Tristan Wirfs Discusses Changing Offenses (Again)
February 24th, 2025
Josh Grizzard chatter.
So it isn’t just Baker Mayfield who will have to break in a new offensive coordinator and learn a new offense.
When Josh Grizzard was hired to replace departed Liam Coen, he became Baker Mayfield’s eighth different offensive coordinator since he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Browns in 2018.
It hasn’t been consistent lately for Tristan Wirfs, either. Grizzard will be Wirfs’ fourth offensive coordinator in as many years. He spoke about the change with Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team earlier this month.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Wirfs said. “I mean, [Mayfield] has had [eight] OCs. That’s insane. I’m at four.
“If [Mayfield] can do eight, I can do four.”
Wirfs admitted there was a learning curve going from Byron Leftwich to Dave Canales. That was also the same year Wirfs flipped from right tackle to left.
Wirfs told Meirov he doesn’t expect much of a change this year.
“We’re not the [same] system, but it hasn’t really changed much,” Wirfs said. “I think the big change was from Byron to Dave.
“Now with ‘Griz,’ he was here. I just assume stuff is not going to change drastically. Maybe some terminology, you know you might change a little bit of stuff.
“But the base [offense], I’m confident about it.”
Joe thinks that’s a big reason why the Bucs chose Grizzard. He was here. He saw how things worked. And they worked very, very well.
Joe is a big believer in not fixing something that’s not broken. The Bucs offense is not broken. Sure, Grizzard may tweak things, that’s expected. But like Wirfs, Joe is certain the offense will be similar.
February 24th, 2025 at 7:40 am
Having the same OLine coaches, QB coach etc with everyone working together and on the same page – running a very similar type of offense with probably the same terminology – will make this “new OC transition” a breeze for most of these guys.
It was smart to hire from within and keep the same coaches on offense. Now, instead of this team running “Liam Coen’s offense” – moving forward, it will be running the “Buccaneers offense”. And if the success continues – and Grizz gets a HC job next year like his 2 predecessors did – no problem – just continue to hire from within – Thad Lewis then gets his shot to run the “Buccaneers offense” – and the ‘continuity’ continues….
February 24th, 2025 at 8:14 am
The Offense will be fine. We need to stop losing on Defense with a Defensive head coach.
•Little Confidence
February 24th, 2025 at 8:42 am
The play book may be pretty much the same. The key to success is the play CALLING. Continue to mix it up and throw on 1st down occasionally. Just do NOT go back to ‘up the gut’ on 1st down 95% of the time.
February 24th, 2025 at 9:11 am
Griz hasnt scripted a whole game BUT he did script and call plays for 3rd down and was pretty good at doing it. Hopefully that taught him enough and if this move works we could find ourselves being pretty happy promoting him.
February 24th, 2025 at 10:11 am
Eagles got a new OC last season, won 18 games against 3 losses, and hoisted the Lombardi at the end. In addition they did that following a year where they dropped a WC Playoff game to an inferior team because of mistakes behind center. Tampa at least got the WC game part of the equation completed.
Can the Bucs go 14-3 like the Eagles of 2024? Maybe but having an OC that was pretty good on third down and an OC like the Eagle’s Moore that was a leagues best on first down makes a big difference.
February 24th, 2025 at 10:57 am
I expect Grizz will just add some Mike McDaniel plays to the playbook. I’d like to see some more plays designed for big YAC yards…
February 24th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
The more we look at it, the more we observe that El Serpiente got full of himself and way too cute in the latter part of the season. Inconsistency and some boneheaded play calls at critical end of game situations. It didn’t help that the defense couldn’t get off the field but whatever.
A full time head coach would work with Griz to fix the ultra-sloppiness. We shall see.
February 24th, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Aqualung, you hit the nail on the head..
A FULL TIME HC
Hire a DC Todd or Licht needs to hire one for him. If you disagrees HE can be the fulltime DC and Licht can hire a new HC.