Broncos coach ‘leading candidate’ for Buffalo’s vacant DC role
The Buffalo Bills have officially promoted former offensive coordinator Joe Brady as the next coach of the team. It appeared as if the Bills had narrowed the list down to two coaches: Brady and another former Bills OC, Brian Daboll.
The team decided to hire from within, and now the team will be looking for a new offensive and defensive coordinator. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a certain Broncos coach could be a serious job candidate.
“Sources: Broncos defensive pass coordinator Jim Leonhardt expected to be leading candidate to become Buffalo Bills next defensive coordinator.
Jim Leonhardt is a former NFL player who played for several different teams from 2005 to 2014. He was an undrafted safety who played for the Bills, Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns in two separate games.
Leonhard quickly became the head coach at Wisconsin from 2016 to 2022. He was promoted to interim head coach at Wisconsin in 2022. He then became the senior football advisor for Illinois in 2023. In 2024, he joined Denver Broncos‘ defense headquarters.
In 2025, Leonhard was an assistant to head coach Sean Payton and defensive pass coordinator. During his years of coaching, Leonhardt progressed and put himself in a position to learn to be a coordinator or head coach in the NFL. Leonhard coached a very good defense last season with the Broncos under Vance Joseph. Joseph should remain DC for the Broncos and has a chance to become a head coach next season. His name hasn’t been floated for HC jobs since he was the head coach of the Broncos.
2026-01-27 20:14:00
