Former Panthers OC Joe Brady’s Ascension Provides Major ‘What-If’

The Buffalo Bills are promoting Joe Brady to head coach after firing former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott earlier this month. The connection doesn't stop there.

The #Bills are promoting their own OC Joe Brady to head coach, per The Insiders. pic.twitter.com/EkQtXXKL5n
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 27, 2026

Panthers fans may be thinking, "Joe Brady? Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time." Brady was once the wunderkind offensive coordinator Matt Rhule hired to run his offense when he took over.

Obviously, none of that panned out, but with Brady, at just 36, getting to coach Josh Allen, it begs the question: what if it had?

Joe Brady's Panthers failure stings more with Bills' promotion

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady greets players as they take the field before their game against the Bengals | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joe Brady was the offensive coordinator in Carolina for just two seasons. He was hired by Matt Rhule in January of 2020, and Rhule fired him in December of 2021. In 2020, Brady's offense was halfway decent, scoring 350 points, which is the most any Panthers team has scored in the last seven years.

They regressed in 2021, putting up 304 points, so Brady was fired. He was, at the time, the kind of aggressive hire that would get a ton of praise in the current climate. Brady had just coordinated the most prolific passing offense in college football history.

That sort of bold, visionary hire would've been praised plenty, and at the time, it wasn't seen as a controversial or bad move. In fact, many thought Brady would have the ascension he seems to have had, he just couldn't do it with the Panthers.

Now, in his defense, Teddy Bridgewater is not Josh Allen, although Brady had Bridgewater and company playing fairly well that season. Bridgewater topped 3,700 yards, and the Panthers had three wide receivers over 800 receiving yards.

Good for Joe Brady - who wasn’t given a fair shake in Carolina years ago.
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) January 27, 2026

Of course, the collection of Christian McCaffrey, Curtis Samuel, DJ Moore, and Robbie Anderson (we promise he was good back then) is a better weapon cohort than Allen has had during his time with Brady, so perhaps it evens out.

All of this is to say that Brady has arrived like we all thought he would. The Panthers, much like they were for every single player in that time period, were just not the ideal place to thrive and grow. Or Rhule fired him prematurely, which is also possible.

The Panthers are in a solid spot, but what if Brady had been able to evolve and grow with the Panthers? He might be their head coach, and things might be different.

Time will tell if Brady's the right choice for the Bills or if he's a better offensive mind/coach than Dave Canales, so it may not matter. We're still left wondering what if, though.

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