The Buffalo Bills have been looking for the right offensive line coach following Aaron Kromer’s retirement. Reportedly, Pat Mayer is to be named offensive line coach of the Bills beginning with the 2026 NFL season, per Ian Rapoport. It’s a key hire, and one that may allow Buffalo’s offensive line to maintain a large percentage of communication instill in them by Kromer.
Mayer is a branch off the Kromer’s coaching tree, having previously spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons with Buffalo as an assistant
under Kromer, per Sal Capaccio — who points out that a “lot of his teaching/style comes from their time together, so current Bills OL should be familiar with language and techniques.” It’s a solid hire by Brady to try and keep as much consistency as possible in the offensive line room.
There’s also familiarity between Brady and Meyer, the two having worked together as part of the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coaching ranks during the 2020 and 2021 NFL seasons.
Mayer has an extensive coaching resume that includes college football, the CFL, and the NFL. Meyer got his start in coaching with Memphis, where he was a graduate assistant from 1997 through 1998 before a promotion to the team’s strength and conditioning coach in 1999. Mayer would go on to serve as a strength and conditioning coach for two more college programs — NC State (2000-2006) and Florida State (2007).
In 2008, Mayer made the jump to coaching offensive linemen with Colorado State, doing so for four seasons and through the 2011 campaign. Mayer then made his way to the CFL in 2012, spending a season in Canada as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach for the Montreal Alouettes.
From there, Mayer found his way to coaching in the NFL, first as an assistant offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears (2013-2014), then his initial two-season stint with the Bills (2015-2016). After leaving Buffalo, Mayer was the offensive line coach/run game coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers (2017-2019) before he joined the Panthers as offensive line coach (2020-2021).
Mayer spent the past four seasons coaching the offensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2022-2025). Per a post by Ben with BillsAccess, the Steelers’ offensive line in 2025 finished with:
The fewest quarterback pressures;
had the lowest pressure rate allowed;
were third in pass-blocking win rate;
ninth in run-blocking win rate;
had the second-fewest holding penalties;
and the second-fewest false-start penalties.
Prior to coaching football, Mayer was with the Arizona Cardinals for the 1995 NFL season, then the St. Louis Stampede of professional arena football fame in 1996.
