Bills' Joe Brady Credits Graduate Mentors for Coaching Foundation

New Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady has come a long way since his playing days at William & Mary, where he was a wide receiver for four seasons.

On Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Brady discussed his background and the mentors who helped shape his path to becoming an NFL head coach.

Among the most influential were former James Franklin and Joe Moorhead, a head coach and offensive coordinator under whom Brady worked early in his career.

Joe Brady's knowledge at Penn State

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"The work ethic, the approach, everything I learned from James Franklin, Joe Moorhead," Brady said. "I learned so much football doing that...and it got me an opportunity to go see big-time football and see the detail that it takes to be a part of a winning organization."

After two seasons at William and Mary as a linebackers coach, Brady shifted to the offensive side of the ball. He spent two seasons under Franklin, now Virginia Tech's head coach, and Moorhead, now Akron's head coach.

In 2016, his second season in Happy Valley, Brady helped the Nittany Lions to their first Big Ten title in eight years. He worked with future NFL standouts Saquon Barkley, the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin and tight end Mike Gesicki. They're a set of players Bills fans wish they had all at once.

"There's a lot of things I do that I still feel like I'm a GA in a lot of that sense, but the work ethic, the amount of knowledge that I learned, the process that I went in the offseason, I learned it all by being a GA," Brady said. "I wouldn't be up here if I didn't go through that."

Where Brady stands now

Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady greets players as they take the field before their game against the Bengals at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Dec. 7, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brady now leads a staff consisting of three new coordinators and 26 other assistants, some of them incumbents from Sean McDermott's old staff, some retained from the previous regime and others newly hired.

The 36-year-old is tasked with guiding a roster that includes Josh Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, but only three total Pro Bowl selections, underscoring the work ahead this offseason alongside general manager and president of football operations Brandon Beane.

Brady inherits a team with Lombardi Trophy aspirations, and the lessons he learned from his time at Penn State will continue to shape him as he approaches a new stage in his career.