Unfortunately for Joe Brady and the Carolina Panthers, at least a handful of seasons back, their relationship did not pan out. Nonetheless, both sides may have ultimately been better off for it.
In 2020, the Panthers hired Brady—a young up-and-coming play-caller out of Louisiana State University—as their offensive coordinator. But after a relatively disappointing year-and-a-half run, then-head coach Matt Rhule dismissed Brady in the middle of the 2021 campaign.
In 2026, Brady (still young at 37 years old) is now the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Thus far, his offense ranks second in the league in scoring (31.8 points per game) and seventh in total offense (386.3 yards per game), making them one of the NFL's best units.
Brady's path to the job
was never a certain one though—and he had to take some lumps in Carolina. Here's what Brady, per Ralph Vacchiano at Fox Sports, says he learned during his time with the Panthers:
"Covid hit and I didn’t spend a lot of time with my guys," Brady told Vacchiano. "I was way more Xs and Os driven than I was about anything else. I’ve kind of flipped that. The Xs and Os still hit me, but I spend way more time with my guys, learning what makes them tick, what they need. And they can feed off of that."
Brady and the Bills, in what could be a Super Bowl LXI, will be facing Matt Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams this evening.
The Panthers, meanwhile, may have finally found themselves an offensive approach that works under first-year play-caller Brad Idzik. Carolina entered Week 4 ranked first in passing offense and fourth in total and scoring offense.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: What Bills HC Joe Brady learned during his disappointing stint with Panthers
