Bills OC Accepting Falcons Interview Day Before Playoff Game Turns Heads

The Buffalo Bills’ entire season changed when they sacked offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and appointed Joe Brady as his replacement.

Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Bills, and company found their spark again, and the squad began to win. There is no denying Brady’s ability to transform the Bills offense from a dismal mess to a postseason contender. The Atlanta Falcons asked Brady to an interview for their open head coaching post on January 19.

But many supporters were horrified when the Falcons revealed on Saturday, January 21 that they had finished interviewing Brady. The hosts of the Cover 1 podcast wrote, “This s*** needs to stop,” on X, the former name of Twitter. Our next game is tomorrow. Interviews and hiring for head coaching positions shouldn’t begin until the Thursday following the Super Bowl.

“Interviewing coaches still active in the playoffs is the dumbest rule the NFL has,” objected a Bills stats account. Even Chiefs supporters were shocked. “The day before a game?,” said Arrowhead Pride on Facebook. SMH.

Tod Palmer of KSHB 41, though, didn’t observe the damage. “It makes sense because there is no practice and the game plan is set for tomorrow,” he wrote. The interview was conducted virtually, as the Falcons mentioned in their statement. The day before the Bills took on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional playoff, Joe Brady did not board a plane for Atlanta.

Before their playoff match, coaches other than Brady are interviewing to become head coaches. “Chargers completed their head coaching interview with Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson today,” according to a Saturday report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. On Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, the Detroit Lions take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional round.

The NFL Changed Head Coaching Interview Rules Ahead of the 2024 NFL Season

The NFL shared a new set of rules ahead of the 2024 NFL season that allow teams with open head coaching positions to start requesting interviews on January 8. “Interviews with employees of other clubs must be conducted virtually prior to the conclusion of the Divisional playoff games on Sunday, January 21,” the notice states.

Yahoo! Sports reported, “Executives believe that the virtual interview caveat will keep tampering and rule violations at bay, executive vice president Dasha Smith said.”

The Falcons would have had to wait until the employer’s club’s season ended to do an initial interview with Brady if it hadn’t happened this past weekend. Brady, 34, is up against a lot of competition for the head coaching job. Bill Belichick, the legendary former New England Patriot, is regarded as the front-runner to succeed Arthur Smith.

Other offensive coordinators that Atlanta has spoken with include Brian Callahan of the Bengals, Jim Harbaugh of Michigan, Brian Johnson of the Eagles, Ejiro Evero of the Panthers, Mike Macdonald of the Ravens, Raheem Morris of the Rams, Anthony Weaver of the Ravens, assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the Ravens, and Steve Wilks of the 49ers.

Joe Brady & the Bills are Focused on Defeating the Chiefs

It’s easy to understand why Brady has become a popular choice for head coach. According to Bleacher Report, the Bills have averaged 27.5 points every week in the eight games since Brady took over. Buffalo’s success has carried over into the postseason, as they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–17 in the wild-card round.

Speaking with reporters on January 18, Brady gave the impression that he was ready for the Chiefs by bringing out their best player: Allen.

Even though Dorsey restrained Allen from using his full potential as a dual-threat quarterback, Allen has been rushing the ball more often during the Bills’ current seven-game winning streak. Against the Steelers, Allen’s 52-yard rushing touchdown was the pinnacle of the “Josh Allen experience.”

“That’s who he is,” Brady said. “He’s a human eraser. He makes bad plays and bad play calls, he makes them work… All the time I’m telling him, ‘Hey look, man. There’s three guys around you. It’s the NFL. Just go down, you’re not going to able to do it.’ Well, he proved me wrong.”

That will so cause me to regress a little. Josh Allen is such a tremendous football player that I believe you’re probably doing him a disservice if you hold him back.