The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fleshed out a new-look offensive coaching staff on Wednesday, adding three more assistants to a group led by Liam Coen, who was named the team's offensive coordinator on February 3. The newest additions are Pass Game Coordinator Josh Grizzard, formerly a quality control coach with the Miami Dolphins; Wide Receivers Coach Bryan McClendon, formerly the University of Georgia's passing game coordinator & wide receivers coach; and Assistant Offensive Line Coach Brian Picucci, formerly a quality control coach under Coen at the University of Kentucky.
The Buccaneers also named former New Orleans Saints Assistant Offensive Line Coach Kevin Carberry their new offensive line coach on February 14. Thad Lewis, Skip Peete and John Van Dam were retained to coach the quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends, respectively. The Bucs' offensive staff also still includes Senior Offensive Assistant Tom Moore, Offensive Quality Control Coach Jeff Kastl and Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jordan Somerville.
McClendon replaces Brad Idzik, who spent one season in that role before joining Dave Canales's staff as the Carolina Panthers' offensive coordinator. The Bucs did not have pass game coordinator or assistant offensive line positions in 2023.
Grizzard spent seven seasons on the Dolphins staff under three different head coaches, including the 2020-21 campaigns as the team's wide receivers coach. When Mike McDaniels came on as the team's new head coach in 2022, he retained Grizzard as a quality control coach, the same position he had held from 2017-19. Grizzard started his coaching career as a student assistant at Yale, his alma mater, in 2012, then spent four seasons as a graduate assistant/quality control coach at Duke.
Last season, Grizzard contributed to a high-powered Miami offense that led the NFL in yards per game (401.3), passing yards per game (265.5) and yards per carry (5.1). The 2023 Dolphins also ranked second in yards per play (6.5), net yards per pass attempt (8.0) and points per game (29.2). As the Dolphins' wide receivers coach, Grizzard helped Jaylen Waddle rack up 104 catches for 1,015, setting a (since-broken) NFL receptions record for rookies and
In his initial jump to the NFL coaching ranks, McClendon inherits a receiver room that was led in 2023 by Pro Bowler Mike Evans and prolific pass-catcher Chris Godwin, though Evans is currently a potential unrestricted free agent. Evans tied for the league lead with 13 touchdown catches this past season and produced 1,255 yards in his 10th NFL campaign. Godwin led the team with 83 catches and topped 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
McClendon played receiver at Georgia from 2002-05 and has since served multiple stints on the Bulldogs' coaching staff. That includes the school's second straight national championship season in 2022, when the Bulldogs beat TCU, 65-7, in the most lopsided title game in NCAA history. In 2023, McClendon tutored wideout Ladd McConkey, who won the Wuerffel Trophy as the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
McClendon began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2007. After two years in that role he was named the Bulldogs' running backs coach, a position he filled from 2009-14. During that time, McClendon tutored running back Todd Gurley, who earned first-team All-SEC honors and was selected 10th-overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. Gurley went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in the NFL and record 6,082 rushing yards and 79 touchdowns in the NFL.
After finishing the 2015 season as the Bulldogs' interim head coach for the team's bowl game following the dismissal of Head Coach Mark Richt, McClendon joined the South Carolina staff as first the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach and later the offensive coordinator. He moved to Oregon in 2020 for a two-year stint as the passing game coordinator & wide receivers coach and became the interim head coach for a bowl game again after Mario Cristobal headed to the University of Miami.
Picucci has previously worked on the same coaching staff as Liam Coen at two different stops in his career, first at the University of Maine in 2016 and 2017 and later at Kentucky in 2023, Picucci's only season on the Wildcats staff. He served as a quality control coach for Kentucky while Coen was in his second stint as the team's offensive coordinator.
Picucci has 29 years of coaching experience, most of it on the college level though he was on Matt Patricia's staff with the Detroit Lions in 2018-19, working as an offensive assistant and assistant tight ends coach. He spent 12 total years on the coaching staff for UMass, including three (2009-12) as the offensive coordinator. Picucci was also the interim head coach at Central Connecticut State in 2013. He started his coaching career at Southern Connecticut State in 1994. Picucci also played fullback and tight end at Syracuse for four seasons, helping the Orange win four bowl games.
