The Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator Joe Brady has been linked with virtually every head coaching job opening in the NFL in the past few years. He first interviewed with teams in 2021 before giving it another go with the Falcons in 2024 and the Saints and Bears in 2025.

While Penn State is not an NFL job, it’s only right that Brady be thrown into the mix for the job. The obvious link is that the owner of the Bills, Terry Pegula, is a Penn State super booster. If he were to see his talented offensive coordinator leave, why not to his alma mater?

Brady also started his FBS coaching career with the Nittany Lions, working as a graduate assistant while earning his master’s in education from the school. That season, the staff was filled with future head coaches in Brent Pry, Joe Moorhead, Charles Huff, Terry Smith, and obviously, James Franklin.

Brady has proven his ability to recruit and dominate the college football landscape as the passing game coordinator & wide receivers coach for the 2019 LSU team. The Bills’ coordinator won the Broyles Award that season as the best assistant coach in the country.

Penn State fans are begging for an offense-minded coach after the Nittany Lions consistently struggled to develop offensive talent and score points with Franklin at the helm.

History

Brady began his coaching career with his alma mater, William & Mary, where he worked as a linebackers coach for the Tribe in 2013 and 2014. As mentioned earlier, he left Virginia to pursue his master’s and work under Franklin in 2015.

Following his time in Happy Valley, Brady moved to the NFL as the Saints’ offensive assistant for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. New Orleans won back-to-back division titles and finished third in the league with 911 total points. Quarterback Drew Brees also saw an uptick in those seasons with a passer rating of 109.5, the second-best in the league.

The former William & Mary wide receiver decided to go back to the college game in 2019 to join arguably the best FBS team of all time: LSU. With Brady as the passing game coordinator & wide receivers coach, the Tigers went 15-0, beating seven top ten teams and winning a national championship along the way.

LSU finished the season with the No. 1 offense, averaging 568.5 yards and 48.4 points per game. This, in large part, was due to Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, whom Brady was in charge of coaching. Chase won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver that season.

Brady made the jump back to the NFL after finding instant success in Baton Rouge, this time as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. He remained in Carolina for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During this time, the Panthers set a franchise record with just 45 punts in a season and became the fifth unit in the Super Bowl era to produce four different 1000-yard players.

Brady landed at his current job with the Bills the following season in 2022. In his first season he led the Bills to be the first team in NFL history to score 30+ rushing and 30+ receiving touchdowns. This momentum has continued as Brady is credited as a large influence on Josh Allen’s development and getting him to the MVP in 2024.

Is It Realistic?

The biggest difference between Brady and other coaching candidates is the money situation. While reports are unclear, the consensus is that the Bills’ offensive coordinator is making around $1.8 million per year. Even for a first-time head coach, Penn State could easily quadruple that if they believe in him.

The issue is Brady’s lack of college football roles since 2019. It’s odd that after such success with LSU in 2019, he hasn’t been back to the college level. A reason for this, Sports Illustrated reported in 2021, is his dislike for the recruiting aspect of college.

In the NFL, it’s football all the time; college coaches have a lot more on their plates. Even Terry Smith, Penn State’s interim head coach, acknowledged that since being named the leader of the team, he has done the least amount of football work in his life. Instead, a ton of meetings and recruiting.

For some, even an extra $7 million isn’t worth the year-round grind that comes with leading a college football team. This is especially true when it is likely Brady will get a shot as an NFL head coach in the coming years.

There is also the case that Pat Kraft chooses to look in another direction, even if Brady does show interest in the job. To be a talented recruiter, you have to be all in on it. There is also the fact that he doesn’t have head coaching experience at any level.

The final hurdle is the timing of it all. Even if Pegula fully backs the hiring of Brady to the Nittany Lions, it would fall right in a crucial part of the NFL season. Penn State will likely need to bring someone in by the final week of November or early December, less than a month before the NFL playoffs start.

The Bills have an ultra-talented team this season and are Super Bowl contenders. If Brady is not fully into the idea of getting back into college, why leave his team right before the chase for a ring begins?