Hunt for Offensive Coordinator
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are working to replace Dave Canales, who spent one season as the team's offensive coordinator before being hired as the Carolina Panthers' new head coach last week. The Bucs have since interviewed a myriad of candidates for the vacancy, both internal and external. The Buccaneers interviewed four candidates from other organizations, beginning with a virtual meeting with Detroit Lions Wide Receivers Coach Antwaan Randle El on Friday. This week, the team has had in-person meetings with former Cleveland Browns Offensive Coordinator Alex Van Pelt, current Houston Texans Quarterbacks Coach Jerrod Johnson, former Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson, Rams' Passing Game Coordinator Jake Peetz and Kentucky Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen. Internally, Quarterbacks Coach Thad Lewis became the first member of Todd Bowles' current staff to interview for the open role on Wednesday.
Lewis, who has received interview requests from multiple teams for his work with Baker Mayfield, finished his first season as the Bucs' quarterbacks coach in 2023. He began his NFL coaching career in Tampa in 2020 as part of the Bill Walsh coaching fellowship program. He was hired the following season as an assistant wide receivers coach, a post he filled for two seasons while working with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. In 2021, Lewis worked alongside former wide receivers coach Kevin Garver to instruct the NFL's most-productive receiving corps, with Tampa Bay leading the league in receptions (492), receiving yards (5,383), receiving touchdowns (43) and receiving first downs (273). In 2023, Lewis was promoted to quarterbacks coach and played an integral role in the development of Baker Mayfield, who earned a Pro Bowl nod and established career highs in passing yards (4,044) and touchdown passes (28) while throwing only 10 interceptions. Prior to joining the coaching ranks as an offensive analyst with Chip Kelly's UCLA squad in 2018-19, Lewis spent part of eight seasons (2010-17) as a quarterback in the NFL, seeing time with the Rams, Browns, Lions, Bills, Texans, Eagles, 49ers and Ravens. He was a four-year starter at quarterback for Duke (2006-09), where he set school records for career passing yards (10,065) and passing touchdowns (67) and added nine rushing touchdowns.
Randle El began his coaching career as an offensive assistant under Bruce Arians in 2019. He was hired by the Lions as their receivers coach in 2021 and has since instructed a group that racked up the 10th most receiving yards in the league over that three-year span. That unit includes Amon-Ra St. Brown, a former fourth-round draft pick who compiled 315 receptions for 3,588 yards and 21 touchdowns during that duration and has been named both a Pro Bowler in 2022 and a first-team Associated Press All-Pro in 2023.
Van Pelt served as the Bills' quality control coach in 2006. He was later elevated to quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator in 2009 before coming to Tampa in 2010. He spent six seasons in Green Bay as a running backs and quarterbacks coach, then spent the 2018-19 campaigns as Cincinnati's quarterbacks' coach. Mayfield was coached by Van Pelt in Cleveland in 2020-21, when Van Pelt served as the Browns' offensive coordinator.
Jerrod Johnson just completed his first season with the Texans. He had previously spent two years (2020-21) as an offensive quality control coach for the Indianapolis Colts and one season as the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings. Johnson also played quarterback at Texas A&M and professionally, spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. As the Texans' quarterbacks coach, Johnson worked closely with C.J. Stroud, who turned in one of the best seasons for a rookie quarterback in league history. Starting all 15 games in which he played, Stroud led the NFL in passing yards per game (273.9), and also had the lowest interception percentage (1.0%) of all qualifying passers. Johnson has since informed teams of his plan to return to the Texans.
Brian Johnson spent three seasons on Nick Sirianni's staff with the Philadelphia Eagles, the first two as quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023. Previously, he occupied the same role at the collegiate level at three different destinations – with Utah in 2012-13, Houston in 2017 and Florida in 2020. Johnson played quarterback at Utah and also spent one season with the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009. Johnson helped guide the development of quarterback Jalen Hurts, who took over as the Eagles' full-time starter in 2021, which was Johnson's first season with the club. Hurts earned a Pro Bowl invitation in 2022 and was finished second in the voting for NFL MVP that year. In 2023, the Eagles' offense ranked seventh in scoring with 25.5 points per game and finished eighth with 354.4 yards per contest.
Peetz spent a year on Sean McVay's staff in L.A. as an offensive assistant before being promoted to passing game coordinator in 2023. The Rams produced the NFL's 10th-ranked passing attack this past season, averaging 239.0 yards per game. Quarterback Matthew Stafford returned from elbow surgery in 2022 to throw for 3,965 yards and 24 touchdowns in 15 games, earning a Pro Bow nod. Peetz has nine years of coaching experience in the NFL including stints with Jacksonville (2012), Washington (2014), Oakland (2015-17) and Carolina (2020). In addition, Peetz worked for four seasons (2008-11) as a scout for the Jaguars. In 2021, he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the LSU Tigers.
Coen currently serves as the University of Kentucky's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has served in that role for the 2023 and 2021 seasons. Prior to his most recent post with the Wildcats, Coen was the Rams' offensive coordinator in 2022 after spending time as the club's assistant quarterbacks coach (2020) and assistant wide receivers coach (2018-19). He briefly worked with Baker Mayfield in 2022, after the Rams acquired him off waivers. Across multiple positions with the Rams from 2018-22, Coen guided an offense that ranked among the NFL leaders in passing yards per game (253.3, fifth), net yards per pass attempt (7.1, seventh), total yards per game (364.2, seventh) and first downs per game (21.3, eighth).
Baker Mayfield, Tristan Wirfs Named to NFC Pro Bowl Roster
The NFL announced earlier in the week that quarterback Baker Mayfield and tackle Tristan Wirfs have been named to the 2024 Pro Bowl Games. Mayfield will replace Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who was excused by the NFL with the pending birth of his daughter, and Wirfs is replacing left tackle Trent Williams of the San Francisco 49ers, who will be playing in Super Bowl LVIII. In addition, Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans, who was named to the initial 2024 Pro Bowl games roster, will miss the event due to injury.
Wirfs switched from right tackle to left tackle in 2023 but continued his dominant play in the trenches. His play on the right side earned Pro Bowl invitations following the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, and his first year on the opposite garnered the same recognition. Baker Mayfield's reinvigoration on the gridiron in a bounce-back year resulted in Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career.
Mayfield, who was selected as 2023's Most Improved Player by the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), posted a 2023 season in which he established career highs in completions (364), passing yards (4,044), passing touchdowns (28) and completion percentage (64.3%). He was one-of-two players this past season with 28-or-more passing touchdowns and 10-or-fewer interceptions, joining Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Dak Prescott. Mayfield ranked among league-leaders in passing touchdowns (seventh), passing yards (ninth), completions (10th) and passer rating (12th). He became the second player in Bucs history to throw for 4,000-plus yards, 25-or-more touchdowns and 10-or-fewer interceptions in a single season, along with Tom Brady (2022).
He spearheaded a Bucs offense that saw year-over-year increases in points scored, point differential, turnover margin, passing touchdowns, passer rating, net yards per pass attempt, third-down conversion rate, fourth-down conversion rate and time of possession. He led Tampa Bay to victories in five of the team's final six games of the 2023 regular season, recording the club's first four-game win streak since the 2021 season. During that span, Mayfield became the first visiting quarterback in NFL history to post a perfect passer rating (158.3) at Lambeau Field, earning his fourth career Player of the Week honors. In the postseason, Mayfield was the league's leading passer through the Divisional Round, completing 48-of-77 passes (62.3%) for 686 yards and six touchdowns compared to two interceptions for a passer rating of 106.3. Mayfield galvanized the locker room in Tampa Bay and commanded the offense with poise, pinpoint precision and his trademark 'moxie.'
Wirfs, who concluded his fourth season in the NFL, has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons (2021-23). In total, he has received three Pro Bowl selections, one Associated Press first-team All-Pro selection (2021) and Wirfs was a member of the PFWA All-Rookie Team (2020), in addition to starting on Tampa Bay's Super Bowl LV Championship team during his rookie campaign.
Earning Pro Bowl recognition again for his contributions on the field in 2023, Wirfs joins Tony Mayberry (1997-99) as the only offensive linemen in team history with three consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl. In addition, Wirfs is the first Buccaneers player at any position to accomplish that feat since Gerald McCoy made six consecutive Pro Bowls from 2012-17.
In 2023, Wirfs totaled 1,233 offensive snaps, including the postseason, and yielded just five sacks and six quarterback hits over 19 games played per PFF in his first season after making the transition from right to left tackle. Among all tackles with 850-or-more pass-blocking snaps in 2023, Wirfs ranked fourth with an 84.3 pass-blocking grade and sixth with an 81.1 overall offensive grade, per PFF. Over the past four seasons since Wirfs was drafted, the Buccaneers lead the league in fewest sacks allowed per pass attempt (3.8%), in addition to allowing the second-fewest total sacks (107) and the second-fewest quarterback hits (293) during that span.
The 2024 Pro Bowl Games are set to take place February 1-4 in Orlando. The festivities will be broadcasted on ESPN, ABC, Disney XD, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and NFL+. The NFL's top players will participate in several Pro Bowl skills competitions that showcase their talents over a four-day span. Mayfield will participate in the Precision Passing event on Thursday, as well as Flag Football on Sunday. Wirfs will participate in two games on Sunday, including a Move the Chains event and the Gridiron Gauntlet. For more information on the individual events, click here.
To view the National and American Team Rosters for the Senior Bowl, click here.
