The Buffalo Bills continue to add to their coaching staff, this time landing a former NFL quarterback who was quickly rising up the ranks in college football.
Daniel Gallen of 247 Sports reported that the Bills landed Penn State quarterbacks coach Trace McSorley, who started his career one year after Josh Allen was drafted but now will hep the Bills quarterback continue to develop his game. McSorley is coming on as an offensive assistant, though his exact title was not immediately clear.
Bills Land Rising Star in Trace McSorley
As Gallen reported, McSorley had just survived a coaching change at Penn State.
“McSorley was set to begin his second season as the Penn State assistant quarterbacks coach this spring. Former coach James Franklin hired him to the role last year, and new coach Matt Campbell retained McSorley in the same capacity,” Gallen reported.
McSorley appeared to be held in high regard at Penn State, Gallen noted. Rocco Becht, Penn State’s redshirt senior quarterback, shared praise for the work McSorley had done to help him develop.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks to ever play here,” Becht said. “Watching him in high school was super special. … Being here, being in the same room with him has been awesome, the knowledge that he’s able to bring. And I’ve been able to pick his brain a little bit on just what Beaver Stadium brings to the atmosphere around with the fans, how you deal with adversity during the season, and those are conversations that I can’t wait to have with him. Just to have that experience and a guy who has played here in the past in the room is something that I’m looking forward to.”
McSorley had been seen as a rising star in the college coaching ranks and will be taking his first NFL job with the Bills. The 30-year-old has experience working with new Bills head coach Joe Brady, who was a graduate assistant at Penn State in 2015 and 2016, when McSorley was the starting quarterback there.
Bills Need Josh Allen to Get Healthy
While the addition of McSorley can help Allen further develop, the team’s first priority is to get him healthy so he can return to practices in the spring. The Bills quarterback suffered a foot injury late in the season and played through pain, the underwent surgery after the team’s playoff loss to the Denver Broncos.
“Josh, Josh is —he just played three games, or however many games that was,” Brady said. “When a guy gets surgery, yet he was able to — when you guys see him in the games and not blink. There’s one guy you never worry about is Josh Allen.”
Speaking to reporters at the press conference where Brady was announced as head coach, Allen shared optimism that he would be able to join his teammates on the field for their first practices.
“It’s a little painful right now, but it wasn’t a crazy surgery,” Allen said. “Yeah, so I’m not too long. OTAs, I’ll be back, and it shouldn’t hinder anything.”
Bills Add Coveted College Football Coach to Help Josh Allen