The Buffalo Bills have added another branch from the Sean Payton coaching tree, hiring former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and current Denver Broncos senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael
Jr. as their new offensive coordinator. For a young, first-time head coach, it seems like the 54-year-old Carmichael is a perfect fit for Joe Brady’s staff.
Pete Carmichael’s coaching career
Carmichael broke into the NFL in 2000 as the Cleveland Browns tight ends coach under Chris Palmer. He spent a year in Washington as an offensive assistant with Marty Schottenheimer and joined Schottenheimer with the San Diego Chargers from 2002 to 2005, topping out at assistant wide receivers coach. In 2006, he joined Sean Payton’s brand new staff in New Orleans as the quarterbacks coach before adding the passing game coordinator title in 2007. In 2009, he was named offensive coordinator replacing Doug Marrone when he left to coach Syracuse University. He remained in that position until 2023, working under Payton and eventually his replacement, Dennis Allen. He was fired after the 2023 season and joined Payton with the Denver Broncos as a senior offensive assistant.
Carmichael has a direct line to Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, who also joined the Saints in 2006. The Saints teams under Carmichael ranked first in yards in his first six seasons and in the top nine every year he was coordinator (including after the retirement of Brees).
