Flowery Branch, Georgia The Atlanta Falcons have conducted a virtual interview with Joe Brady for the vacant head coaching position, the team announced on Saturday, January 20.
Brady is a noted offensive thinker who has spent the last two seasons coaching quarterbacks for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, and is presently serving as temporary offensive coordinator. Brady returned to the league as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints from 2017 to 2018, after helping lead LSU to a national championship as the passing game coordinator with Joe Burrow at quarterback in 2019.
According to NFL standards, interviews with employees from other clubs must take place virtually before to the completion of Divisional Playoff games on Sunday, January 21. If the employer club had a Wild Card bye, virtual interviews had to take place before the Wild Card games ended.
If the employer club was a Wild Card participant, virtual interviews might begin three days after the Wild Card game and must be completed before the Divisional Playoff games.
Beginning Monday, January 22, clubs may conduct in-person or virtual interviews with candidates employed by other NFL clubs whose seasons have ended, but they are not permitted to conduct initial interviews with candidates employed by clubs competing in the Conference Championship Games until the end of the employer club’s season.
Interview date: Saturday, January 20.
Current job: Interim offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills.
Highlights from the resume:
Brady worked as the passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach at LSU in 2019, during the Tigers’ national championship season.
Carolina Panthers, 2020-21: He returned to the NFL to serve as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator for two years.
Buffalo Bills, 2022-23: He joined the Bills as quarterbacks coach and became interim offensive coordinator during the current 2023 season, though he continues to instruct quarterbacks.
Falcons connection: Brady has a few indirect links to the Falcons. Brady spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons in New Orleans as an offensive assistant with the Saints. Terry Fontenot, the current Falcons general manager, was in charge of the Saints’ front office at the time, and defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen was coaching the defensive line in New Orleans as well.
Brady also faced the Falcons defense several times as an offensive play caller for the Panthers from 2020 to 2021. The Panthers were 2-2 versus the Falcons throughout those two seasons.
Furthermore, as CBS correspondent Jonathan Jones reported on Friday, Brady interviewed for the head coaching position in Atlanta in 2021 before Arthur Smith was hired head coach.
Why he’s a candidate: Few guys have acquired as much respect for their work as Brady has over the previous five years. Brady’s name has been mentioned in practically every coaching candidate pool since he rose to national prominence during the LSU Tigers’ 2019 national championship season. This offseason’s coaching carousel is no exception.
What distinguishes Brady from some of the next generation of NFL quarterbacks is the success he has seen them have while working with him.
Most recently, in his first year with Josh Allen in Buffalo, Brady helped Allen to a Pro Bowl season and MVP consideration. Though Brady’s tenure in Carolina was unsuccessful from 2020 to 2021, he did command an offensive unit that became the fifth in Super Bowl history to produce four separate players with over 1,000 scrimmage yards. Brady’s one year at LSU saw him work with Joe Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy that season.
It is no secret that the Falcons are in the market for a quarterback. After parting ways with Arthur Smith on Jan. 8, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and team CEO Rich McKay stated that the job was appealing because the next head coach would be free to “pick their own partner” at the quarterback position. Few candidates have had as much success as Brady in teaching top-tier quarterbacks. If the Falcons need a quarterback whisperer, Brady could be the guy.
Strikes against: Brady, like the other candidates the Falcons interviewed for the position of head coach, has never been a head coach in his career. Brady, unlike some of the other possibilities, has never been a head coach at any level, whether college or professional. Brady, 34, is also one of the Falcons’ youngest candidates disclosed thus far.
