Why The Bucs And Todd Bowles Hired Receivers Coach Bryon McClendon
March 1st, 2024
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
When it comes to the SEC in general, and Georgia’s football program in particular, Bucs coach Todd Bowles has pretty good intel.
Bowles’ son, Troy, is a linebacker for Georgia. Now that’s an inside source.
So Joe has to imagine the elder Bowles had good intel when the Bucs and offensive coordinator Liam Coen brought in the Bulldogs’ receivers coach Bryan McClendon to be the Bucs’ new receivers coach.
Todd Bowles was asked about McClendon earlier this week at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, the beehive of the combine. It seems one allure was what McClendon’s side gig is.
“One of the first guys Liam brought up when he got the job was Bryan McClendon,” Bowles explained. “He’s a heck of a wide receiver coach. He’s the guy that all the pros go to in the offseason to help get ready.
“[We] didn’t know we can get them out of Georgia – Kirby [Smart] does a great job with his staff down there. Just talking to him, bringing him in, and we are very excited to have him.
“I don’t know what led him to leave Georgia. I know he was very loved there like he is here, and I’m just happy to have him.”
The “here” angle Bowles mentioned was likely the combine which is sort of an unofficial football coaches convention between all the scouts, middle managers and assistant coaches that descend upon Indianapolis each winter.
Joe has to believe there is pressure on McClendon. Think about it, he possibly will have Mike Evans back. He will have Chris Godwin back. He will also work with a borderline elite pass catcher in running back Rachaad White.
If any of those three guys have a dip in production this fall that won’t look good for McClendon.
March 1st, 2024 at 12:23 am
Maybe he knows how to coach guys to catch the ball. That would help.
March 1st, 2024 at 2:28 am
Byron, meet Jamal Dean.
March 1st, 2024 at 3:01 am
I was hoping this article would say its because they knew they woud have at least two rookie WRs to train so they wanted a pretty good WR coach .
Tired of hearing how the Bucs have so many weapons. Neither Godwin or White is keeping defensive coaches awake at night. Godwin disappears for stretch in games so it usually comes down to one dimension . If you can limit ME then you can limit the offense.
Its the one way having ME hurts this team. We tend to over rely on him which is frequently too predictable. The only good thing if we lose MIke is the ball will move around much more.
March 1st, 2024 at 3:23 am
Tony you are obviously new. A La Baker fan for sure.
Godwin had a dip in production, but we true Buc fans know what he can do.
He should have stayed in the slot more and Liam has already talked about it.
As soon as Arians got here, he said Godwin would take the Fitzgerald role. You know that Hall of Fame receiver BA coached?
Do you even know who BA is, or is May/Field the extent of your football vocabulary?
Yes he MAY be good enough but we really don’t know. Disinformation about Godwin makes you look ignorant.
March 1st, 2024 at 3:31 am
Hmm, 4 yrs 120…..nice! As long as Baker is slinging it we got this 🙂
March 1st, 2024 at 3:34 am
Seriously look at Bakers TDs to Odell freaking Beckham and Jarvis Landry. The most TDs either one of them ever caught from Baker in a season is 6.
Sure, even a Monk knows Evans is elite. In fact he doubled the totals of either one of those guys. Without Mike, Baker doesn’t even throw 20 TDs next year.
That is the reality of your wonder boy.
March 1st, 2024 at 3:43 am
Baker has started 86 games. These are his stats with TDs in a game.
5 TDs – 1
4 TDs – 3
3 TDs – 6
2 TDs – 17
Do the math!!
That leaves a very high 59 games of throwing a measly 1 TD OR LESS.
That less by the way, is a BIG FAT ZERO.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:11 am
Joe … ‘If any of those three guys have a dip in production this fall that won’t look good for McClendon.’
You were doing SOOO GOOD until then Joe. McClendon has a very nice resume to this point in his career. Especially love the part about ‘He’s the guy that all the pros go to in the offseason to help get ready’. He probably has something going for him if ‘the pros’ are willing to pay him big bucks to perfect their skills. I’m surprised that we were able to wrestle him away from Kirby’s staff.
I fully expect that Evans, Godwin AND White will see somewhat less production receiving this year. The Bucs MUST improve their rushing attack IMO if they expect to be successful (having the #32 rushing offense with 1509 yards & only 8 rushing TDs is NOT a formula for success). Despite all the anti-Bowles contentions that he’s a run-run-and run some more defensive HC, Bucs only ran it 439 times last year, slightly less than 42% of our plays.
This year I’m betting will be different, probably up to around 45%. JL has already stated that changes to our OLine are coming soon, and for good reason. I fully expect that we’ll add a big back to improve our chances of converting short-yardage 3rd & 4th downs and of punching it in for TDs in short-yardage goal line situations (8 rushing TDs is unacceptable). And IF our rushing attack improves, chances seem pretty good that it’ll cut into our passing attack numbers somewhat, although overall we’ll hopefully end up being MORE PRODUCTIVE as a TEAM (translated as ‘score more points’). I’m looking for our offense to get back up to 400 or more points this season.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:27 am
D Rules. I thought the same thing about that last sentence.
He coached WRs at UGA 22-23 seasons. This was McClendon’s second stint with the team, as he previously served as a graduate assistant from 2007 to 2008 and then as running backs coach from 2009 to 2015 under former head coach Mark Richt. McClendon served as the interim head coach for the team’s bowl game after Richt was fired at the end of the 2015 season.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:28 am
You take what the defense gives you. Explosive plays are critical for an offense
to click. Its only natural for Baker to try and get the ball to Mike since
he has had so much success beating single coverage. For me I would also like to Godwin field on some plays to open up the offense. One problem with that is our third ,fourth, and fifth receivers are not as dependable as he is. I don’t buy the
Godwin disappearing statement either. If he is not catching the ball he is blocking
for somebody else to catch the ball. He is an unselfish player who reminds me of Heinz Ward.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:32 am
Tony Marks said:
…Godwin disappears for stretch in games so it usually comes down to one dimension…
———————–
You have to talk to the QB about that. After Mariah blasted Bowles, he proved he could get Godwin the ball if he wanted to.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:54 am
In support of Godwin getting some downfield targets, there has not been a year
where he has not had an explosive catch of 44 yards or more. I have to think that
Cohen is here to coach up the third ,fourth and fifth receiver. Although some have made some occasional big plays, No one stands out in my opinion.
March 1st, 2024 at 4:58 am
Yah it was amazing after Godwin’s wife blasted Bowles and Canales how many balls Chris caught the following week. We know Chris gets open but Baker like Jameus would force the ball to 13 in triple coverage instead of taking the open man
March 1st, 2024 at 5:22 am
Trey palmer is a star in the making and Jarret can be so much better and when we draft Keon Coleman , Bucs will need an effective WR coach that has excellent communication skills with 23 and 24 year olds. I really want ME13 back as he is my favorite Buc , but I believe at least 2 teams are going to be willing to out bid the Bucs for his services.
March 1st, 2024 at 7:49 am
“BillyBucco Says:
March 1st, 2024 at 3:43 am
Baker has started 86 games. These are his stats with TDs in a game.
5 TDs – 1
4 TDs – 3
3 TDs – 6
2 TDs – 17
Do the math!!
That leaves a very high 59 games of throwing a measly 1 TD OR LESS.
That less by the way, is a BIG FAT ZERO”
…………..
What’s the deal with you idjits constantly going back to his rookie season in a pathetic attempt to make your vapid points?
March 1st, 2024 at 8:42 am
“He’s the guy that all the pros go to in the offseason to help get ready.” That’s my take away. Good job Joe’s. Now I’m gonna go play 18 and enjoy my retirement.
March 1st, 2024 at 8:43 am
“BillyBucco Says:
March 1st, 2024 at 3:43 am
Baker has started 86 games. These are his stats with TDs in a game.
5 TDs – 1
4 TDs – 3
3 TDs – 6
2 TDs – 17
Do the math!!
That leaves a very high 59 games of throwing a measly 1 TD OR LESS.
That less by the way, is a BIG FAT ZERO”
…………..
What’s the deal with you idjits constantly going back to his rookie season in a pathetic attempt to make your vapid points?
Them 86 games his rookie season had to be brutal.
March 1st, 2024 at 8:49 am
The Bucs were #10 in most drops last year and that doesn’t even include the DB’s 🙂 I hope McClendon can help with that, as well as coaching up the 3,4,5 receivers in general.
I think McClendon will do a great job with the younger receivers, and we know what Evans and Godwin can do, so Baker will have a lot of mouths to feed. A great scenario for the Bucs.
March 1st, 2024 at 11:51 am
The Bucs have traditionally been allergic to UGA for whatever reason. Before hiring McClendon and drafting Camarda most recently, the only other bulldogs in the last few decades were Tim Wansley and Jermaine Phillips.
You’d think with the amount of professional talent developed in Athens, and even more so lately under Kirby, the Bucs should be trying to catch more of it. Saying this as a gator fan too.
March 1st, 2024 at 12:14 pm
D Cone most of us have better things to do in life than figure out those percentages, obviously you don’t. I agree with what you’re saying but there is no need to be a prick. I’m more concerned with dropped passes personally. ME13 has quite a few of those as did Otton. Mayfield is not elite but he is a good QB and his attitude has a lot to do with it. I hope we draft a FB who can catch. That really makes for smash mouth football. I think there is no need for us to have so many tight ends. 1 who can alternate sides on the o-line should do it. Drafting good interior O lineman seems to be a priority as well. Go BUCS
March 1st, 2024 at 4:31 pm
@BillyBucco
I counted 48, not 69. Appears you can’t do math
March 1st, 2024 at 4:34 pm
@D CONE
His stats must be wrong as I went onto ESPN’s game logs and counted every 0 and 1 TD game. I didn’t count the others as that person clearly cannot count
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:50 am
I didn’t say 69 , I said 59 and that is absolutely correct.
Apparently you can’t read OR do math.
March 2nd, 2024 at 5:53 am
Those are the numbers.
Now choke on it!!!!!