The sudden firing of Sean McDermott left the Buffalo locker room in turmoil, forcing Joe Brady to confront professional devastation before his unexpected rise to head coach.
January 19, 2026 is going to be a day Buffalo Bills fans will remember for years to come. Following yet another heartbreaking playoff loss, the team fired head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons.
The decision sent shockwaves not only through the organization and fanbase but through the league as well. But aside from McDermott himself, one person who may have been hurt the most when the firing was announced was Joe Brady.
Before becoming the 21st head coach in franchise history, Brady was the team's offensive coordinator. It had only been a couple of days since Buffalo's season ended at the hands of the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional round, and he had no clue what would happen next.
His boss was fired.
In a recent sit-down interview with Matt Parrino of the Shout! Buffalo Bills Podcast, Brady called the day he found out "devastating".
Brady said that though you never know what was going to happen---he was interviewing for other head coaching jobs around the league at the time---he was happy he got to be the offensive coordinator of the Bills. No matter what happened [with the interviews], he loved he would still be on Buffalo's staff.
When McDermott was let go, that all changed.
“I was broken,” Brady told Parrino. “I was broken for a guy that I worked for. I was also broken for the rest of the coaching staff that is sitting there, like, we’re all out of jobs right now. There was a lot of emotion going on."
Brady said that it dawned on him that the only thing he wasn't going to be in 2026 is offensive coordinator of the Bills.
"That was not a fun day," he added, saying he's only in Buffalo because of McDermott. "There was nothing exciting about that day. So much has happened through that, but I'll never forget that moment when that happened."
Ultimately, Brady was hired as the next Bills head coach on January 27, eight days after his old head coach was fired. And now, he's in charge of trying to do what McDermott couldn't, bring a Super Bowl to Western New York.
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