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The Bucs are seemingly a new quarterbacks coach away from having a complete offensive coaching staff under new coordinator Zac Robinson, and they’re now taking steps toward finding that coach. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe first reported Thursday evening that Tampa Bay interviewed Indiana co-offensive coordinator Chandler Whitmer for the job after Whitmer helped the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 season and the program’s first-ever national championship.

Whitmer, 34, just completed his first year at Indiana, where he served as both co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. That means he spent plenty of time working with Heisman Trophy winner and potential No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, who finished the Hoosiers’ perfect season having completed 72% of his passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns to six interceptions.

Prior to his time in Bloomington, Whitmer bounced around different stops in his coaching career. He was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2019 and then worked as one again at Georgia in 2020 before making the leap to the NFL in 2021. He served as the Chargers’ offensive quality control coach from 2021-2023, then became the pass game specialist for the Falcons in 2024. Of course, that’s significant given that new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was the Falcons’ coordinator in both 2024 and 2025, meaning Whitmer worked on his staff. Even if that was just one season, there’s a connection there.

Indiana co-OC Chandler Whitmer – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Tommy Gilligan

After spending 2021-2024 in the NFL, Whitmer went back to the college ranks and obviously had a significant amount of success in Bloomington with the Hoosiers and Mendoza. But perhaps after just one season back at the collegiate level he could be eyeing a return to the NFL?

Prior to his coaching career, Whitmer was a quarterback himself. After transferring out of Illinois, he was the quarterback at Butler Community College, where he threw for 3,022 yards and 25 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. He then transferred to UConn, where he appeared in 28 games and completed 56.5% of his passes for 5,082 yards and 25 touchdowns to 30 interceptions over three seasons.

QB Coach Is The Last Piece Of The Puzzle For Bucs’ Offensive Staff

There’s already been some turnover on the Bucs’ offensive coaching staff this offseason. First, head coach Todd Bowles fired offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard and quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis.

That set off a fourth offensive coordinator search for Tampa Bay in the last four offseasons, and that was a search that resulted in the hiring of Zac Robinson.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Soon after Robinson was hired, news hit that the Bucs were losing assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci to the Jaguars, as he’s set to reunite with Liam Coen.

So, with Robinson now on board, Tampa Bay needed a new quarterbacks coach and a new assistant offensive line coach. Plus, with the retirement of longtime senior offensive analyst Tom Moore this offseason, there was another opening there.

Robinson and the Bucs filled some of those openings this week, with news breaking Thursday morning that, as expected, T.J. Yates and Ken Zampese are joining Robinson in Tampa. Yates, who served as Robinson’s pass game coordinator in Atlanta, will assume the same role with the Bucs. Zampese was a senior offensive assistant with the Falcons, and he’s reportedly retaining that title, too.

With those moves, that prompted a likely transition away from pass game coordinator Kefense Hynson.

Not only did Yates and Zampese get hired on Thursday, but so did Andrew Mitchell, who will be Tampa Bay’s new assistant offensive line coach.

So, as it stands, quarterbacks coach is the last piece of the puzzle for Robinson’s staff. Could Chandler Whitmer be the guy? Stay tuned.