Former NFL QB Alex Van Pelt was the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator for the majority of the 2009 campaign
It remains to be seen exactly which 53 players will make up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' regular-season roster in 2010. The men who will lead those players into action, however, are now fully in place.
With free agency and the NFL Draft looming, the Buccaneers' 2010 roster is still taking shape. The team's coaching staff, on the other hand, was finalized on Thursday with the hiring of Alex Van Pelt as quarterbacks coach, Eric Yarber as wide receivers coach and Tim Holt as offensive assistant coach.
In addition, Chris Mosley has been named defensive assistant coach after serving as assistant offensive line coach in 2009.
Van Pelt and Yarber are the newest additions to a staff that, while reshuffled, is largely familiar. Jimmy Lake has been hired to coach the defensive backs; he was the team's assistant defensive backs coach in 2006-07. Joe Baker will take over the linebackers after serving as the Bucs' defensive backs coach in 2009. And Todd Wash returns for a third season as Tampa Bay's defensive line coach after splitting those duties with the now-departed Robert Nunn in 2009. As was announced in January, Head Coach Raheem Morris will continue to serve as the team's defensive coordinator as well.
Returning assistants under Morris include Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson, Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Richard Bisaccia, Offensive Line Coach Pete Mangurian, Running Backs Coach Steve Logan, Tight Ends Coach Alfredo Roberts and several others. Below is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2010 coaching staff:
- Raheem Morris...Head Coach
- Greg Olson...Offensive Coordinator
- Richard Bisaccia...Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
- Joe Baker...Linebackers Coach
- Tim Berbenich...Assistant Wide Receivers Coach
- Tim Holt...Offensive Assistant Coach
- Jay Kaiser...Assistant to the Head Coach
- Chris Keenan...Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Jimmy Lake...Defensive Backs Coach
- Steve Logan...Running Backs Coach
- Pete Mangurian...Offensive Line Coach
- Chris Mosley...Defensive Assistant Coach
- Alfredo Roberts...Tight Ends Coach
- Kurtis Shultz...Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Dwayne Stukes...Assistant Defensive Backs Coach
- Alex Van Pelt...Quarterbacks Coach
- Todd Wash...Defensive Line Coach
- Eric Yarber...Wide Receivers Coach
Van Pelt, who entered the 2009 season as the Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in September, spent four seasons (2006-09) overall with the Bills.
In his only season as offensive coordinator, Van Pelt led an offense that featured former backup RB Fred Jackson. The third-year pro rushed for a career-high 1,062 yards on 237 attempts (4.5 avg.) with two touchdowns in Van Pelt's offense while also hauling in a career-high 46 receptions, good for second on the team, for 371 yards and two touchdowns. His 1,062 rushing yards ranked ninth in the AFC and his 1,433 total yards from scrimmage ranked 10th in the NFL and sixth in the AFC.
During his time as quarterbacks coach, Van Pelt assisted in the development of QB Trent Edwards, who posted a 65.5 completion percentage to rank sixth in the NFL in 2008 as well second all-time in Bills history for a single season.
Van Pelt was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft and later signed with Buffalo as a free agent in 1995. He spent his entire career as a member of the Bills and played in 31 games with 11 starts while amassing 2,985 yards passing and 16 touchdowns.
Yarber, who served as a college assistant coach for 11 seasons and was most recently at Arizona State, has also coached in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers (2003-04) and Seattle Seahawks (1998). With the 49ers, Yarber guided Pro Bowler Terrell Owens to a 1,000-yard season in his first year and played an integral part in the development of rookie wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who led the team with a 15.1-yard average per catch in 2004.
Yarber was also a member of Dennis Erickson's staff at Oregon State from 1999-2002. He coached the receivers for three seasons after switching from running backs coach following the 1999 season. During Yarber's tenure, the Beavers sent two receivers to the NFL in 2001, as Chad Johnson was a second-round selection of Cincinnati and T.J. Houshmandzadeh was the seventh-round pick of the Bengals.
A 12th-round draft pick out of Idaho by Washington in the 1986 NFL Draft, Yarber spent three seasons with the Redskins as a wide receiver and kick returner. He was a member of Washington's Super Bowl XXII championship team in 1988, which was led by Super Bowl MVP and current Buccaneers Director of Pro Personnel Doug Williams.
