The coaching carousel is just days away from heating up, with Black Monday less than a week away. The Saints, Jets, and Bears have already begun the process and are set to begin interviews briefly after the conclusion of the season, and there are likely more jobs to open up as well, with the Giants and Jaguars two other jobs I expect to become available.

While rumors swirl surrounding former NFL coaches like Pete Carroll and Rex Ryan, the primary head coaching candidate in the eyes of most fan bases is Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. And let’s be honest: there is a lot to like about Johnson, as the Lions’ success on offense is hard to ignore. They are averaging over 32 points per game and are running the most dynamic offense in football. Led by their dominant line, the Lions have talent at every position on offense, and much credit belongs to General Manager Brad Holmes for doing an outstanding job surrounding Jared Goff with talent.

I do not want to take anything away from Ben Johnson and what he means to the Lions’ success on offense, but he is not the only innovative coaching candidate available. In fact, I will go as far as saying this: Ben Johnson is not even the best head coaching candidate available. There is another offensive coordinator who has taken an offense with minimal proven talent at the skill positions and turned it into an offensive powerhouse, while also taking a quarterback who was oftentimes reckless with the football and turning him into an MVP-level quarterback.

That man is none other than Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady first made himself known to the mainstream football fandom when he was the offensive coordinator for LSU during their championship season with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Justin Jefferson. Brady started his career at William & Mary before becoming an assistant on Sean Payton’s staff with the New Orleans Saints. After two seasons, LSU hired him as an offensive analyst, but in 2019, his success opened the door for him to become their passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. His innovative mind gave him even more liberty to help run the offense than what his title would suggest.

Following Joe Burrow’s meteoric rise and LSU’s national championship victory, Brady was hired by newly-hired Matt Rhule in Carolina, becoming the Panthers’ offensive coordinator. While that was certainly not as successful a job as his previous jobs were, it was evident the man had creativity and knew how to run an offense. He did not have an incredible amount of talent to work with in that offense, and that coaching staff as a whole quickly developed into a dumpster fire.

After Brady took a brief rest from coaching, he was brought in by the Buffalo Bills in 2022 to replace the recently-fired Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator. As the interim OC, Brady brought to life a Bills running game which was previously dead, and it took an incredible amount of pressure off quarterback Josh Allen. Allen’s turnover numbers had gone in the wrong direction to begin the season, but once the run game saw success, Allen was making fewer risky throws into double and triple coverage.

Just one season ago, Allen was still struggling with interceptions, and many casual fans became concerned those numbers were only going to worsen after the team traded away star receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans. Nonetheless, all doubters have been silenced this season, as Joe Brady has formulated an offense that is built around Josh Allen but contingent on a consistent ground attack. Despite having minimal proven talent at wide receiver, Allen has had the best season of his career in terms of taking care of the football, completing 63.6% of his passes for 3,731 yards, 28 touchdowns, and only 8 interceptions. He has also accumulated over 500 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.

The media is quick to recognize Josh Allen for his excellent play, as they should, but the person responsible for balancing this offense and turning it into the machine it currently plays like is Joe Brady. Without Stefon Diggs in the fold, Brady has tailored his scheme to the strengths of Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, and even rookie Keon Coleman, finding creative ways to get them the football in space. What he has done is nothing short of incredible, and I believe it is enough to make him the most qualified head coaching candidate available.

This article is not intended to throw shade at Ben Johnson and what he has accomplished. He is well deserving of a head coaching opportunity as well, but Joe Brady has been given much less to work with and has turned it into one of the best offenses in the NFL. It helps when you have a quarterback with Josh Allen’s abilities, but much of his success and development should be credited to Joe Brady. Whoever is willing to take a shot on Brady as a head coach will not be disappointed.