Bills quietly testing a consequential strategy this preseason that will impact Buffalo in 2026
Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady is trying to figure out some important details in preseason action.
Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady is making a lot of first-time decisions this summer.
Brady, of course, is in his first season as a head coach, and while he has plenty of coaching experience — 13 years to be exact — he’s never been the guy before.
One of the decisions that Brady is overseeing is whether Bills offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr will coach from the sideline or the booth.
In order to figure out what works best, Carmichael plans to be in the booth for a preseason game and on the sideline for one.
Brady will call plays for the Bills in 2026, but Carmichael, who called plays for the Saints in 2022 and 2023 after Sean Payton resigned, will still be an important part of the process.
“Pete game plans to call the game,” said Brady earlier this offseason. “I think sometimes people think an offensive coordinator that’s a non-play caller is just kind of like an assistant or is just getting everything ready for you. That’s not what I was looking for, and that’s not what Pete is. If I ever, in any moment of the game, can’t call the game, Pete is always prepared to call it.”
We’ll see which option the Bills choose to go with, but I think Carmichael would be best served to coach from the booth. Mostly because it would allow him a better view of what the opposing defense is doing. Maybe he’ll see something from that vantage point that Brady doesn’t see from the field level that Buffalo can exploit.
The Bills are set to play their first preseason game on August 15 when the Carolina Panthers come to Orchard Park.
