The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprised everyone by deciding to keep Todd Bowles around for at least another year, but they did at least part ways with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who damaged his reputation and ruined his future in Tampa Bay with some of the worst play calling known to man despite having one of the most loaded skill positions groups in the NFL - and Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
Tampa now has to go back out on the recruiting trail to find a top offensive mind willing to work with Baker, and many Buccaneers fans are dreaming of another bright mind snubbed by the Cleveland Browns years ago in Mike McDaniel.
Once heralded as a genius, McDaniel himself has plenty of egg on his face after a horrid season with the Miami Dolphins. But between Tua Tagovaioloa's myriad of interceptions and dysfunction abound behind the scenes, McDaniel did not really stand much of a chance and may have even been sandbagging himself with some of his bizarre coaching decisions at the end of games by the time the campaign was coming to a close.
Buccaneers get an OC boost
According to a report from ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington, who has plenty of connections in the state of Florida, Mike McDaniel is not just looking for other head coaching option after being fired by the Dolphins, as he would also be open to the right challenge in stepping "back" a bit to return to being an offensive coordinator. And he would be interested in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers post.
Darlington said of McDaniel, via Joe Bucs Fan, “I’ve been texting with McDaniel, and he’s already willing to take on another challenge, whether that’s an offensive coordinator role like the Bucs have, or a head coaching opportunity, perhaps with the Cleveland Browns or a team like that remains to be seen. But I can tell you that McDaniel and any vacancy for an offensive coordinator job, seems like something we should be paying attention to.”
The Buccaneers sound like they want to go bold with their Grizzard replacement and sign someone for the offensive coordinator job who is a bit of the opposite. Someone more innovative, interested in spreading the ball and driving the ball forward with the passing game, utilizing the running back in the passing game, and with more experience and guts to really take the reigns off Bowles like McDaniel could make a lot of sense for Tampa.