Bills fire Sean McDermott: Five potential replacements include Joe Brady and Chris Shula

The Buffalo Bills' 2025 season ended Saturday at the hands of the Denver Broncos, and also marked the end of an era. On Monday, the Bills made the decision to fire coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons. General manager Brandon Beane seemingly received a promotion, as he is now president of football operations/general manager, and will lead the coaching search.

McDermott went 98-50 in his nine years with Buffalo, and 8-8 in his eight playoff appearances. Those eight postseason victories are the most without a Super Bowl appearance all time, which ultimately may have played into Buffalo's decision. The Bills established themselves as a perennial playoff team with an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen. Their 73-27 record since 2020 ranks first in the NFL, as do their 29.0 points per game and 19.9 opponent points per game. McDermott made the postseason in eight of his nine years with the Bills, but simply was unable to get over the hump. 

This has been one of the most wild coaching carousels in NFL history, as the 10 coaching changes tie for the most in a single offseason in NFL history, according to CBS Sports Research. John Harbaugh has already accepted a job with the New York Giants and Kevin Stefanski has landed with the Atlanta Falcons, so who could Buffalo be targeting for its next coach? Let's take a look.

Ranking head coaching vacancies: Which of these eight remaining jobs is the most desirable?

Jared Dubin

1. Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator

The Bills have a legitimate head coaching candidate in the building right now with offensive coordinator Joe Brady. The 36-year-old offensive mind has already interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens, and received interest from the Falcons and Miami Dolphins as well. 

Brady replaced Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2023 campaign, and held onto the position. Buffalo averaged 30.9 points per game in 2024, which ranked second-most in franchise history, while Allen went on to win NFL MVP. The Bills boasted the No. 1 rushing offense this season with 159.6 rushing yards per game, averaged 376.3 yards of total offense per game, which ranked No. 4 in the NFL, and also ranked fourth in scoring offense with 28.3 points per game.

Brady caught the attention of the NFL world at 30 years old, when he served as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach with LSU during that magical 2019 season. The national champion Tigers went undefeated with college football's top-ranked offense, while Joe Burrow took home the Heisman Trophy. Under Brady's guidance that season, Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase both recorded over 1,500 yards receiving, and combined for 38 receiving touchdowns.

In 2020, Brady took a job as Matt Rhule's offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers, and actually received NFL head coaching interest after just one year. However, Brady was fired in the middle of his second season with Carolina, and widely viewed as a scapegoat of the Rhule era. He landed in Buffalo, and took off from there.

2. Chris Shula, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator

The grandson of NFL legend Don Shula is one of the hottest candidates this coaching cycle, and someone Buffalo should take a look at as well. Chris Shula has been on Sean McVay's staff since his first season as the Rams' lead man back in 2017, working in multiple capacities such as linebackers coach, pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach before receiving the promotion to defensive coordinator following Raheem Morris' departure in 2024. 

Last year, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Byron Young and Kobie Turner combined for 226 pressures -- which ranked second-most among any foursome in the NFL. Verse won Defensive Rookie of the Year after racking up 77 pressures, the second-most recorded by any rookie since 2017, when pressures were first tracked. The Rams also recorded 16 sacks in the playoffs that year, which were the most in a two-game span in NFL postseason history. In 2025, Shula's unit recorded the third-most pressures (274) and fourth-highest pressure percentage (41.7%).

3. Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator

The Seahawks are one game away from the Super Bowl, and while Mike Macdonald's suffocating defense is the headliner in Seattle, Klint Kubiak's offense deserves credit as well. Seattle ranked in the top six this season in points per game (28.4), total yards per game (351.4) and yards per play (5.9). Sam Darnold threw for 4,048 yards, which ranked fifth in the NFL, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the league in receiving yards with 1,793. Buffalo will notice that Kubiak oversaw a top 10 rushing offense, as both Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet were effective out of the backfield. 

Kubiak, who turns 39 next month, has previously worked as the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, and passing game coordinator for the Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. He is the son of Gary Kubiak, who served as a head coach with the Houston Texans and Broncos, which includes Denver's Super Bowl 50 victory with Peyton Manning in 2016. 

4. Jesse Minter, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator

Jesse Minter, 42, is another hot name this offseason, as he's been requested by virtually every NFL team searching for a new coach. Some were skeptical when Jim Harbaugh brought his defensive coordinator from Michigan over to the Chargers, but Minter has been fantastic. In his first season, L.A.'s defense allowed a league-low 17.7 points per game. The 285.2 total yards allowed per game in 2025 ranked No. 5 in the NFL, and the 20.0 points allowed per game ranked No. 9.

Minter has spent the majority of his coaching career at the college level, but did work with defensive backs for the other Harbaugh brother in Baltimore for four seasons.

5. Jon Gruden

In 2001, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the controversial decision to fire Tony Dungy and trade for Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Dungy had put together three straight winning seasons, which included an NFC Championship appearance, but the Bucs knew they weren't reaching their ceiling. Sure enough, Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl in Gruden's first season. Buffalo now finds itself in a similar situation, but won't need to trade draft capital to acquire Gruden. 

Gruden owns a 117-112 record as a head coach over 15 NFL seasons, and most recently served as a consultant for the Saints in 2023 following his four-year stint as lead man in Las Vegas. While this is a fun potential matchup, it remains unlikely. 

Gruden resigned from the Raiders in 2021 after a series of problematic emails surfaced. He is now suing the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming a "malicious and orchestrated campaign" was organized to destroy his career.