Josh Grizzard Receives Tristan Wirfs’ Stamp Of Approval
February 8th, 2025
Bucs’ All-Pro LT digs him.
OK, so Joe is going to do some dot-connecting here. Joe might be off, but perhaps not.
If Baker Mayfield had an issue with new Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard or didn’t like him or didn’t think Grizzard could get the job done running the Bucs offense, Grizzard might still be a “passing game coordinator.”
Or he might just be in Jacksonville.
Bucs All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs and Mayfield are very tight. The two are great friends and if they’re not at home, they’re either at One Buc Palace or they are hanging out somewhere or fishing.
So Joe doesn’t believe Wirfs would rave about Grizzard being his new coordinator if Mayfield told him Grizzard was a mistake of a hire.
Speaking with Ari Meirov of The33rdTeam, Wirfs seemed genuinely pumped to have Grizzard taking over for the departed Liam Coen.
“We’re excited bout ‘Griz,’ too,” Wirfs said. “He was here this year. Knows the system like the back of his hand.
“He’s a wizard. It’s going to be fun.”
That’s comforting. Joe doesn’t know he excited to be about Grizzard because he has very big shoes to fill. And Joe is suspicious a first-time play-caller can actually make an offense more explosive than the third-best offense in the game.
Joe is keen on seeing what sort of wrinkles Grizzard can work into the offense he inherited.
I asked #Bucs All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs about the Liam Coen situation: “The whole O-line was together. … We saw he was back with the Bucs, then we saw he was in Jacksonville, and then they tried to block something. It was a whirlwind. … It was crazy, but we wish him success.”… pic.twitter.com/6QhP4xKCVD
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 6, 2025
February 8th, 2025 at 12:10 am
Psyched to see it play out!
February 8th, 2025 at 2:24 am
I keep hearing folks focus on Grizzard comments about making this offense more explosive than last season. I watched the presser – I took it to mean more explosive plays. I don’t think he was making a comment to one-up Coen’s offense – I think it was a hint that the deep ball may be back on the menu.
Except for run plays by the QB, or Bucky, I believe deep passes (ie explosive passes) were down this past season. Maybe a few more deep shots.
Of course, you’d need a 9 route guy for that…and we don’t have anyone that can take the top of a defense…
February 8th, 2025 at 2:45 am
Griz will be fine….hes a D reader just like Baker
February 8th, 2025 at 2:59 am
Baker, with line of scrimmage autonomy, gets the job well and gets it done.
Fix the pass defense, Jason.
February 8th, 2025 at 4:33 am
Just finished listening to, me and the old hound, my favorite podcast. Ira and the Joes thinking Mayfield had a lot of influence on our OC hiring. I’m sure if Mayfield thought Tristan or Mike or any of our players weren’t of the same mind then Griz would not be our OC. Looks like the whole organization is on board. Baker is finally getting some luck that hard work and perseverance always pays. He was lucky with Canales for a year and Coen for a year. And No More! Now we’ve got the right guy who is just an extension of the team, it’s the players who are going to get this team over the hump. Baker and Tristan and Mike and TB and JL are the leaders of this team. TB and JL and Griz are going to let them play some football and they are going to win alot of games the next 5 year’s. Character matters and this team has it in spades. GM and coach have alot to do with that. Speaking of which, Jason Licht it is commendable the type of organizational character we appear to have here. But in my mind if you don’t extend Todd Bowles contract and give him a healthy raise before anything else you do this offseason then you have fallen short of my expectations.
February 8th, 2025 at 4:51 am
Hope and optimism are good things!!! There is every reason to be optimistic about the Buc’s offense!!!
Griz could very easily be an upgrade over Coen! Coen did an excellent job last year but he didn’t walk across Tampa Bay on the water!
He benefitted GREATLY from a newly revamped and IMPROVED OL!! He totally lucked out with a 4th round draft pick who put up rushing numbers that actually were very close to Barry Sanders rookie season! IF Coen had used him early instead of just 3 starts in 17 games who knows what kind of numbers he would have put up! Bucky averaged 5.4 yards per carry to Barry’s 5.3.
Some are slow on the uptake. I’m not saying Bucky is the next Barry, he could be the next Cadillac Williams. BUT Bucky’s rookie season was as good as the great Barry Sanders and Coen certainly benefitted from that.
Then you add the guy who got Canales a HC gig, a franchise QB, Baker Mayfield. And there is still an HOF WR in ME13 who was at the top of his game in the playoff game with a healed hammy.
All of these guys including Griz will have a year experience and at last some continuity since the Bucs were finally able to hire from in house.
The focus now is on the DEFENSE! D is clearly a work in progress and I don’t think we’ll know how much progress until after the draft and any FA signings or trades.
February 8th, 2025 at 4:56 am
“Grizzard is a Wizard.” Love it!
February 8th, 2025 at 5:08 am
Agree Jude. “Grizzard the Wizard”. If he succeeds he has a ready made nickname.
February 8th, 2025 at 5:38 am
stpetebucsfan – You said it right, “Hope and Optimism.” When playing Bucky, Baker, Mike, Godwin, and others really did make Coen and Canales look good. Thinking though, Grizz has been the key guy behind the curtain. Looking forward to this next season.
February 8th, 2025 at 5:53 am
Agree with St Pete’s analysis that Griz has been given quite an offense to work with. Oline significantly improved with the addition of Barton & Bredeson 9who we need to re-sign). Our RB stable obviously improved with the addition of Bucky. Our WR stable improved with the addition of McMillan. Our TE stable improved because Durham got a lot more work (430 snaps in 2024 vs only 138 in 2023). Most importantly IMO, Baker Mayfield stayed healthy all year and improved A BUNCH in how he runs this offense. Griz will be fine as our new OC.
Improving our defense (and S/Ts) is where we need to focus this season; no news there. We finished right in the middle of the pack (#16) last season, and that earned us a 10-7 record. If the Bucs can keep our offense performing in the Top-5 and improve the performance of our defense to the Top-10, then I think we can be a contender this year. It’ll take at least an 11-6 and maybe a 12-5 record to beat out Atlanta (they’ve got a great foundation like we do IMO, and should improve this year). Still, only time will tell.
February 8th, 2025 at 5:58 am
I admit that when Coen said he was staying and then he was gone was a dull moment however, when information started to surface that Grizzard and the other assistant was over half of Coen’s success, I started to think 1st, the Bucs offense was at least in the middle of the top offenses in the NFL last season with a first time play caller and Bowles, dislike him or not and Licht have put together a heck of a roaster and coaching staff so why not be optimistic. Then when word came that Grizzard would be the OC one of the main guys who helped construct that top 10 offense from last year, that was more reason to be optimistic
February 8th, 2025 at 7:55 am
Unfortunately for Griz, if his players fail to execute a handoff, drop a pass, fumble the ball, throw a pick or miss a block it will be his fault. By some people’s standards he’s already doomed and will never be accredited even if the offense is top 5 in the league.
Good luck coach, this fan base for the most part can’t get (insert players name here) d!ck out of there mouth. So, unless your offense can rack up 1000 yards a game and win every contest by 40 you will be mediocre at best and everything that goes wrong will be your fault…
February 8th, 2025 at 8:28 am
JustOneGame spews crap like this Joe and I get edited for what Joe? Suggesting that our head coach needs an extension and a raise? Good call Joe. Good call.
February 8th, 2025 at 8:37 am
Hopefully he’s good enough to where we lose him like Coen, and Canales.
February 8th, 2025 at 8:49 am
So the Bucs now have a 3rd Crew Chief in the 3 seasons. His job is to get the Car (the offense) which is one of the fastest running at it best. Mayfield is the driver and will occasionally sit in the first row , usually finish just off the lead lap, and never take the checkered flag.
They will make it exciting for the first 400 miles, then fade and finish top 10 a bunch of times. Respectable but that won’t win the Winston Cup or the Lombardi.
February 8th, 2025 at 8:50 am
I was kind of nonplussed about the guy at FIRST, then I read her was the 3rd down wizard. WELL! LFG!
February 8th, 2025 at 8:52 am
No surprise when players endorse Griz, that’s to be expected.
Certainly Griz is in an interesting situation. The good news is that he has great players. The bad news is that it will be hard to maintain a top 5 offense when the opponents have a full year of tape on you. Will fans attack Griz if he doesn’t have a top 5 offense?
There’s always room for improvement so I’ll list three things: 1. Better red zone, inside the 10, offense. 2. Bake needs to reduce turnovers 3. The WR3-WR5 guys need to improve, especially Palmer, Shepard, and Miller.
Obviously the defense needs more talent and better coaching.