Bills first-year DC circled as a ‘coach to watch’ for future NFL head coaching gigs

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero feels as though Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich is a candidate for future NFL head coaching vacancies.

Kyle Silagyi | Nov 20, 2024

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

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The NFL is oft-referred to as a ‘copycat’ league, with clubs often implementing schematic strategies and roster-building blueprints that demonstrably bred success in other markets. Given the seemingly never-ending cycle of teams attempting to borderline-shamelessly replicate the success that other clubs have had, perenially competitive organizations consistently have their front offices and coaching staffs poached from as rivals attempt to steal some of the shine for themselves.

The Buffalo Bills have had their staff raided in the recent past, with assistants who came up under general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott oft-leaving for greater titles and responsibilities elsewhere. The most notable example of this came in the 2022 offseason when the New York Giants took assistant general manager Joe Schoen and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll in one fell swoop, with current Carolina Panthers head executive Dan Morgan being another example of a former Beane assistant who is now spearheading an organization.

Buffalo’s current front office and coaching staff are ripe for the picking, as they currently boast several up-and-coming prospects in assistant roles. One of the most notable among them is defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, who NFL Network pundit Tom Pelissero recently circled as a coach “to watch in future years” with regard to head coaching vacancies.

Babich certainly has a budding résumé the likes of which NFL clubs generally take notice; the son of former North Dakota State head coach and long-time NFL position coach Bob Babich, the current Buffalo defensive coordinator comes from a coaching bloodline. He has roughly a decade of professional experience despite being only 41 years of age, the vast majority of his time in the NFL spent as part of an uber-successful Bills team that has rattled off four-straight AFC East titles and has qualified for the postseason in six of the last seven years.

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s Babich’s ascension in a relatively short period of time and the performance of the units he's overseen that are perhaps the biggest feathers in his cap; he joined Buffalo as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2017 before becoming safeties coach from 2018–2021, with Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer forming one of the NFL’s better safety tandems under Babich’s watch. He moved to linebackers in 2022 and stayed there in 2023, overseeing a Tremaine Edmunds breakout in his first season in the post before coaching Terrel Bernard to a stellar sophomore season the next.

He’s a demonstrably effective position coach and developer of talent, and he’s been successful in his debut season as defensive coordinator and play-caller, with the Bills currently allowing the ninth-fewest points per game in the league at 19.5 His unit keeps Buffalo in every game and gives it a chance to win, a significant part of the reason why the team is 9-2 entering its bye week.

Babich, should the Bills and his units continue to find success, seems like a shoo-in to ultimately earn a head coaching gig, whether it be in the 2025 offseason or further down the line. Pelissero also identified Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady as a potential immediate head coaching candidate; the analyst additionally circled former Bills coaches Ken Dorsey, Heath Farwell, Shea Tierney, and Chad Hall as names to watch.

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