With Todd Monken choosing to stay with John Harbaugh and move together to the New York Giants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are down to one dream option at the offensive coordinator position to replace the fired Josh Grizzard.
That man is none other than former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who is seen around NFL circles as a tactical savant with some of the best pure X's and O's knowledge in the league. He did not quite have the communication skills or leadership chops to succeed as the Dolphins head man, but his track record as an offensive coordinator and assistant in this league speaks for itself.
Buccaneers fans are getting their hopes up for McDaniel as an option to save a unit that underperformed badly under Grizzard, because with the incompetent Todd Bowles still somehow running the ship, the offense is 100 percent going to be run by the offensive coordinator.
Buccaneers have another competitive suitor to watch
The thing is, the Bucs are not the only team interested in McDaniel. Far from it. He has a laundry list of teams interested in him, and the list of suitors is only growing. Now, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport is reporting that a playoff team, the Los Angeles Chargers, are after Mike McDaniel. The Chargers are set to interview him early next week for their own offensive coordinator gig.
Los Angeles, like Tampa Bay, have an appealing situation for an offensive coordinator to walk into. Like Tampa, they have a franchise quarterback under center in Justin Herbert, and they have a good set of skill position players. But the Bucs skill position players are better, particularly if Mike Evans stays another year, and the offensive line is much, much better than LA's.
McDaniel will have a lot to mull over and think about, and while Buccaneers fans were rather wistfully hoping to secure the offensive coordinator on the day of his interview at One Buc Place, the reality is that it will likely take some time, perhaps even weeks, for McDaniel to methodically come to a final decision on his ultimate destination with so many competitive suitors at a playoff level interested.
Head coaching positions are also available to McDaniel, but it seems like after what happened in Miami, McDaniel may want to step back into an offensive coordinator role. Tampa Bay could be a great situation for him to rebuild his reputation, but you can't help but wonder if his decision will come down to his thoughts on Herbert vs. Mayfield at quarterback.