The Bucs have had to overhaul the coaching staff on both sides of the football this offseason. The biggest move was hiring offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard after Liam Coen’s departure, but head coach Todd Bowles also had to make significant defensive coaching changes after co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers left for the Lions.

That created a ripple effect of sorts, with the team hiring Charlie Strong to replace Rodgers as the defensive line coach, making Larry Foote the outside linebackers coach while bumping George Edwards into the pass game coordinator role, and bringing back Mike Caldwell to coach the inside linebacker room.

Got all of that?

All those moving parts will change things going into next season, but it will also allow Bowles to take a step back from some of his defensive responsibilities to bring Grizzard up to speed as an NFL play-caller. He covered how that will change things the rest of the offseason and into 2025 at the NFL Combine on Tuesday afternoon.

Todd Bowles Discusses New Roles For George Edwards And Larry Foote, Hiring Mike Caldwell

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Matt Matera/PR

Todd Bowles is high on Josh Grizzard, who he praised in Indianapolis this week for his intelligence and ability to stay calm under pressure. Bowles will be testing that heavily before the season, and with the defensive coaches shuffling around, it gives the veteran head coach more time to work with his newest offensive coordinator hire.

“With Kacy [Rodgers] leaving, it was important for me, with ‘Grizz’ (Josh Grizzard) as a young [offensive coordinator], to try and spend some more time on offense,” Bowles said. “Making George [Edwards] the pass game coordinator will take a lot of things off my plate that way. With [Mike] Caldwell coming back, having been in the system and being available, it does a heck of a job for us keeping all of the guys intact as far as schematics.

“Then, putting [Larry] Foote back on the outside [linebackers] – he was on the outside before, before we moved him inside. He did a hell of a job there. Between those three, we’ve got three good guys right there that are also coordinators that can really help out. The smarter we are on defense as a coaching staff, the better we are.”

Bowles sounded optimistic about all the moves, which now allow him to defer some responsibilities to veteran coaches. Edwards and Foote taking over different areas should provide optimism for the defense to improve, as Edwards is better suited to run things from a more aerial point of view. Despite his known warts as an outside linebackers coach, he has three defensive coordinator stops under his NFL coaching resume dating back nearly 30 years.

That is the kind of experience Bowles is obviously a fan of.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and pass game coordinator George Edwards – Photo by: USA Today

“From a practice standpoint, getting the front, the [line]backers, and the [defensive backs] on the same page, Bowles said about Edwards’ role as pass game coordinator. “I thought there was some miscommunication a year ago. Getting those guys on the same page and the same coverage as far as how we want to play things and do things, I can’t be in every meeting.

“He’ll be running some of those meetings as well. Larry will be doing the run game meetings, so it helps to have a guy who can mitigate the two and with an open mind sees everything and kind of knows what I want. He’s not [coaching a position], so he gets the chance to be running a lot of those meetings to get those guys on the same page.”

Foote did not do a bad job given the player personnel and injuries he had to work through with the inside linebacker room last season, but shifting him over to outside linebackers is a pronounced upgrade over Edwards. He oversaw the Pro Bowl production of Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul from 2019-2021, and he was also the best remaining option to take over run game coordinator responsibilities.

All of this is not even mentioning Mike Caldwell, who returns to be the inside linebackers coach. Caldwell coached that position when it had the best one-two punch in the NFL between Lavonte David and Devin White. Although Bowles lost someone in Rodgers who he worked with for over 15 years, Caldwell was a coach under him between 2012-2021 with the Eagles, Cardinals, Jets, and Bucs.

Bucs Also High On DL Coach Charlie Strong

Bucs DL Coach Charlie Strong – Photo by: USA Today

Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht also shared their first public comments about hiring defensive line coach Charlie Strong. Strong, 64, has extensive experience coaching in the college ranks and will also bring a lot of energy and experience.

“[He is] an extremely smart coach,” Bowles said. “He’s been in the college and the pro level. He knows a lot of the guys that were already on the team. He’s very good schematically, very energetic, and he can get the guys going. He’s a good fit for the building.”

Licht echoed a similar sentiment.

“A lot of wisdom, a lot of leadership,” Licht said. “He’s a good person. He’s a great football mind and I think the defensive line room is going to be very happy about that move.”

Todd Bowles Wants To Spend More Time On Offense With Josh Grizzard

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Adam Slivon/PR

With all of the defensive coaching changes, it will also benefit the Bucs’ offense going into next season. Todd Bowles working with Josh Grizzard will get him more prepared for Week 1.

Tampa Bay’s offense cannot afford to take a step back, and it seems like Bowles recognizes this with his comments. Even if the defense substantially improves, the team’s strength remains having a high-scoring offense led by quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Over the rest of the offseason, expect the defensive head coach to be closely monitoring the progress of his rookie offensive playcaller.

“It’s a spring/summer thing right now,” Bowles said about spending more time with the offense. “Just things situationally, we’ve done a good job of getting guys ready to call plays. We understand Dave [Canales] didn’t call plays [before] he was here, so I’ve got to do a heck of a job making sure ‘Grizz’ (Josh Grizzard) is ready and making sure all that stuff is taken care of from an offensive standpoint. Not that I’m going to be inserting myself into the offense but from a practice schedule standpoint and situations that we work on, I have to make sure he goes through everything possible before we get to Week 1.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and former OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs’ offense will be bringing back many of their starters, and with the pieces in place to continue putting up points, Bowles will be ensuring Grizzard can hit the ground running to start next season.

“This will be Josh’s first year calling them but he’s got a lot of calmness like Canales had from that standpoint,” Bowles said. “We’ll get him ready to call plays in practice. We’ll probably show him every defense in the book and show him everything so the first game won’t be his first time.

“It’s my job as a coach to make sure he’s ready to do that. It helps out to have George [Edwards], Larry [Foote], and [Mike] Caldwell back over there on the defensive side of the ball so I can really help out try to get him in the right direction.”

Todd Bowles will be taking a different approach than in recent seasons to take the Bucs to the next level. Bowles mentioned after the season that he is continuing to learn and grow as a head coach. These moves point to his understanding that a new perspective was needed across the board, starting with him and trickling down to his assistant coaches.

Watch Pewter Report’s Reaction To Jason Licht And Todd Bowles’ Press Conferences

Tuesday was a busy day covering the press conferences general manager Jason Licht and Todd Bowles held with the national and local media. Licht and Bowles shared plenty of news that we further discussed on Tuesday’s Pewter Report Podcast, which you can watch below.