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Bills coaching rumors tracker: Latest news on Brian Daboll, Joe Brady, other potential Sean McDermott replacements

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Brian Daboll

Bills coaching rumors tracker: Latest news on Brian Daboll, Joe Brady, other potential Sean McDermott replacements originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Buffalo Bills became the tenth team to fire their head coach in the 2025-2026 season as they parted ways with Sean McDermott. He was hired ahead of the 2017 season and amassed a 98-50 regular-season record.

McDermott was let go after another early playoff exit. He went 8-8 in the postseason and never won in the AFC Championship Game to make the Super Bowl. 

This puts some pressure on the possible head coaching candidate for the Bills. McDermott won the AFC East five of the last six seasons. Buffalo believes it is in win-now mode, and the new head coach will be expected to hit the ground running and may not have a year or two to ease into the gig. This suggests that the Bills will target experienced head coaches, which makes the hiring process all the more interesting. 

Here are the latest rumors on Buffalo's coaching search.

MORE: Ranking the best Bills coaching candidates to replace Sean McDermott

Bills coaching rumors tracker

Joe Brady gets second Raiders interview

Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, also a top candidate for a promotion to head coach in Buffalo, is in Las Vegas on Sunday for a second interview for the Raiders' head coaching job, per Schefter. 

Bills complete interview with Grant Udinski

Also on Sunday, Buffalo completed an interview with the Jaguars' offensive coordinator Grant Udinski. Udinski is a fast-rising 30-year-old assistant who has already garnered significant interest from other teams, including the Cleveland Browns.

Philip Rivers 'under serious consideration' for Bills job

Rapoport reports that former quarterback Philip Rivers is under "serious consideration" for the Buffalo Bills' head coaching vacancy after an impressive in-person interview. Despite Rivers having only high school coaching experience, his strong relationship with Josh Allen and his reputation as a charismatic leader have made him a legitimate candidate to replace Sean McDermott.

Bills QB, two HC candidates share the same agent

The Bills have interviewed former quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Davis Webb for their open head coaching position. Both of them, as well as current quarterback Josh Allen, share the same agent. 

Bills complete interview with Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver

Buffalo fielded an interview with Miami defensive coordinator  Anthony Weaver on Saturday. The former Ravens and Texans defensive end has been a hot name in the coaching carousel in recent years, also drawing interest from the Ravens and Steelers in their head-coaching searches.

Chargers OC Mike McDaniel cancels Bills interview

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has already accepted a job as the Los Angeles Chargers' new offensive coordinator, though the contract remains unsigned. This was more of a backup plan for him, as he is still eligible to interview for head coaching roles. McDaniel was expected to interview with the Browns and the Bills last week but backed out of both. 

McDaniel was scheduled to meet with the Bills on Friday, January 23.

Bills interviewed Philip Rivers

Rivers came out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts at the end of the year, and he did say he might be interested in coaching once he retires for good. Rivers has experience coaching high school football, but none at the pro level.

Anthony Lynn on Bills interview list

Lynn will interview on Saturday as part of a busy weekend for the Bills interview team, as all these interviews will take place in Florida. The former Los Angeles Chargers coach spent a few seasons in Buffalo as an assistant coach under Rex Ryan, and even coached one game as an interim head coach.

Bills scheduled to interview Mike McDaniel Friday

McDaniel agreed to take the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator job, but that is only if he doesn'd land a head coaching opportunity. The former Miami Dolphins head coach played the Bills twice a season in the AFC East for the last four years.

Bills to interview Brian Daboll

Next up on the Bills interview list is Brian Daboll. The 50-year-old was Buffalo's offensive coordinator from 2018-21, parlaying his success with the Josh Allen-attack into a head-coaching gig with the Giants. Per Russini, Daboll's covets the Bills position. He'll get his first chance to push for the role on Thursday.

Beane says Bills' search '100 percent' open

Speaking to the media alongside owner Terry Pegula, Bills GM Brandon Beane said Wednesday that the team will conduct "100 percent an open search," with Josh Allen expected to have input. Beane says the list of candidates the Bills plan to interview includes coaches still coaching in the playoffs.

Grant Udinski, Anthony Weaver on Bills' wishlist

The Bills' fifth and sixth interview requests went out to Jaguars OC Grant Udinski and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver. Udinski, who would be the youngest head coach in NFL history if hired, has a second interview lined up with the Browns, while Weaver is a candidate for the Ravens and Steelers jobs. 

Bills request interview with Lou Anarumo

The first defensive-minded candidate for the Bills is Colts DC Lou Anarumo, who has never been an NFL head coach but has drawn interest for his work between Cincinnati and Indianapolis. Anarumo is the fourth known head coaching candidate for the Bills.

Bills request interviews with initial three candidates

The Bills will interview Anthony Lynn, Brian Daboll, and Joe Brady for their head coaching job, making that trio the first three confirmed candidates.

Lynn, formerly the head coach of the Chargers and once a Bills assistant, is currently the Commanders’ running game coordinator, while Brady is the Bills’ offensive coordinator and Daboll held that role from 2018-21 before becoming the Giants’ head coach.

Will Bills hire Brian Daboll?

Daboll is likely going to be a coaching candidate for the open job in Buffalo. Despite what happened during his tenure with the New York Giants, he did serve as the Bills' offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. This coincided with the first four seasons of Allen's career, so Daboll helped provide a foundation for the quarterback.

In the four seasons with Daboll as the OC, Allen played in 61 games and had 14,114 passing yards with 100 touchdowns and 46 interceptions. He added 2,325 rushing yards with 31 touchdowns on the ground.

The quarterback has played in 67 games without Daboll as his OC. In that span, he has 15,988 yards with 117 touchdowns and 48 interceptions. Allen has 2,396 rushing yards with 48 touchdowns on the ground. 

MORE: What's next for Sean McDermott?

Will Bills hire Joe Brady?

Brady is the current offensive coordinator for the Bills. He would help to provide consistency in the organization, but Buffalo would have to decide if it trusts that the OC has something in him to get past the postseason hump that plagued McDermott's tenure. 

He served as the quarterbacks coach in 2022 and 2023 before being promoted to interim offensive coordinator in 2023. He was made the permanent offensive coordinator in 2024, coincidentally the year that Allen won his first MVP Award. 

MORE: Why did the Bills fire Sean McDermott?

In the two full seasons with Brady as the OC, Allen has played in 34 games and had 7,399 yards with 53 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with an additional 1,110 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground. 

Further Reading