Imagine hiring a quarterback who dazzles in practice but freezes on game day. A player with the tools, the playbook, and the platform, but not the ability to pull it off when the lights come on. That was Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles’ problem with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. And Bowles wasn’t prepared to wait any longer. 

In a candid, exclusive interview with JoeBucsFan, Bowles broke down exactly why he fired the OC he had personally handpicked. The reasoning cuts straight to the core of what went wrong in Tampa Bay’s 2025 season.

“It was my call,” Bowles said. “I thought ‘Grizz’ was about maybe two or three years from putting it all together.”

That admission summarizes a frustrating season, one where an offense with real weapons never found its footing. The core issue was a disconnect between the practice field and Sundays. Grizzard designed the schemes, but he just wasn’t deploying them when it counted.

“He came up with some good schemes, and we had some good things, but we didn’t kind of call them all the time,” Bowles noted. “We would run them in practice; we didn’t run them in a game.”

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“And I thought from a head coaching standpoint, there were certain situations that we probably could have done better,” Bowles further added. “And it just felt like we were stagnant and we were not where we needed to be.”

Tampa Bay opened the season with a promising 6-2 record, then lost seven of its final nine games, finishing 8-9 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Now, injuries to the offensive line provide a lot of context. But Bowles wasn’t offering any cover.

“Granted, we had a lot of offensive line injuries,” Bowles said. “I get that part of it. But we have to win with backups because they’re on the team for a reason; injuries are not an excuse. – I just didn’t think we progressed offensively the way I thought we were going to progress.”

Quarterback Baker Mayfield’s numbers underlined this stagnation with painful clarity. His touchdown total dropped from 41 (2024 season) to just 26, his lowest output since 2022. The scheme wasn’t unlocking what Mayfield had already proven he could do.

Todd Bowles also made it clear this was his call entirely. ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported that “these were not moves mandated by ownership”. Bowles was accountable enough to admit the offense was broken and willing enough to swing the ax himself.

But just one cut wasn’t enough. Josh Grizzard’s dismissal was just the beginning. Bowles ultimately fired five coaches in total, making this one of the most sweeping staff overhauls in Tampa Bay under his tenure.

Tampa Bay’s full reset under Todd Bowles

Bowles knew his coaching staff needed an overhaul to restart their playoff run. To that effect, aside from Josh Grizzard, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, QB coach Thaddeus Lewis, cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross, and defensive line coach Charlie Strong were all let go.

While these five firings were decisions made by Bowles, he also lost two others. Senior offensive assistant Tom Moore and safeties coach Nick Rapone have both decided to hang it up. But Bowles isn’t worried.

In rebuilding, Bowles leaned heavily on new OC Zac Robinson’s Atlanta Falcons connections. QB coach Chandler Whitmer, pass game coordinator T.J. Yates, and senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese all have ties to Robinson’s Atlanta tenure.

Robinson’s history as a quarterback, paired with his extensive coaching experience since 2019, made him the perfect man to draw out Baker Mayfield’s full potential on the field. Meanwhile, Chandler Whitmer, just 34, helped Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza win the 2025 Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

As for Todd Bowles, he’s not going anywhere. His contract, signed last June, runs through 2028. And this overhaul isn’t just housecleaning on his part. Rather, it’s a direct statement that the window in Tampa Bay remains open, and he’s sending a clear message that 2026 is a must-win season. Can the new coaching staff bring the Bucs back to the playoffs? We’ll just have to wait and see.