The Buffalo Bills are bringing in Jim Leonhard as their new defensive coordinator. Leonhard was one of the most wanted coaches this year, even talking with the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens about their defensive coordinator jobs. This is a big hire for new Head Coach Joe Brady as he puts together his first coaching team.
Leonhard’s biggest job is clear: fix the terrible run defense. According to Yahoo Sports, the Bills did well at stopping teams from scoring last season, ranking 12th in the league by giving up just 21.5 points per game. But their run defense was really bad, ranking 28th after allowing 136.2 yards per game on the ground. That won’t work in the playoffs, especially since the team has had trouble making important stops in recent postseason games.
What makes this hire special is that Leonhard is coming back to where his NFL story started. In 2005, he was an undrafted walk-on safety from Wisconsin who didn’t get picked in the draft. The Bills gave him a chance, and he played four seasons in Buffalo during his 10-year playing career. Now, more than ten years later, the 43-year-old is back to lead the defense.
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Leonhard brings proven success from college and NFL coaching stops
Leonhard has the experience to support this hire. He just finished two seasons with the Denver Broncos as the defensive passing-game coordinator. During that time, he also worked as assistant head coach in 2025 and coached a defensive-back group that included Patrick Surtain II, who’s now a three-time All-Pro cornerback.
Before Denver, Leonhard spent six seasons as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, even finishing the 2022 season as interim head coach. Those Badgers defenses were really good, finishing in the top 20 for scoring defense in five of those six seasons and reaching the top 10 four times. That kind of steady success shows his ability to plan and lead players at a high level.
This defensive coordinator hire is probably the most important move new Head Coach Joe Brady has made this offseason. Brady, 36, got promoted from offensive coordinator after Sean McDermott was fired last week following a turnover-filled 33-30 loss to the Broncos in the AFC divisional round.
Since Brady’s strength is clearly on offense, getting a strong defensive leader like Leonhard is needed for balancing the coaching staff. Other teams have been making major decisions about their coaching staff as well this offseason.
Brady has been putting his team together quickly. He also hired Pete Carmichael Jr. as the offensive coordinator and Jeff Rodgers as the special teams coordinator. Carmichael, who spent years as offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, worked with Sean Payton in Denver before joining Buffalo. Brady is clearly bringing in experienced coaches to help his first head coaching job, similar to how sports executives build their teams in other leagues.
Coach Payton was genuinely happy about Brady’s promotion. “So proud of him,” Payton said of Brady on Tuesday. “Just spoke to him two days ago. You want to see guys that come in and work that are part of your staff. You want to see them have success, not the other way around.” Leonhard will be responsible for making sure the Bills can finally get those important defensive stops in the postseason.
Published: Feb 1, 2026 02:00 pm