Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has re-established his reputation as one of the NFL’s top young offensive minds. AP File Photo

ORCHARD PARK — Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady can provide a long list of issues that led to him failing in his first, brief stint as an NFL play-caller with the Carolina Panthers.

The COVID-19 pandemic limited Brady’s access to players during his first season in 2020. Christian McCaffrey was sidelined by injuries in 2020 and ’21. Carolina had a revolving door at quarterback — Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold and even Cam Newton.

And then there was his own hubris, something Brady acknowledged playing a role in how his skyward-pointing career trajectory quickly dipped when he was fired 12 games into his second season at age 30.

“I don’t think you’re ever going to out-genius. I got let go from my last job trying to think like that,” Brady said last season, a month into taking over Buffalo’s offense after Ken Dorsey was fired in mid-November.

“I wasn’t going to make excuses for why it didn’t work out. I was going to figure out where were my blind spots, and what I can do better if I get the next opportunity.”

Now 35, and 26 games into his Bills tenure as coordinator, Brady has re-established his reputation as one of the league’s top young offensive minds as Buffalo (13-4) opens the playoffs by hosting Denver (10-7) on Sunday.

Brady has landed on interview request lists for just about every team with a coaching vacancy after overseeing a Josh Allen-led offense that set franchise records for points (525) and touchdowns (65).

Coaching a star in Allen certainly helps, and Brady goes out of his way to credit the MVP favorite. Another big part of Brady’s development is his realization that devising a perfect play means little without establishing personal relationships with players.

“It’s a players’ game, and when you remove yourself and try to make it about the scheme, that usually doesn’t go too well,” Brady said Monday. “I told myself, if I get an opportunity again, I’m going to make it about the guys and making sure the relationships are there so we can have the tough conversations.”

Without that trust, he could never have had players buy in to the “everybody eats” mantra introduced in May to an offense that had lost its two top receiving options, Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis.

The five-time defending AFC East champions thrived, becoming the NFL’s ninth team to have 13 players with a touchdown catch, and without anyone breaking the 900-yard receiving mark. Brady also leaned heavily on running back James Cook, who matched a single-season franchise record with 16 rushing touchdowns.

The objective was taking the load off Allen having to win games with his arm, while also making it difficult for opponents to key on stopping one player. What also mattered internally was Brady listening to players’ input on the weekly game plan.

“A lot of it’s ownership, guys taking accountability,” Allen said.

“If I told Joe that I want this play and he calls it, I’ve got to go and make it work because we’re putting ourselves on the line in terms of him trusting us,” the quarterback added. “If he’s going to go out there and be a friendly play-caller like that, we’ve got to make it work and make him look good at the same time.”

Brady’s incorporation of the running game has been the biggest difference. It’s an aspect of the offense that was criticized as an afterthought under Dorsey.

Though Dorsey first had offensive linemen and running backs meet to go over run-blocking schemes, Brady built on the idea. The entire offensive group, minus coaches, now meets regularly on Fridays to go over potential plays, weed out the ones players don’t like and recommend those they do.

“We all started trusting each other a little more,” center Connor McGovern said.

Bills coach Sean McDermott provided Brady his second shot by first hiring him as quarterbacks coach under Dorsey in 2022. Though Brady and McDermott didn’t previously work together, the two have ties — both attended William & Mary and coached in Carolina.

Brady jumped at the opportunity to join the Bills to get insight into how McDermott established a winning culture on a team that prior to his arrival in 2017 had endured a 17-season playoff drought. The Bills have qualified for the postseason in seven of eight years under McDermott.

Brady enjoyed success before. At LSU, he was the Tigers’ passing coordinator on the 2019 Joe Burrow-led team that won the national championship.

Before that, Brady spent two seasons in New Orleans as an offensive assistant under Sean Payton, who’s now the Broncos’ coach.

“Fortunately, I don’t have to defend him, but I wouldn’t be talking to you right now without my time spent learning from him,” Brady said of Payton.

The job interviews, meantime, can wait.

“Do I aspire to be a head coach? Yeah,” Brady said. “But right now, the focus is finding a way to win a football game this week.”