The wounds from the AFC Championship Game are still healing, but a fresh one has opened. It's not every day that one of your coaches decides to take an opportunity with a division rival that has tormented your franchise for decades, but that's exactly what has happened to the Bills.
Nickel cornerback and senior defensive assistant Scott Booker is reportedly joining Mike Vrabel's revamped staff with the New England Patriots.
Booker has familiarity with Vrabel, so it makes sense. He worked for Vrabel previously with the Tennessee Titans after serving as a defensive backs coach at the college level with Notre Dame and Nebraska.
When he was with the Titans, he worked with and helped develop Kevin Byard into a standout player. He served on the defensive staff of the Bills for just this last season, helping work with Taron Johnson and other defensive backs.
All-in-all, it looks like the Bills are set to keep most of their coaches in house as they turn the page to 2025. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady previously elected to withdraw his name from head coaching searches and return to the Bills for at least one more year, while Bobby Babich returns as the defensive coordinator under Sean McDermott.
Continuity matters. Having the same staff growing together and working together makes things run smoother, and while the coaching wasn't optimal in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs, they will have the opportunity to learn from it and hopefully push their decisions and game planning to new heights in the next season.
Buffalo will need all the coaches to step up in 2025. Their scheme, formations, and play-calling against the Chiefs was far too predictable, to the point that the Chiefs often looked like they knew exactly what was coming, and had plans in place to stop it.
