As the Buffalo Bills gear up for a new era with Joe Brady as the head coach, the franchise dealt a massive blow to its coaching staff. Over the 2025 season, along with their stellar offense led by the dynamic duo of Josh Allen and Brandin Cook, the Bills had an elite defensive backfield developed with Mike Pellegrino as their cornerback coach.

However, now moving towards the 2026 season, Buffalo will be without Pellegrino, with the Philadelphia Eagles signing the 32-year-old, as reported by CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

“The #Eagles are set to hire #Bills nickels coach Mike Pellegrino as a defensive backs coach, sources tell @CBSSports,” Matt Zenitz wrote on X.”Before Buffalo, the 32-year-old Pellegrino worked for the Patriots for 10 seasons, including the final six as cornerbacks coach.”

Mike Pellegrino started his NFL journey after joining the New England Patriots as a coaching assistant before being promoted to cornerbacks coach in 2019 and was part of the Super Bowl LI and LII winning teams. During his tenure, the 32-year-old was pivotal in the development of star cornerbacks like Christian Gonzalez (2024 Second Team All-Pro, J.C. Jackson (2021 Second Team All-Pro), and Stephon Gilmore (2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year & First Team All-Pro).

Then, ahead of the 2025 season, Mike Pellegrino was brought in by Sean McDermott to his Bills coaching staff. In Buffalo, Pellegrino was responsible for the top-ranked pass defense that allowed an average of 156.9 yards per game and the fewest total passing yards allowed (2,668) despite having key injuries to Christian Benford and Max Hairston.

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Now moving forward towards the 2026 NFL season, the Buffalo front office will have to ensure that they bring the perfect replacement for Mike Pellegrino, who, in his one year at Orchard Park, was able to create a lockdown defensive backfield.

While this search continues, Joe Brady and general manager Brandon Beane have their next quarterback coach to maximize Josh Allen and finally end their Super Bowl drought.

Bills hire a new quarterback coach ahead for 2026 season

After moving on from Ronald Curry, the Buffalo Bills have announced former Patriots offensive assistant Bo Hardegree as their new quarterback coach. Hardegree previously worked as the Tennessee Titans‘ quarterbacks coach over the last two seasons. Before Tennessee, he was the quarterbacks coach with the Las Vegas Raiders, starting in 2022, before taking over as the interim offensive coordinator during the 2023 season.

Hardegree started his coaching career at Duke and LSU before jumping into the NFL. He has also coached for the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets. Now with the Buffalo Bills, Hardegree will be working to maximize Josh Allen, who won the NFL’s MVP award in the 2024 season.

In the 2025 season, the Bills QB1 recorded 3,668 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns, while continuing his dominant performance on the ground with 579 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. While these are elite numbers, he fell short of his MVP-winning performance in the previous season. Now, looking towards the upcoming season, the Bills Mafia will hope that Bo Hardegree’s signing will help Josh Allen bring the Lombardi Trophy to Orchard Park.