Bucs Add Lions Assistant To Interview List
January 30th, 2024
Lions assistant Tanner Engstrand.
Joe really likes how the Bucs are picking potential offensive coordinators —— dudes from teams that believe in creative offenses.
(Contrast that to who Mike Tomlin just hired as offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh — Artie Smith!)
Per uber NFL insider Adam Schefter, the Bucs will interview Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand for the job vacated by new Carolina head coach Dave Canales.
Engstrand, 41, has been with the Lions since 2020, a year before Dan Campbell came on board. Engstrand has been the Lions’ passing game coordinator since he got to Motown.
Previously, Engstrand worked on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan for one season and before that spent 12 seasons as an offensive assistant at the University of San Diego.
A little bit of Campbell, a little bit of Ben Johnson and a splash of Harbaugh and maybe Todd Bowles has something here?
Lions’ passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand will interview for the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator job, per source. Engstrand interviewed last week with the Patriots for their OC spot.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 30, 2024
January 30th, 2024 at 3:48 pm
I would have like Artie Smith as an OC , same as Frank Reich……..
January 30th, 2024 at 3:54 pm
SO another guy with no experience at calling plays….
Got EXTREMELY lucky with Canales… Not so sure that lightning strikes the same place twice…
January 30th, 2024 at 3:55 pm
Licht and Bowles found Canales. Trust the process!
January 30th, 2024 at 3:56 pm
Ben Johnson is staying with the Lions as OC. Man I wish Canales had done the same with us! I get it. But I was really looking forward to seeing year 2 in his system
January 30th, 2024 at 4:02 pm
@Weebs10 –
The Lions have a respectable winning HC…
Ben Likely wants to see if they can improve on what they accomplished this season…
I feel as though Canales would rather take a HC job with the sketchiest owner and a shambles of a team RATHER than continue to work for Bowles…
That tells me that Canales must have felt his chances for his carrier was FAR BETTER away from Bowles than with him!
January 30th, 2024 at 4:06 pm
I like how the Lions ran routes and got the ball out of the qb’s hands quickly. I think this one has potential
January 30th, 2024 at 4:11 pm
Hire him and then keep him when Ben is hired as the HC in 2025.
January 30th, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Licht or bowls? Who ultimately leads to search for these candidates?
January 30th, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Tye, the only reason Canales took the Panther job is because of his 8 year relationship with their new G.M.. Stop the bull that no one wants to work for Bowles. There are only 32 of these jobs in the world. Right now there’s only a few of those jobs open. There are plenty of worthy canidates left, and they’d all job at the chance to come to Tampa Bay.
January 30th, 2024 at 4:24 pm
Go Ninnies Beat the KC Swifties
January 30th, 2024 at 4:28 pm
The seasons over, Bowles is still the coach,
You can’t remove him, he’s like a roach
Off to the Panthers, the OC is out,
You’ll see him twice next season, no need to pour
Bakers off to the pro bowl, some think that is cool,
The elite QB’s said no, he’s next in the pool
It’s not really special, they run around cones,
Everyone gets called up, even Mac Jones
So fans cross you fingers, the drafts.coming soon,
I doubt Bucs match this season, your coach is a buffoon
Many believe you came close, to beating the Lions,
Your fooling yourself, games end they weren’t trying
NFC Championship Ship game is over, went by in a flicker,
Freaking Dan Campbell forgot about his kicker
I’ll leave you with this, Bucs had a good run,
NE Fans out for good, thanks Joe, it’s been fun
So Oneilsuckyall, orlbuc, Obvious, 99, TTbucs and Jackieboy, your insults were nasty, though some made me smile,
Jeffsgrandpa has issues, he must be senile
New England is cold, sometimes it gets tough,
I am leaving this site, it’s time, I’ve said enough!!!
January 30th, 2024 at 4:31 pm
Hire Antwaan Randle El as o.c. and he brings in Tanner as his assistant passing coordinator/qb coach., or vice-versa 😆
January 30th, 2024 at 4:33 pm
The same as Canales did with idzick
January 30th, 2024 at 4:33 pm
Bucs are dazed…..and confused.
January 30th, 2024 at 4:41 pm
Bring in vrabel as defensive coordinator if he doesn’t get a head coaching job and if he doesn’t want to sit out a year because bowles needs fresh eyes on that side of the ball as well!
January 30th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
So the Patriots passed?
You have to remember NOBODY knew Canales was available I heard.
We scooped him up and were first at the table so to speak.
Evidently they like the McVay tree better in NE.
Nick Caley seems to have the upper hand.
It is a pretty big stretch usually for a guy to go from pass game coordinator to OC. Calling plays real time is an art form that takes time.
I would much rather have experience from our OC.
Baker just can’t catch a break man.
January 30th, 2024 at 4:50 pm
HC Grover Says
“Bucs are dazed…..and confused.”
Bucs fans sure are. The Bucs? We’ll see.
January 30th, 2024 at 4:51 pm
(Contrast that to who Mike Tomlin just hired as offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh — Artie Smith!)
At least Smith had the Balls to stick with his young QB and give him a chance to work thru the Rookie Mistakes. Cost him his position.
Falcons finished Second in the Division in total offense just behind the Saints by less than 50 yards. Did that while giving up 10 more turnovers over both the Bucs and Saints. Pretty good job with a QB having barely a year under his belt. Would not doubt if they run Ridder out again while other teams in the Division throw away 30-40 mil on mediocrity.
Smith will help Pittsburgh compete in probably the toughest Division in the League.
January 30th, 2024 at 5:10 pm
Joe – Thanks for Muttley’s Laugh!
January 30th, 2024 at 5:12 pm
Falcons were a coach & a QB away from being a good team….They got a good coach (not great) and I suspect they will draft a QB
January 30th, 2024 at 5:16 pm
The only question I have about the Bucs taking so to hire a OC is, are they putting the team behind a bit with OC players acclamation. I mean when you wait this long it usually get busy for management and coaches with things like the senior bowl, east west shrine bowl. To me that’s a week early the new OC can meet with players rather than 2 or 3 weeks later. I am not a coach or GM but, just something I wonder about
January 30th, 2024 at 5:23 pm
HC Grover
“Bucs are dazed…..and confused.”
Let me help HC. What we have here is a classic case of projection.
Projection is the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object.
Let’s fix your post. HC is dazed and his posts seem confused.
January 30th, 2024 at 5:49 pm
I like this one. Too bad he’ll report to a head coich who will force all the creativity and explosiveness right out of him.
January 30th, 2024 at 5:53 pm
Trust and Bowls in the same sentence do not go together.
January 30th, 2024 at 5:58 pm
At this point I am going to trust the process just like I did last off-season.
Our head coach and GM made the right decision then and they will make the right decision this time around.
I was hoping Thad Lewis could step up because I really wanted some continuity on the offensive side of the ball.
I really don’t want our players to have to learn an entire new system and schemes for the third time in three years… Continuity breeds success.
January 30th, 2024 at 6:22 pm
Some fans are never happy. Miserable wife miserable life!
January 30th, 2024 at 6:34 pm
@Tye
OC’s gotta start somewhere. Do you think Mcvay, shanahan, or Ben Johnson got up one day and started calling plays? No. It’s a process. I’m just glad the Bucs are being open minded with their search.
January 30th, 2024 at 6:44 pm
Marine Buc … ‘I really wanted some continuity on the offensive side of the ball. I really don’t want our players to have to learn an entire new system and schemes for the third time in three years… Continuity breeds success.’
Totally agree that ‘continuity breeds success’ but the foundation still comes down to talent IMO. If you keep the same team of mediocre horses year-after-year, chances are you’ll get mediocre results year-after-year.
Good news for the Bucs is that we have some very good young players who’ve gotten lots of experience over the past 2 years. Just on the OLine for instance, Wirfs, Goedeke & Mauch hold a ton of promise for the future. I like Hainsey; there’s just something that’s not clicking at Center (maybe he’d make a better Guard, don’t know). This past year’s experience will help, but we need to be looking to upgrade our LG & C positions IMO if we expect to run the ball better.
Gut feeling is that whoever comes in as OC will be given a fairly loose rein, but with some definite marching orders about what Bowles wants our offense to accomplish. Over 6 years, Bowles’ teams have run the ball on 40.5% of their plays (that’s probably less than most HCs run the ball). So it’s a fallacy IMO that his offensive philosophy is kinda run, run then run some more.
By the same token though, over his 6 years as a HC, Bowles’ offenses have averaged a #22 ranking (not very good). Problem seems to be that the average Yards per Play for those 6 years has been a paltry 5.1 YPP. In comparison, San Fran’s run-first team averaged 6.6 YPP this season; Lions averaged 5.9 YPP. Interestingly, Todd’s best year (10-6 with the 2015 Jets) was also the year when his team has their highest YPP (5.5 YPP).
January 30th, 2024 at 8:07 pm
@ DR
I believe our head coach values ball control and taking care of the football over yardage and points.
He has a very “Dungy-ish” mentality.
Todd Bowles has actually stated several times during press conferences and interviews – “I don’t care about our yards per carry as much as I care about controlling the football and running the clock”…
I really hope the Bucs invest in both the IOL and the RB group this off-season. The Lions beat us twice partially because they had several capable RBs.
At least we don’t have to worry abot Key Vaughn wasting a roster spot again… lol.
January 31st, 2024 at 6:33 am
What am I missing with Antwaan Randle El? Why would he be a good offensive coordinator?
January 31st, 2024 at 1:30 pm
So I see this guy from the Texans on the radar, look what he did with his rookie qb. Shroud had a great year, I think, I also think Johnson would be ideal, so let’s make it happen Bucs, before it’s to late. Talk about Penix makes me want Johnson to become the OC. I mean as much as he did with his rookie could even help Baker as well. So Let’s Go Bucs!!! As ACDC says pull the trigger..