Bucs 2026 Offensive Coordinator Interview Tracker

The Bucs have already been busy this offseason searching for their next offensive coordinator after firing Josh Grizzard. Grizzard was the latest one-year play-caller for Tampa Bay, as head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht have found it to be an annual tradition to interview a host of candidates and select one as the next man up.

After firing Byron Leftwich in 2022, the team went on to hire Dave Canales in 2023, Liam Coen in 2024, and Grizzard in 2025. With bright offensive minds in short supply across the NFL, and Bowles being a defensive-minded head coach, selecting the right person becomes that much more crucial.

For instance, Coen’s impact coincided with the Bucs having a 10-win season in 2024 and quarterback Baker Mayfield having a career year. The run game was revived, and the points per game reached 2020-2021 levels when Tampa Bay was competing for (and winning) the Lombardi trophy.

There are plenty of names on the market for this gig, and Pewter Report will update this post with which candidates the Bucs plan on interviewing in the coming days and weeks until the offensive coordinator position is filled.

Check back often on PewterReport.com for the most recent news and updates.

LATEST UPDATE: January 21st at 6:00 P.M. ET

Most Recent Bucs Offensive Coordinator Candidate News

UPDATE: Bucs Bring Zac Robinson To Tampa For In-Person Interview

Pewter Report learned and reported Wednesday afternoon that in addition to Brian Callahan getting a second interview with the Bucs – this time in person – former Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is getting another interview as well. Robinson first interviewed virtually with Tampa Bay 10 days ago, and now he’s set for a face-to-face visit as the team begins a second round of interviews following the news that presumed top choice Mike McDaniel will be joining the Chargers.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also reported that Robinson is in Tampa on Wednesday for his interview, while Callahan is set for his visit on Thursday.

Spending two years in Atlanta, Robinson worked under head coach Raheem Morris during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The Falcons had the league’s 13th-ranked (22.9 ppg) scoring offense in 2024, but the unit fell to 24th (20.8 ppg) this past season as the team went 8-9 in back-to-back seasons, which cost Morris his job.

Like former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Robinson has roots in Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams offense. Robinson spent five seasons with McVay, elevating from the Rams assistant quarterbacks coach to passing game coordinator/QB coach before calling plays for the first time in Atlanta in 2024. Robinson was the Rams quarterbacks coach when Baker Mayfield was in L.A. for the end of the 2022 season. Those connections were enough to land an interview, but it remains to be seen if he impressed enough to get the job.

UPDATE: Bucs To Bring In Brian Callahan For Second Interview

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Bucs are having former Titans head coach Brian Callahan in for a second interview, with this one in person. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN later reported that this second interview is set for Thursday. Callahan was the first person that the Bucs interviewed when they started their offensive coordinator search on January 9th, and he will become the second candidate to get interviewed twice this offseason after Zac Robinson.

Callahan, 41, was fired six games into his second season as Tennessee’s head coach. After finishing his 2024 debut season at 3-14 – a finish that landed the Titans the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft, which they spent on quarterback Cam Ward – Callahan started 1-5 in this past season. He was then fired, making for a combined 4-19 record as the team’s head coach.

Prior to his 23-game stint as the head coach of the Titans, Callahan served as Zac Taylor’s offensive coordinator with the Bengals from 2019-2023. However, Taylor was the team’s play-caller, with Callahan having a role in designing the offense and helping with the game plan each week. When he took the Titans’ job, Callahan called plays during the 2024 season and started the 2025 season by calling them only to hand over those duties after three games.

During his time in Cincinnati working with Taylor and quarterback Joe Burrow (from 2020-2023), Callahan was part of two AFC North-winning teams, as well as two AFC Championship Game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance.

Between 2021 and 2023, the Bengals offense was top 10 in a number of categories, finishing sixth in points per game (24.9), seventh in passing (250.8 yards per game), seventh in red zone efficiency (61.5%), 10th in third-down percentage (41%) and sixth in time of possession (31:00). Callahan has experience calling plays, but how teams view his time with the Titans will determine his coaching future.

UPDATE: Bucs Complete Virtual Interview With Dan Pitcher

Tampa Bay announced that they had completed their interview with Pitcher. He certainly gets to rise up the ranks after it was reported that Mike McDaniel is going to the Chargers. It likely still puts him behind Zac Robinson, but he has a chance to be a first time play-caller with several coaching spots open.

UPDATE: Former Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel

Mike McDaniel interviewed for the Bucs offensive coordinator last Friday and was presumably one of if not the top remaining option to call plays in Tampa Bay next season. That will not come to fruition as McDaniel will pass up on that chance to work with Justin Herbert out in Los Angeles. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported late Tuesday night that McDaniel is expected to become the Chargers offensive coordinator.

McDaniel has been a hot commodity since he was let go of by the Dolphins, interviewing for head coaching vacancies with the Browns, Falcons, Titans and Ravens as well as an interview for the open offensive coordinator position with the Lions.

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Sam Navarro Bucs

McDaniel was 35-33 over four seasons in Miami. His offense was prolific at times, ranking second in points per game, first in yards per game and fourth in EPA/play in 2023. Those marks all fell in subsequent years as he dealt injuries and inconsistent play at the quarterback position. He is known for his innovative mind on the offensive side of the ball, including ushering in the recent wave of fast-snap motion that has taken over the league. Rather than keeping his talents in the state of Florida, he will be taking them across the country and aim to get the most out of Herbert and the Chargers’ offense in 2026.

UPDATE: Bengals Offensive Coordinator Dan Pitcher

After interviewing him twice during their 2023 offensive coordinator search before he ultimately decided to stay with the Bengals, the Bucs have circled back to Cincinnati offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher as they continue to look for Josh Grizzard’s replacement.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday afternoon that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has given Pitcher permission to speak to teams with play-calling offensive coordinator positions, and the Bucs are now set to interview the 39-year-old this week.

When Tampa Bay was searching for Byron Leftwich’s replacement in 2023, it interviewed Pitcher, the Bengals’ quarterbacks coach at the time, both virtually and in-person. But with uncertainty surrounding the Bucs’ quarterback situation at the time given Tom Brady’s retirement and the fact that Kyle Trask was the only quarterback under contract, Pitcher decided to stay with Taylor, Joe Burrow and the Bengals. And with Brian Callahan becoming the Titans’ head coach that offseason, Pitcher ended up being promoted to offensive coordinator in Cincinnati anyway.

Pitcher has served in that role under Taylor for the last three seasons, continuing to play a part in one of the league’s most prolific offenses, an offense that constantly has to compensate for the Bengals’ horrific defense. Taylor calls the plays there, though, so Pitcher could be intrigued by the chance to come to Tampa and call plays, more so this time around given that Baker Mayfield is established as the team’s quarterback.

UPDATE: Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken

Todd Monken interviewed with the Bucs in-person last Wednesday, with the team announcing the news.

The 59-year-old has plenty of offensive experience, the latest being as the Ravens offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. While he has orchestrated high-powered attacks led by quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, he spent time in Tampa Bay as an offensive coordinator already in 2016-2018 under former head coach Dirk Koetter.

Monken also overlapped with quarterback Baker Mayfield for a season with the Browns in 2019 and is the most intriguing name of all the options mentioned below. Will he return to town as the offensive play-caller, or will he again turn down a potential job with the Bucs like he did in 2023? One variable that will be a factor against his return is the news that John Harbaugh will be the next coach of the Giants and is likely to bring Monken with him.

UPDATE: Giants Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka

Last Tuesday morning, the Bucs announced that they have completed a virtual interview with Mike Kafka.

Kafka started last season as the Giants offensive coordinator and ended it as the interim head coach after Brian Daboll was fired. Kafka oversaw rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart take the reins and provide plenty of reason to be excited about the future in New York. Still, he will not return as the team searches for its next head coach.

Giants Interim HC Mike Kafka – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Kevin Wexler

Kafka has moved up the coaching ranks after being the Chiefs quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator from 2018-2021. He worked with Patrick Mahomes at the rise of him becoming an elite quarterback, and as a former quarterback who once played in Tampa Bay, there are connections to be made here. Still just 38 years old, he checks a lot of boxes that teams have at offensive coordinator.

Cardinals Quarterbacks Coach Israel Woolfork

Israel Woolfork, along with Lions pass game coordinator David Shaw, have already met with the Bucs over virtual interviews.

Woolfork, 35, began his coaching career in the NFL in 2022 with the Browns after receiving the team’s Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship, then he was hired by Jonathan Gannon in 2023 to be the Cardinals’ quarterbacks coach.

While in Arizona, Woolfork worked with quarterback Kyler Murray upon his return from the reserve/PUP list in 2023 until veteran Jacoby Brissett eventually took over for Murray as the starter during the 2025 season. Under Woolfork’s tutelage, Murray and Brissett combined to throw for 4,328 yards and 29 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Still ripe as an offensive mind, Tampa Bay could elect to get ahead of the curve with someone who has quickly shot up the coaching ranks.

Lions Pass Game Coordinator David Shaw

David Shaw has a lengthy coaching background and is among the more experienced options out there for a potential offensive coordinator job. Shaw, 53, started coaching in the NFL in 1997 as the Eagles’ offensive quality control coach. From there, he served in that same role for the Raiders from 1998 through 2000.

Lions pass game coordinator David Shaw – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Junfu Han

In 2001, he was Oakland’s quarterbacks coach under former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden, then he took on the role of quarterbacks and wide receivers coach with the Ravens from 2002 through 2004. He was the Ravens’ wide receivers coach again in 2005, then he returned to the college ranks and served as San Diego’s pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2006.

Then came a long stint with Stanford, where Shaw was first the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Cardinal from 2007 through 2009 before spending 2010 as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He then became Stanford’s head coach in 2011 and served in that role through 2022.

Coming back to the league with the Lions, he was a part of an offense that ranked fifth in both points per game (28.3) and yards per game (373.2) while ranking third yards per play (5.97), passing yards per game (253.1) and interception percentage (1.37%). They also had the NFL’s eighth-best red zone offense. His time in various roles, including as a college head coach for over a decade, makes him a qualified option for the Bucs offensive coordinator position.