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The Buffalo Bills and head coach Joe Brady have been active in building his coaching staff since the former offensive coordinator won the job.
The coordinators for all three phases were introduced this past week: defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers.
As they met with the media, Leonhard in particular was of high interest as the Bills will aim to improve their overall defensive attack. While addressing the media, he indicated that “There’s gonna be change.”
“It’s been the same system for a long time here,” Leonhard said to the press. “It wasn’t all broken. It doesn’t all need to be thrown out. There’s elements that we’ll be able to build off of. There’s a comfort level from players that you want to maintain. And this is something that will continue to evolve. It might look a lot different in year two than year one, and that’s OK.”
The new OC is looking to create a defense that suits the skill sets of the players on the roster while also being able to adapt as needed schematically, which will require more versatility on the field.
His base defense projects as a 3-4, and the team hiring an outside linebackers coach and an inside linebackers coach supports that, as does the addition of outside linebackers coach Bobby April III, who exclusively works with pass-rushing outside linebackers.
“It is team defense, but we’re going to cause issues for offense, and we’re going to force them to react to us. I don’t want to counterpunch. We want to be a defense that is constantly evolving and growing throughout a game and throughout a season,” Leonhard continued. “I’m big on flexibility and being able to play to your best players and force offenses to try to find your issues and to have to deal with their own problems, not always being reactive.”
The Bills could see odd- and even-man fronts under Leonhard based on his track record, which could favor odd-man fronts and players whose overall skillset fits those positions.
“It is much more fluid than it used to be,” the coordinator added regarding 3-4 to 4-3. “I think the evolution of spread offense throughout high school, college football is very similar to the NBA, where it’s created a little bit more positionless type of player. There are unique skill sets all around the NFL where guys don’t quite fit in your traditional box of edge defender, defensive tackle, nickel, safety, and that’s where I’ve had the most success in my career as a coach was finding those guys that fit in a little bit of a different role. You have to be more creative in order to play to their strengths a little bit more often.”
The new defensive playcaller also recognizes that stopping the run key is key to making opposing offenses more one-dimensional, as is being "aggressive, but not reckless" in their playcalling. Leonhard joins the Bills after guiding a Denver Broncos defense that had the second-highest blitz rate in the NFL last season at 20.3.
He has coached in the NFL since 2024, spending the last two seasons in Denver Broncos after eight seasons coaching at the collegiate level. Six of those years were spent as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator and a stint as their interim head coach (2022).
It will also be his third stint with Buffalo, spending his first two as a player and now as defensive coordinator.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: New Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard: 'There’s gonna be change'
Continue reading...
The coordinators for all three phases were introduced this past week: defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers.
As they met with the media, Leonhard in particular was of high interest as the Bills will aim to improve their overall defensive attack. While addressing the media, he indicated that “There’s gonna be change.”
“It’s been the same system for a long time here,” Leonhard said to the press. “It wasn’t all broken. It doesn’t all need to be thrown out. There’s elements that we’ll be able to build off of. There’s a comfort level from players that you want to maintain. And this is something that will continue to evolve. It might look a lot different in year two than year one, and that’s OK.”
The new OC is looking to create a defense that suits the skill sets of the players on the roster while also being able to adapt as needed schematically, which will require more versatility on the field.
His base defense projects as a 3-4, and the team hiring an outside linebackers coach and an inside linebackers coach supports that, as does the addition of outside linebackers coach Bobby April III, who exclusively works with pass-rushing outside linebackers.
“It is team defense, but we’re going to cause issues for offense, and we’re going to force them to react to us. I don’t want to counterpunch. We want to be a defense that is constantly evolving and growing throughout a game and throughout a season,” Leonhard continued. “I’m big on flexibility and being able to play to your best players and force offenses to try to find your issues and to have to deal with their own problems, not always being reactive.”
The Bills could see odd- and even-man fronts under Leonhard based on his track record, which could favor odd-man fronts and players whose overall skillset fits those positions.
“It is much more fluid than it used to be,” the coordinator added regarding 3-4 to 4-3. “I think the evolution of spread offense throughout high school, college football is very similar to the NBA, where it’s created a little bit more positionless type of player. There are unique skill sets all around the NFL where guys don’t quite fit in your traditional box of edge defender, defensive tackle, nickel, safety, and that’s where I’ve had the most success in my career as a coach was finding those guys that fit in a little bit of a different role. You have to be more creative in order to play to their strengths a little bit more often.”
The new defensive playcaller also recognizes that stopping the run key is key to making opposing offenses more one-dimensional, as is being "aggressive, but not reckless" in their playcalling. Leonhard joins the Bills after guiding a Denver Broncos defense that had the second-highest blitz rate in the NFL last season at 20.3.
He has coached in the NFL since 2024, spending the last two seasons in Denver Broncos after eight seasons coaching at the collegiate level. Six of those years were spent as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator and a stint as their interim head coach (2022).
It will also be his third stint with Buffalo, spending his first two as a player and now as defensive coordinator.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: New Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard: 'There’s gonna be change'
Continue reading...
