First-time head coach Joe Brady continues building his coaching roster for the Buffalo Bills, having made key hires across the board. With the announcement that Jim Leonhard has been hired as defensive coordinator, now the rest of the defensive coaches can begin to take shape.
Brady and Leonhard are wasting no time, with recent news shared by Ian Rapoport through sources that the Bills are hiring Bobby April III as the team’s new outside linebacker coach. The moves continued on Monday morning, as Adam Schefter reported that Buffalo will also bring back John Egorugwu — hiring him as inside linebackers coach — and Jay Valai will join the organization as the new cornerbacks coach, as first reported by Matt Zenitz.
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John Egorugwu named Bills ILB coach
Thirty-nine-year-old John Egorugwu may be familiar to Bills fans, with him previously working first as defensive quality coach (2017), then as assistant linebackers coach (2018-2020) while part of of former head coach Sean McDermott’s defensive staff. Though, Egorugwu’s coaching career started long before his opportunity in Orchard Park, NY.
Egorugwu, a former Division II collegiate linebacker for William Jewell College, received his first coaching opportunity with his alma mater, as linebackers coach from 2010 through 2011. He then joined the University of Missouri as a defensive graduate assistant (2012), before being named to the role of offensive graduate assistant for Missouri’s football team in 2013.
In 2014, Egorugwu earned his first NFL coaching opportunity, landing as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens for two seasons (2015-2016) before his first role with the Bills. After that three-year stint with One Bills Drive, Egorugwu returned to college coaching, accepting the job of linebackers coach for Vanderbilt University during the 2021 season.
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Egorugwu then made his way back to the NFL, where he worked for the New York Giants as inside linebackers coach from 2022 through 2025 before being hired to the same role this offseason with Buffalo.
Jay Valai named Bills cornerbacks coach
A former All-Big Ten defensive back who played four years for the University of Wisconsin, Jay Valai comes to One Bills Drive as cornerbacks coach after a successful four-year run as assistant head coach for defense/co-defensive coordinator/pass defense/cornerbacks and nickelbacks with the University of Oklahoma. During his time with the Sooners, Valai helped coach a defense that was ranked sixth overall nationally, per a Matt Zenitz.
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Valai entered the world of football coaching in 2016, working as a defensive quality control coach for the University of Georgia through the team’s 2017 campaign. He earned his first NFL coaching opportunity with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018, working as a defensive quality control coach under head coach Andy Reid.
Then in 2019, Valai returned to college football as cornerbacks coach for Rutgers University’s football program before accepting the same role with the University of Texas for the 2020 season. Valai’s next stop ultimately led him to the University of Alabama as cornerbacks coach — this, after previous reports tied Valai to both the University of Houston then the Philadelphia Eagles in the same capacity in 2021.
Valai found his way to another college program in 2022, joining the Oklahoma Sooners’ football program before new Bills head coach Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard hired him as Buffalo’s cornerbacks coach in February 2026.
