When Baker Mayfield came to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the spring of 2023, he was a quarterback looking to breathe life into an NFL career essentially on life support.
Mayfield was down to his last chance, as indicated by the former No. 1 overall pick signing a 1-year, $3 million “Prove It” contract to replace 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. Either way, the prevailing sentiment was Mayfield probably wouldn’t be around very often.
Just 2 years later, we don’t hear many people mentioning Brady anymore. Mayfield is a 2-time Pro Bowl quarterback, has 2 consecutive playoff appearances and has a 3-year, $100 million contract — he’s the face of the franchise.
A large part of that credit has gone to Mayfield’s 2 offensive coordinators, Dave Canales and Liam Coen. And they’ve reaped the benefits probably as much as anyone. Canales left to become the head coach of the Carolina Panthers after the 2023 season. Coen left to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars following the 2024 season.
There’s a prevailing sentiment out there that Tampa Bay’s new offensive coordinator, Josh Grizzard, could be up next if Mayfield has another big year in 2025.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton recently put Grizzard on his list of NFL coordinators most likely to make the leap to become a head coach in 2026.
“Josh Grizzard could be the next Buccaneers offensive coordinator in line for a big opportunity elsewhere,” Moton wrote on July 1. “At 35, he’s younger than Canales, 44, and Coen, 39, but he’s been in the league since 2017, when he held an offensive quality control position with the Miami Dolphins. In Miami, Grizzard took on various roles under three different regimes, with head coaches Adam Gase, Brian Flores, and Mike McDaniel, which illustrates his value to coaching staffs. Last year in Tampa Bay, Grizzard served as the passing game coordinator. So, his familiarity with the passing attack could help him get the Buccaneers off to a quick offensive start despite his play-calling inexperience.”
Mayfield Key To Dudes Getting HC Jobs
While Canales and Coen have become stars in their own right by landing NFL head coaching jobs, the true engine that drives everything is Mayfield. The former Oklahoma star threw for career highs of 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2024 while also having a career best year running the ball with 378 yards and 3 touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
So while Canales and Coen get the credit, it’s important to remember that Mayfield is the reason for them getting big time jobs and big time paid. It’s something Grizzard would be smart to remember when he’s calling plays.
Canales was objectively bad in his first year as a head coach for the Panthers in 2024 as the team stumbled to a 5-12 record. In an ironic twist, most of those problems were centered around the quarterback position as Canales fumbled in his first season guiding the career of 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, who he benched after just 2 games.
For Coen, early impressions have not been great, and he faces an uphill battle trying to turn around the career of another former No. 1 overall pick in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was one of the NFL’s worst signal callers in 2024.
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