Bills Central

Buffalo Bills' Dion Dawkins delivers seal of approval on team's next head coach

The Bills' offensive lineman gave his perspective on the hiring of Joe Brady.
Alex Brasky|
Buffalo Bills tackle Dion Dawkins (73) during AFC practice at the Flag Fieldhouse Moscone Center South Building.
Buffalo Bills tackle Dion Dawkins (73) during AFC practice at the Flag Fieldhouse Moscone Center South Building. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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A mixed reaction followed the Buffalo Bills’ hiring of Joe Brady as their next head coach.

The fan base was split on the decision, with many initially vocalizing their displeasure over the move, only to switch gears and celebrate the hire after Brady's introductory press conference.

With that said, among the players in the Bills’ locker room, there has been nothing but fierce support for their former offensive coordinator-turned-head-coach. And on Wednesday, left tackle Dion Dawkins expressed his thoughts on the change.

RELATED: Joe Brady claps back at Bills' critics who say he can't become demanding head coach

Dion Dawkins
Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins (73) warms up prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Local appearance

Dawkins appeared at this week’s Pro Bowl Games and has also stopped by to chat with a few different outlets while on the scene of Super Bowl LX. Amid his appearances, Dawkins spent some time with the team’s in-house radio program, One Bills Live, and offered a rave review of Brady’s hiring.

“I love Joe Brady, man,” said Dawkins virtually. “I am blessed that Joe Brady got the job.”

Dawkins then expanded on the primary reason why he believes Brady is the right man for the job.

“I think it’s great that somebody came in that as already there, right?” added the Bills’ left tackle. “Like, I don’t think that there should be somebody drastically new for a guy like Josh Allen.”

Allen and Brady have worked together since the 2022 season, with Allen earning the 2024 NFL MVP award while Brady served as his offensive coordinator.

“And for Brady to be able to slide right on in, I think it’s pretty cool,” added Dawkins.

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Cohesion

The Bills’ left tackle may see it as a positive that Brady has remained as the leader of the Bills’ offense while also taking on his added duties as head coach. But it is valid to question whether that is indeed what the team needed when making a change in leadership.

Maintaining the status quo at the top of the coaching staff can be sold as a good thing, as Dawkins has tried to do. However, for a team that has seemed to plateau the past few seasons, it was reasonable to believe moving in a different direction was the correct route to take.

Having said that, Brady’s hiring brought sweeping change elsewhere throughout the organization. Under the first-year head coach, the Bills will welcome several new assistant coaches and coordinators, creating a distinct shift for the team in 2026.

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Joe Brady
Joe Brady talks about his respect of his players at press conference that introduced him as the new head coach at the Bills field house in Orchard Park on Jan. 29, 2026. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So, while the look of the Bills’ offense should remain relatively unchanged for Allen entering next season, there will be other new elements of the organization that will take some getting used to for players, coaches and other staff members alike.

There’s plenty of unknown surrounding this team amid the start of the offseason, and if the moves they’ve made in recent weeks don’t prove to be the right ones, we could see more heads roll next January.

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Alex Brasky
ALEX BRASKY

Alex Brasky is editor of Bills Digest and host of the Buffalo Pregame podcast. He has been on the Bills beat the past six seasons and now joins Sports Illustrated hoping to expand his coverage of Buffalo’s favorite football team.

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