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00:00With Tyler Dunn. So, this excellent long piece about Joe Brady taking over the Bills.
00:06Before we get into him and what you learned about him from sitting with him for what probably was quite
00:11a while,
00:12what did you think of the move when they made it?
00:17Good question. I was surprised, bordering on stunned, too.
00:23I think he interviewed nine candidates, and it was extensive, exhaustive, coaches from all backgrounds,
00:33a quarterback thrown in there, Brian Dable back in Western New York.
00:37I don't know. I guess I saw the Joe Brady interview.
00:40It was right out of the chute because you have him in your building.
00:43I just assumed, like most people, okay, yeah, he's there.
00:47You might as well talk to him, and he's interviewing for the Raiders' job and the Ravens' job.
00:52Yeah, I mean, I was definitely shocked that, you know, the approval rating,
00:57if you look at a few polls that were out there, it was in the single digits.
01:01I mean, like I wrote in the thing, it was fans basically acted like they got a new pair of
01:06socks on Christmas morning
01:08if those socks were, you know, doused and washed in the urinal trough at Ole Miss Stadium.
01:13It was not met with much applause, but, you know, I think you hear from Joe Brady
01:19in that introductory press conference, and maybe the locals started to change their tune a little.
01:24And I wanted to sit down with him because, hell, I mean, who is Joe Brady?
01:27We see, you know, the play caller, and, you know, he doesn't say much at his press conferences.
01:32He even joked, like, I'm the worst person ever at the podium because I just want to protect my guys.
01:37I don't really want to give anything away.
01:39I just want to take all the blame, which is refreshing as well.
01:41So I said, you know what, let's sit down and just see where the conversation goes.
01:46Next thing you know, two hours passed, the assistant's texted him like,
01:49hey, Joe, you got to get back, man.
01:50You got a meeting.
01:53I like the story you told about him when he was a football player growing up
01:58and how he jumped into a game upon an injury even though he hadn't had his name called.
02:03And I wonder, I mean, I don't know if he would, how he would handle that, or it's the pros.
02:09It probably isn't the kind of thing that happens anyway, but just sort of what kind of coach
02:13is he going to be, Tyler, and is it going to be different being a head coach?
02:18The Bills said, was it Brandon Bean, I think, who said, just like the CEO aspect of things,
02:23you know, he was impressed with from Brady when they were interviewing him.
02:28Is he going to be different as a head coach?
02:31Yes, and that would be my number one takeaway from this conversation, Mike,
02:36is I think outside looking in, you see an in-house, quote-unquote, candidate get the job.
02:42He's been there four years.
02:44You think you know everything you need to know about the guy.
02:46But when you really learn more about Joe Brady, he is a sharp contrast to his predecessor
02:52where it matters most.
02:54And start right there, like with that seminal moment in his own football career.
02:58So he's growing up as a quarterback.
03:00His dad was hard as hell on him.
03:01He had some funny stories down those lines.
03:03But he basically throws out his shoulder, that arm he called it, where he kind of just threw
03:09with all arm, not enough lower body.
03:11Even to this day, he can't really throw a football that great.
03:13So he switches to wide receiver.
03:16And he kind of sees the writing on the wall at like a summer tournament, a summer camp into
03:22that junior year, which is when you really have to impress colleges.
03:26You know, they go five wide.
03:27And he's not even part of that formation.
03:30So, you know, he didn't transfer.
03:31He figured, I'll just stay ready in that first game.
03:34And we're talking Broward County here.
03:35This is maybe the best high school football anywhere in the country.
03:39A ton of guys come from there.
03:41Geno Smith is the quarterback at a rival high school for him back then.
03:43But a player gets hurt.
03:46And it's definitely not Joe Brady's turn to go in.
03:48But he just runs out of the field anyway.
03:50Doesn't think twice.
03:50Just goes.
03:51Catches a pass.
03:52Catches another pass.
03:53And basically, like, he isn't sitting in this seat as the Bills head coach.
03:57He doesn't think if he doesn't feel that instinct to just go.
04:02Now, the story gets crazier.
04:03Like, he's right up there in the county in receiving.
04:06And he's getting interviewed by a TV station in Miami.
04:09And then, boom, he can't even walk on his feet out of bed.
04:14He falls out the next morning because he has a staph infection.
04:18The paramedic tells him on the way to the hospital, hey, you might lose your leg.
04:22So, it's like, holy hell, what's going on here?
04:24And he loses 15 pounds.
04:26He's in the hospital for a couple of weeks.
04:29And so many moments where it all could have come crumbling down, kind of blended with, you know, him taking
04:37charge.
04:37So, to answer your question, like, that's who he is.
04:40He doesn't overthink.
04:41He doesn't overanalyze.
04:43You know, for Sean McDermott's positives, which are many, you know, cleaning up the building and building a winner, bringing
04:51back some respectability, all of that.
04:53He is an overthinker.
04:55I mean, I've sat down with Sean.
04:56He pulled out, like, the playoff pamphlet, like, here's our game plan into the 2024 postseason, has everything mapped out,
05:03every scenario.
05:04But, like, some coaches are able to just, boom, make a decision.
05:08A minute and a half left, fourth down.
05:10What do we do here?
05:11You've got to have that in you.
05:13And I think it's fair to say that Sean McDermott in those key moments, nine years, didn't.
05:18And Joe, time and time again, from high school to college to the pros, so many examples of just, you
05:24know, being instinctive, not thinking twice, sleeping on a concrete soft carpet at a coaching convention, looking for a job.
05:32There's so much to his life that you see why they went this direction.
05:37The Joe Brady profile from Tyler Dunn at golongtd.com.
05:42On McDermott, by the way, I read the athletic piece on him.
05:45He did a lengthy interview as well recently.
05:48And, you know, I don't mean this to be critical, but to what you said about him and maybe his
05:53process, which is a word he, you know, brought to light many times as the Bills coach, starting from when
05:59he took over.
06:00However, he's got this whole thing now about just sort of trying to be better in life.
06:05Not that he wasn't that way before, but it's interesting how he's, what he's doing this offseason.
06:11Less football, but he's got, you know, maybe you read it, this office where he's got volumes of, I don't
06:18know what it is, takes, plays, whatever.
06:21I mean, just super, well, what'd you say, overthinker, you know, I can be called that too, but just really
06:27thorough.
06:28Maybe that's a nicer word for it.
06:29And, you know, I think Tyler, with regard to Brady, his, his, obviously his thing isn't going to have to
06:35be clean up anything with the Bills.
06:37He's got to get the ball in the end zone.
06:38He's got to figure out ways.
06:40That already was his job.
06:42And the Bills for the last couple of years have been kind of a quandary in this way because they've
06:47had high scoring seasons, but we don't always like their talent or their method into doing what they're doing.
06:54So I wonder what he'll have this year that's different.
06:57I mean, I guess the draft is a big point in time in that, and that's next week.
07:02What he can do this year to elevate their offense.
07:06Yeah.
07:07I mean, there's, if we're, if we're talking X's and O's and just what we see on Sundays, I, I
07:13think it is going to be very different too.
07:15And it's, I get it.
07:17Like it's easy to just blame the fire coach for everything, but Sean McDermott did a lot of really good
07:23things.
07:23But also he was the one in charge of game plans.
07:28If we start on offense where if the edict from above was okay, we've got Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, he,
07:34he'd make it clear to Joe.
07:36And look, Joe wouldn't say a bad word about Sean.
07:38It only great things to say about a boss who gave him a chance, but it was conservative.
07:42It was okay.
07:43Let's, let's play some keep away here where maybe you don't take those shots that they would take now.
07:47And I think defensively is where you're going to see the big changes.
07:51Like they want some deception, some disguise.
07:54It was way too stagnant and predictable each January.
07:59We've rattled off the stats more times than I can count, Mike.
08:02But look, remember those interviews, they had coach from Jacksonville in there.
08:06They had a coach from Denver in there.
08:07And I think it opened up the bill's eyes to hear some of these coaches point out.
08:11Yeah.
08:12We kind of knew what was going on there defensively.
08:14So when, when Joe had his interview, you know, he, he made it clear to Brandon Bean, to Terry Pagula,
08:20everybody in there.
08:21Look, what gives me fits is when I'm up in that booth and I can't talk to Josh anymore.
08:27When it hits 15 seconds on that play clock, he's out there by himself.
08:31And all of a sudden the safety is doing this and the linebackers doing that.
08:35And I'm just hoping Josh sees the same thing.
08:37He wants to bring that element to the defense.
08:40So that's why they bring in Jim Leonard.
08:41Now you don't want to go full Rex, full Rob Ryan.
08:43Where players are running on and off the field and it's absolute, total, dysfunctional chaos.
08:48So there's got to be a balance there with an older ex-disciple.
08:51But I think they, they have to create some confusion.
08:55So that, that will be the difference on that side of the ball.
08:58And, and look, that's kind of always been Joe too.
09:01Like back to William and Mary.
09:03So he goes to that convention in Tennessee.
09:06Nobody wants them.
09:07Like no, no coach has even given him a shot.
09:09He's quote unquote depressed.
09:10Like, am I even going to coach at all?
09:12When he returns to campus, you know, there's a position that opens up and Jimmy Laycock's going to look at
09:18three different candidates.
09:19He tells Joe, go home after graduation, get away from this all.
09:22He stays at the facility.
09:24He writes up scouting reports for every single opponent that William and Mary was going to face that year.
09:30Just kind of goes bonkers.
09:33Like with this detailed plan, they play West Virginia and he's studying Geno, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin.
09:39So, but he kind of applied his offensive acumen to the defensive, you know, approach to the defensive scouting reports.
09:46And they even talked to some William and Mary, their DC for this story and said, yeah, like Joe had,
09:51he was able to bring like an outside the box kind of perspective to it all.
09:55So I think you're seeing that already in Buffalo.
09:56Like he's using his experience as an offense to help the defense and Lord knows they need that in January.
10:02It'll be every year is interesting in its own way.
10:05This year, a new coach here after nine years, new coaches in Baltimore and Pittsburgh after pretty much double that
10:13length of term from McDermott, Tomlin and John Harbaugh moving on.
10:17You know, what do you think, Tyler, of the AFC right now?
10:21We've lived in this world where I bet when we talked last offseason, you know, the question was, can anybody
10:27unseat the lords, if you will, of each division in the AFC?
10:32Turns out they all got beat.
10:35Nobody repeated Kansas City, Houston, Baltimore, and Buffalo all didn't finish first.
10:40So is it for you right now?
10:42Are we at a point where there are just that many more teams, perhaps including those teams I mentioned?
10:48I think certainly in a couple of cases, at least who could win it?
10:52I think Jacksonville is interesting for this.
10:54And maybe there are others that you would take seriously chargers as the new kings of the conference, if you
11:01will.
11:03God, I want to love the Houston Texans spending some time around that defense.
11:09I mean, they are old school, as nasty as the kids.
11:13The way they practice and the way they play, it could apply to really any decade in pro football history.
11:20But it's like C.J. Stroud had lost track of the turnovers.
11:23I was really surprised.
11:24Like, Nick Casario was as adamant as he was in the offseason.
11:29Like, C.J.'s our quarterback to suggest we'd even entertain a trade is ludicrous, however he put it.
11:36I don't know, man.
11:37Like, I wouldn't pay him that to a contract quite yet.
11:41You've got to see a little more.
11:43And, like, it's hard to sustain elite defense year to year.
11:46They just paid Will Anderson Jr. today.
11:49He's worth every penny of that.
11:50But if they can get competent quarterback play, I think they're in that conversation.
11:55But, you know, I just keep coming back to you've got to have that quarterback-head coach relationship.
12:00It's got to be special.
12:02And that was really a big theme in part two of this, like that Brady-Allen relationship.
12:06I think, you know, more than anything, that is what should get fans excited is that finally, you know, they've
12:13been together four years, two months.
12:15Joe kind of took it back to the first meeting when he's nervous in there as the quarterback's coach.
12:20And Josh Allen cracks a joke.
12:22He wouldn't say exactly what the joke was.
12:24It involved pass protection in a particular number.
12:27And he said, I'll leave it at that.
12:28But over time, I think they got to a place similar to, you know, Dable and Allen where, yeah, there's
12:34a lot of love there.
12:35And we hear about that love often.
12:37But I think that he does – he will get on Josh Allen when he has to.
12:41Like, they built up that kind of relationship where, look, if he's getting crazy out there, Joe Brady won't be
12:47afraid to speak up on the sideline.
12:50And he made that clear.
12:51So that's important.
12:53I feel like it's almost like a marriage, a successful marriage.
12:57If there's no friction, healthy friction, like eventually you're going to have this big blowup.
13:03And it was just always a little strange in the past.
13:06I know the snow angels and all that.
13:08But, look, I've been told repeatedly that was kind of a red herring.
13:11It was never that great of a relationship between Allen and McDermott.
13:15It's very different personalities, right?
13:17That's all.
13:18And I think they got that finally locked down.
13:20That's why he was sitting in these interviews.
13:22So, more than anything, I think that has you hopeful that, you know, when you get into January, if you've
13:28got the most important relationship in sports, finally figured out, you've got a shot.
13:33That will be interesting to watch.
13:34I always had the same suspicions about Allen and McDermott.
13:38But then you would see – I mean, they won almost every week.
13:40Then you would see certain signs that it was going well.
13:45They were tight, if you will.
13:46And I know – maybe you, too.
13:49I would always hear about that.
13:50Like, yeah, I know.
13:51But it just doesn't always look like that.
13:54And, you know, it's a professional relationship.
13:56And we'll see how it sounds and looks between Brady and Allen.
14:03Last thing, I should have mentioned New England in that other question, Tyler.
14:06Just – I mean, they did win the AFC.
14:09Are you taking them seriously as a force going forward?
14:14I get it.
14:15Like, they had the easy schedule last year.
14:18And it fell apart in such spectacular fashion with the six three-and-outs and total ineptitude.
14:24Like, I get why everybody's kind of cooling on the Patriots.
14:27But, I mean, holy hell, Drake May is legit.
14:30I mean, he was unbelievable through that regular season.
14:33There's a reason that it was one of the closest MVP votes ever.
14:36So, as long as he's healthy and he's ascending and he's growing,
14:40I mean, they'll probably get A.J. Brown, at least they're the leading candidate, we would think.
14:47I mean, they've got the money.
14:48Players are going to want to go play with Drake May.
14:50They're not going anywhere.
14:52Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall, though, at Patriot Place?
14:56Like, Mike Vrabel, can you really not bring that up to anybody?
15:00Like, you stress the importance of family and togetherness and authenticity and trust.
15:06I mean, I did a big story on it last year.
15:08I mean, he's telling guys, he told the equipment staff,
15:11don't pick up the dirty washcloths in the shower if they're on the ground.
15:16Like, just ring them out and make players wash themselves with dirty washcloths.
15:20If you're that kind of coach, like, can you just pretend like this didn't happen at all?
15:25I don't think so.
15:26Yeah.
15:27Travion Henderson still out here tweeting Bible verses.
15:31So, I don't know.
15:32Interesting dynamics there.
15:34Well, we'll talk about it as the offseason plays out.
15:37GoLongTD.com.
15:38Anything else quickly, Tyler, you want to promote from the site?
15:43No.
15:43Thanks to everybody for making their way over.
15:45We've got the two-parter on Joe Brady live.
15:49Very, very long.
15:50So, appreciate everybody kind of taking the time to dig into his rise and why this thing could work.
15:56I mean, I came away thinking, like, yeah, I absolutely see why they went this direction.
16:01It is a contrast, and, you know, we've got the draft around the corner, too.
16:05So, Bob McGinn's 12-part series talking to scouts all over the country is there as well if you want
16:09to learn about these prospects.
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