegula as Beane was given the added title of President of Football Operations, while Brady was named the 21st head coach in franchise history — making him the youngest lead man in the NFL at the age of 36.
So, yes McDermott was no longer in charge after nine seasons at the helm, but was there really enough of a shakeup to make any meaningful difference moving forward?
Well, at first glance it didn’t appear so . . . but then the transformation of the coaching staff began taking shape.
Offensive line guru Aaron Kromer retired, defensive coordinator Bobby Babich left for a position with the Green Bay Packers, and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor headed south to take the same job with the Miami Dolphins under their new head coach Jeff Hafley, effectively leaving Buffalo with mere remnants of the coaching staff from 2025.
And although certain staff members like Kelly Skipper (RBs Coach), Rob Boras (TEs Coach), Austin Gund (Assistant OL Coach), Marc Lubick (Passing Game Specialist/Game Management), Kyle Shurmer (Quality Control), D.J. Mangas (Quality Control) and Milli Wilson (Assistant) will all carry over from Brady’s staff heading into next season, there will be different voices and faces leading each of the three main units for the Bills in 2026.
Denver head coach Sean Payton’s longtime right-hand man Pete Carmichael Jr. was hired to be the new offensive coordinator, veteran coach Jeff Rodgers was brought on board to lead the special teams after being in Arizona the past seven seasons, and former NFL safety/Bills’ cult hero Jim Leonhard came to an agreement with Buffalo to take charge of the operations on defense after having other defensive coordinator interviews with the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens prior to signing on board.
Under Brady, Carmichael Jr., Rodgers, and Leonhard will be tasked with retooling and reshaping things in order to finally get the Bills over the hump and back into the Super Bowl for the first time since the early 1990s, a feat that some feel is long overdue with Josh Allen quarterbacking the team in Western New York for the past several seasons.
Will it work? Who knows.
That answer remains to be seen, but there’s no denying that there is a new era of Bills’ football unfolding quickly before our eyes.
In a media scrum held on Thursday, each coordinator had their first opportunity to lay out their vision for what’s to come in terms of shifting the philosophy at One Bills Drive — both schematically and intangibly.
There was plenty of word salad being tossed from each of the coaches, which isn’t uncommon in a press conference setting, but there were a few things that stood out.
For starters, Buffalo’s new offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. certainly has quite the affinity for his new head coach, which is likely music to the ears of many in the fanbase, especially considering that Carmichael Jr. has been around such a league-wide respected coach like the aforementioned Payton for so long, which included capturing a victory together in Super Bowl XLIV at the conclusion of the 2009 season with the New Orleans Saints.
“I’m excited to be here. I’ve waited about seven years to have an opportunity to get back coaching with Joe Brady, so I’m fired up about that and I’m ready to get going . . . I just love his passion — he loves the game, (and) he loves to be around it. His ability to communicate to the players (is great). I mean, there’s just so much about it (that I’m excited for). And, early on when we started working together, you could tell right away that there’s something special about this guy,” Carmichael Jr., who worked with Brady in New Orleans in 2018 and 2019 under Payton, said at his introductory press conference on Thursday.
“Obviously, the game evolves every year. Defenses evolve, as well. So, that time apart (from each other), obviously there’s a lot of new ideas that (Joe) is going to have (and) some that I’ve come upon with the staffs that I’ve been on. So, one thing that fired me up the most was when he said, ‘Hey, next week when the whole staff’s in and we’re going to get started — we’re just going to sit down and start from square one, and build this thing.’ And, obviously there’s a big part of it that’s already built with the success that they’ve had, but (it’s an) opportunity to maybe tweak a thing here or there. But, obviously everything will run through the quarterback here, and that’s what’s most important.”
The Bills’ newest offensive coordinator won’t be calling plays, but he’ll be an integral part in helping Brady’s unit. He knows that he has special players like Josh Allen, James Cook, and Dalton Kincaid already at his disposal, and he’s hoping to just help them — and everyone involved with the offense — in whatever way possible.
“I think the main thing is, when you talk about things that might come up with the head coach that he’s got to deal with and he’s not able to be in the room, that the message that he wants portrayed — whether it’s to the coaching staff, the team, (or) whoever — that I’m portraying the exact same message that he would want the players to hear. Maybe (it’s) how are we running this route? How are we blocking this scheme? But, he wants to make sure that the communication is as if he was in the room saying it,” Carmichael Jr. added.
“I think there’s a little bit of organization that comes with (being in my role). Making sure that the staff is all on the same page when Joe’s not going to be able to be there . . . but again, just when it comes to even just creating the gameplan and coming up with some ideas that, you know, that the head coach is going to like. You know, ‘Hey — here’s some thoughts for you.’ (Then) we put them together. But again, it’s really the process of — whatever is going on without (the head coach) being able to be in the room — that his message is being portrayed.”
In regards to Jeff Rodgers, Buffalo will mark his sixth home over the span of 23 seasons at the NFL level, which has included stops in San Francisco (2003-2007, QC/Asst. ST), Carolina (2009-2010, Asst. ST, ST Coordinator), Denver (2011-2014, ST Coordinator), Chicago (2015-2017, ST Coordinator), and Arizona (2018-2025, ST Coordinator) prior to joining Joe Brady’s staff.
The switch to Rodgers comes just one season after Buffalo already made a change at the special teams coordinator position last year, moving from Matthew Smiley to Chris Tabor in 2025, so the task of “unlearning” Tabor’s techniques and switching over to how Rodgers would like things done shouldn’t be a massive overhaul.
With that said, the former longtime Cardinals coordinator expects to hit the ground running with his cast of characters, and he’s particularly excited about kickoff return specialist Ray Davis, who was named a First-Team All Pro last season following a breakout campaign that saw the former fourth-round pick out of Kentucky tally a league-leading 30.4 yard-per-return average and one touchdown on 31 returns after taking over the role full time in Week 9.
Still, the veteran coach admitted it’s incredibly early on in the process, and he’ll have a better idea of how everything will come together in the coming months.
Rodgers does, however, know what you can expect from his group in terms of basic principles come September.
“Ball security (is) number one. That’s always what we talk about in the return game. We try to play penalty-free as much as we can . . . those two things are primary things for us. We try to be a good tackling team and really emphasize fundamentals,” Rodgers said on Thursday.
“I want guys to play fast, and I want us to play fundamentally sound. I want — if a guy ran 4.5 at the combine — I want him to play like that. I think, at times, we are all guilty of, as coaches, we’re trying to overload players with information and it slows them down. And, if you can play fast, (then) you’re usually doing the right things (and) avoiding negative plays, whether it’s penalties or ball security. You know, we try and play penalty-free and have 100% ball security. And, if you’re playing fast, you’re playing with energy, and you’re not hurting yourself, usually that’s going to get good results.”
As for Buffalo’s other new coach, Jim Leonhard, there’s probably no hire that has ignited more of a spark amongst the fanbase than the former University of Wisconsin defensive coordinator has.
Coming off two seasons as a pass game coordinator and assistant head coach with the Denver Broncos in 2024 and 2025, Leonhard comes to Buffalo to embark on his first journey as a coordinator at the NFL level after doing so for six seasons at Wisconsin (2017-2022), which is also where he starred at safety during his collegiate career from 2001 to 2004.
Ironically, after going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, Leonhard began his professional career playing in Buffalo from 2005 to 2007 and returned for another season in 2013, which makes this newest transition just a little bit easier for the former Bill.
“Buffalo is a unique place, right? It’s a unique place in the NFL. And, the thing that stuck with me and kind of stood out early, and then stuck with me throughout my career, (was) that the locker room felt a little bit different here as far as how tight it was, how much players hung out with each other and the interaction away from this building was different than almost every other place I was (as a player and coach). And, that memory always stuck with me, right? Some of my closer friends that I stayed in touch with throughout, you know, even to this day were here,” Leonhard said when speaking to the local media for the first time.
“Outside of that, it’s just the fanbase — they just want to win, right? They want to support this team. They want to just be a part of a Super Bowl champion team, and they’re going to get on you when you’re not playing well, right? They’re going to have the answers when you’re struggling. But, deep down they really just want to watch you succeed, and they want these players to play a certain way, right? They want the players to act a certain way . . . to respect what this place really is. That’s the thing that stuck out from the first time I was here.”
The transition that may not be so easy, though, is getting his players ready to switch from Sean McDermott’s 4-3/4-2-5 style of defense to a more hybrid, modern version of the 3-4 under Leonhard, which is what he ran during his time as coordinator at Wisconsin and what he was familiar with during his time under Vance Joseph’s tutelage in Denver.
With that said, the former 5-foot-8, 188-pound undrafted safety doesn’t feel the need to fit a square peg into a round hole, noting that he’ll tailor the scheme to fit the players on the roster.
What he won’t compromise on, however, is the fact that he expects his players and scheme to be on the attack at all times rather than being reactive to what opposing offenses are trying to do, which is something that McDermott’s defenses often drew criticism from in past seasons.
No, Buffalo’s new lead man on defense isn’t interested in counterpunching.
Instead, he and his players will gladly come out swinging first.
“There’s going to be change. It’s been a system that they’ve played in for a long time and just the structure of — what they’ve done, and how they’ve done it, and why they have done it — it’s going to be a change for them. But, we’re excited as a coaching staff to really be able to create something that is best for their skill sets and fits their personalities. I’m big on flexibility and being able to play to your best players and force offenses to, you know, try to find your issues and to have to deal with their own problems, (and) not always being reactive . . . the other exciting piece about talking with Joe Brady is kind of the autonomy he’s giving me to get the right people in the building as far as coaches, and let’s create a defense that we can all be proud of. And, let’s create a defense that the NFL doesn’t want to play against,” Leonhard said.
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches that were here. You know, starting with the defensive coordinator, Bobby Babich. He was one of my last DB coaches in Cleveland, right? So, I’ve known him for years. Sean McDermott, obviously highly respected in this business and has done things at a very high level for a long time. We’re going to do it a little bit differently than they did, but also understand the respect for what they’ve done and the success that they’ve had in this place, right? They built this roster. It’s my job to flip it and transition it a little bit to what my vision and what Joe’s vision is for this football team. But, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them because I know they’re great coaches, and they put their heart and soul into this place.”
Stay tuned for more coverage of all that takes place this offseason from One Bills Drive right here at the Buffalo FamBase blog.
Editor’s babble: We are grateful to John Green for his contributions to our blog. You can also find John on X @JGreen_PRsports.
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