After long, drawn-out offensive coordinator searches in both 2023 and 2024, the Bucs’ offensive coordinator search in 2025 was much quicker and to the point.

Less than a week after former coordinator Liam Coen left to become the Jaguars’ head coach, Tampa Bay has named his replacement. Josh Grizzard, the team’s pass game coordinator in 2024 under Coen, will be promoted to the offensive coordinator role, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported on Friday afternoon.

New Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs started their search earlier this week by interviewing five external candidates – Chargers pass game coordinator Marcus Brady, Vikings assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski, Rams offensive assistant/pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase, Rams tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Nick Caley and Rams quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone.

But then came Tampa Bay’s first and only internal interview, which was with Grizzard.

Pewter Report broke the news Tuesday afternoon that the Bucs would soon be interviewing Grizzard for their offensive coordinator job, and the team completed that interview Wednesday morning. It clearly went well, as he will now be Coen’s successor after serving as his right-hand man in the passing game last season.

Not only was Grizzard the pass game coordinator for the Bucs’ top-five offense in 2024, but he was also in charge of an elite third-down offense. Coen praised Grizzard for his work in that area at the end of the year.

“I think, first of all, shoutout to Josh and really the staff in general have done a phenomenal job throughout the whole year,” Coen said when discussing the team’s success on third down, which ranked third in the NFL at 48.3% at the time. “The guys in charge of those areas – Thad Lewis is in charge of the red zone, ‘B-Mac’ (Bryan McClendon) is in charge of two-minute, and ‘Grizz’ happens to be in charge of third downs.

“Their ideas, plays, and thoughts and schemes [are] what come to life as what you see on Sunday.”

Grizzard certainly knew what he was doing on third downs this year. Tampa Bay led the league with a 51.1% third down conversion percentage. Even in the team’s playoff loss to the Commanders, the Bucs converted 5-of-9 (55.6%) third downs.

New Bucs OC Josh Grizzard Is Young, But He’s Plenty Experienced

Bucs pass game assistant Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Miami Dolphins

Josh Grizzard may only be 34 years old, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t seen and done a lot throughout his coaching career.

His path to becoming the Bucs’ new offensive coordinator began in 2012 at Yale, where he was a graduate assistant for his alma mater. From there, he worked as a graduate assistant and quality control coach at Duke from 2013-2016.

Grizzard eventually made the leap to the NFL in 2017. He served as the Dolphins’ offensive quality control coach under Adam Gase from 2017-2018, then stayed on as quality control coach when Brian Flores was hired in 2019. From there, he became Miami’s wide receivers coach for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

It was then that he helped develop Jaylen Waddle, who broke the NFL’s then-rookie-receptions record in 2021 with 104. Waddle also set a current Dolphins rookie record of 1,015 receiving yards.

When Flores was fired and Mike McDaniel replaced him in 2022, Grizzard stayed on and spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as an offensive quality control coach.

His path then extended to Tampa Bay in 2024, when he was hired to join Liam Coen’s staff with the Bucs. Grizzard was highly thought of within the halls of One Buc Place even before Coen’s departure, so when Coen did leave for his new job in Jacksonville, it was only a matter of time before Grizzard would get a chance to interview for his first offensive coordinator job.

Bucs pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard and former OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo wrote this about Josh Grizzard earlier this month when discussing his candidacy for the job he has now accepted:

“His exposure to different concepts and styles of offense gives him a strong foundation to build an offense that is multiple and less predictable.

Having spent time with Miami head coach Mike McDaniel, who uses 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end) more than almost any other offensive designer in the league, as well as Liam Coen, who was more 11 personnel-heavy, that allowed Grizzard to see the virtues of how to create matchup advantages through the use of player groupings. It also gives him a unique vantage point into how he might try to continue the Bucs’ success with their own unique 21 personnel grouping of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White.

By his own admission, a big part of Grizzard’s most recent role has been to look around the NFL to find ways the most dynamic ways to attack defenses by using the latest and most creative ways to give his offense a chance to succeed. Those have been qualities that head coach Todd Bowles has looked for in his last two offensive coordinators. It should give Grizzard a strong opportunity to interview for the now vacant role of offensive coordinator for the Bucs.”

By making Grizzard their new offensive coordinator, the Bucs at least keep some semblance of continuity going forward into 2025 and potentially beyond, as this is a coach who has already worked closely with quarterback Baker Mayfield, as well as the rest of the offense in Tampa Bay.

–Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds and Josh Queipo contributed to this story.