NFL lifer John Fox ditched retirement to help develop young Bills coaches, players

‘Fox had called Beane after the Bills fired former coach Sean McDermott, offering to help with their search. Fast forward to February. Fox was ironically in the middle of a round of golf when his phone rang. The caller I.D. showed Beane’s name, but when Fox answered, recently-promoted Joe Brady was also on the line. Brady was piecing together his staff and wanted to know if Fox wanted a role like he had in Indianapolis and Detroit. “I didn’t want somebody that was strictly just in an office just waiting for, ‘Hey, when do you need some help?’” Brady said. “I wanted a guy that wanted to still coach football. He’s sitting in the defensive meetings, he’s giving ideas, he’s going through it all. … I know he’s the guy
that’s not going to just be a yes man.”’