The Tampa Bay Buccaneers endured a brutal collapse during the 2025 season. Tampa Bay lost seven of eight games after its Week 9 bye. That collapse ultimately contributed to the Buccaneers missing the playoffs.
The Buccaneers responded by parting ways with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Tampa Bay also moved on from several other offensive assistants in January.
During a Tuesday appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Baker Mayfield discussed new coordinator Zac Robinson. In doing so, the Buccaneers quarterback appeared to criticize Grizzard’s offensive approach.
Teams “were able to key in on” what Buccaneers offense was doing amid collapse during 2025 season
Mayfield explained why he believes Robinson’s offensive approach can help Tampa Bay. He also discussed how opposing defenses attacked the Buccaneers during last season’s collapse.
“He’s really enjoying the guys up front and all the things that they’re capable of doing,” Mayfield on Robinson, per the JoeBucsFan website. “And so it’s not just gonna be [a] wide zone [rushing scheme]. He knows that [our offensive linemen] are really good at the gap schemes; you gotta mix it up. And so he’s having a blast, and just the constant communication that he has about the system is great. That was a big difference. In ’24, we were a mid-zone team — bread and butter, and the gap scheme was our mix-up. And it wound up helping us get to a top-five rushing team in the league in ’24. And last year we relied on the gap scheme too much. Teams were able to key in on that and bring some pressures and stunts that really screw with that.”
Grizzard and the Buccaneers also dealt with Mayfield’s injury during the season. Mayfield suffered a significant injury to his non-throwing shoulder in Week 12.
Still, Tampa Bay ultimately replaced Grizzard with Robinson. Robinson previously worked with Mayfield during his brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
Robinson served as Mayfield’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach during that stint. Now, the two are reunited in Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield having “fun” working with Zac Robinson
Mayfield believes he and his teammates can “shock a lot of people this year.” He will have Robinson leading Tampa Bay’s offense during the upcoming season.
Mayfield also has added motivation entering the final year of his current contract. That could make the upcoming season particularly important for the Buccaneers quarterback.
“Just the play-action to be able to get our guys open, protect it, and have the defense guessing about what we’re doing based on the same formations and motions, whether it’s pass or run. It’s been fun,” Mayfield continued about working with Robinson. “And I think just the staff that [the Bucs have] put together, TJ Yates, the pass game coordinator, unbelievable experience as a QB in this league. Just good insight being in our meetings. And then Chandler Whitmer, our QB coach, he’s been unbelievable for me. Just extremely detailed, really dials it in on what we’re trying to get done for the day. Just setting the goals and making sure I have my footwork down. He is the footwork king.”
The Buccaneers will now hope Robinson can help maximize Mayfield’s strengths. They will also hope the offense avoids the problems that contributed to last season’s collapse.
If Tampa Bay’s current coaching staff fails to get the best from Mayfield, changes could follow. Mayfield and those coaches could all have different football homes at this time next year.
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