When Sean McDermott took over the reins of the Buffalo Bills in 2017, they were in the middle of the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. He ended the streak in his very first season. Joe Brady is under no pressure to end any playoff drought as the Bills’ head coach, but he does have eyes on him to see how he leads the AFC’s strongest contenders.
In his very first offseason has come off like a players’ coach. While McDermott did have a different style, he did loosen up in his final years. However, with Brady, the vibes are completely different already, and former NFL head coach Eric Mangini believes that image won’t always work in his favor.
“It’s great to be the cool guy and the fun guy, and you know, everybody wants to be that, but at some point, you’re going to have to make really tough decisions about whether it’s cuts or discipline or all those things,” Mangini said on First Things First. “And being the cool fun guy isn’t necessarily going to serve you as well as you hope in that moment, and you know, we’ll see.”
McDermott’s style of coaching helped him lead the Bills to eight playoff appearances in nine seasons. Joe Brady is yet to kick off his first training camp as the Bills’ head coach. But after the observations, The Athletic’s Tim Graham shared from the OTAs and minicamp, it is clear he has a lot of supporters in the locker room already.
“Now, high-ranking Bills staffers watch players whooping around the practice field and remark how Brady is “a breath of fresh air.’ Brady loves his fellas…More than football drills, field-day competitions like tug-of-war and obstacle courses took place at OTAs, where obscene music blared across the practice fields. Players rave about how cool Brady is,” Graham wrote for The Athletic.
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Mangini pointed out the other side of the leadership. On one hand, Brady seems to focus on becoming a players’ coach, especially for the new players who don’t know the Bills’ system. But on the other hand, he will also need to make tough decisions.
The Bills will enter training camp with a 90-man roster. But once roster cutdown week arrives, Brady will have to make difficult decisions on who stays, who gets released, and who earns a spot on the practice squad. And then there’s the disciplinary part, especially once the season kicks off.
During the 2025 season, the Bills allowed 101 penalties, which was the 13th fewest in the league. They also registered for 848 penalty yards, placing them as a top team in the league for the fewest yards lost. When the penalties became a problem, McDermott even called the players out last season. The same problem even cost them in the Divisional Round game against the Broncos. Brady will need to solve that in his first year as the Bills’ HC, if he wants to avoid any playoff heartbreak.
While players have praised Joe Brady’s personality already, Mangini’s points are valid, and the 36-year-old will have to be assertive to get his points across and command the locker room.
