New Potential Offensive Coordinator Options For The Bucs
As the NFL season ends for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans were certainly surprised with this year’s outcome. A team that was in a “rebuilding” phase because of the departure of Tom Brady. The GOAT left a lot of money tied up for the team, creating challenges in resigning some of the players from the Buc’s championship roster of just a few years ago. That’s the game and the business side of it. Thus expectations were low, but to the surprise of many, those expectations were shattered. The Bucs who were 4-7 at one point of the season, finished the season with a record of 8-8 and an NFC division title for a fourth consecutive year. But now the Bucs are facing a few offseason challenges, like finding a new offensive coordinator.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield along with Head Coach Todd Bowles took some of the credit. It was also said to be because of first-year Offensive Coordinator Dave Canales. Halfway through the season, it looked like Canales and Mayfield found their groove and were able to go 6-1 during the final 7 games. This seemed to be great news until just yesterday it was announced that Canales was the new Head Coach of the Carolina Panthers. Well, now what? Back to the old drawing board.
It looks like there is a short list of eligible offensive coordinator candidates for the Bucs job and so far, here is what we know.
- Kellen Moore– Former OC for the Chargers and Cowboys before that. He seems to be trending down.
- Brian Johnson- Former OC for the Eagles who started with a 10-1 record and then collapsed causing his firing.
- Ken Dorsey– Former Miami Hurricanes QB and Buffalo Bills OC famous for going viral for having an epic meltdown with a Microsoft Surface Pro after a loss.
- Zac Robinson– Rams QB Coach who worked with Baker Mayfield briefly. Seems to be a hot candidate for several NFL teams.
- Thad Lewis– Current Buccaneers QB coach who seems to be the frontrunner if the team hires from within.
- Alex Van Pelt- Former offensive coordinator of the Browns and Bills