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01/31 11:03 CST New Bills coach Brady fills defensive coordinator job by
agreeing to hire Leonhard, AP source says
New Bills coach Brady fills defensive coordinator job by agreeing to hire
Leonhard, AP source says
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Sports Writer
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) --- The Buffalo Bills have reached an agreement to hire
Jim Leonhard as their defensive coordinator under new head coach Joe Brady, a
person with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Leonhard has yet
to sign a contract. ESPN first reported the agreement.
The 43-year-old Leonhard spent the past two seasons with the Denver Broncos,
including last year as the team's assistant head coach and defensive pass game
coordinator. He is the second Broncos assistant to join Brady's staff after
Pete Carmichael agreed to become Buffalo's offensive coordinator a day earlier.
Brady previously worked with Carmichael in New Orleans but has no immediate
connections to Leonhard. Buffalo's season ended with a 33-30 overtime loss to
the Broncos two weeks ago in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Leonhard's hiring fills a key vacancy as the Bills move forward under Brady,
Buffalo's offensive coordinator, who takes over after Sean McDermott was fired
following a nine-year tenure.
While Brady brings continuity to Buffalo's Josh Allen-led offense, Leonhard
will oversee a unit that was built to meet McDermott's defensive vision. He
replaces Bobby Babich, who spent the past two seasons as the Bills coordinator
before leaving to take the same position in Green Bay last week.
In his opening news conference on Thursday, Brady envisioned Buffalo's defense
taking on an attacking identity similar to his approach on offense. Injuries
and a transition to youth led to Buffalo finishing seventh in the NFL in yards
allowed but 28th against the run and 14th in sacks per passing attempts.
The Broncos, by comparison, finished with 68 sacks last season to lead the NFL
for a second straight year.
It's a homecoming for Leonhard, who spent two separate stints in Buffalo during
a 10-year career as an NFL defensive back, including his first three spanning
2005-07. He was an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin and ended his career
with Cleveland in 2014.
Two years later, Leonhard returned to Wisconsin to begin his coaching career
and worked his way up from overseeing the Badgers secondary to a five-year
stint as defensive coordinator. He closed the 2022 season as Wisconsin's
interim head coach following Paul Chryst's dismissal, before leaving the
program to spend the following year at Illinois.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
