As thrilled as Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is to finally have an experienced offensive coordinator to work with in newly hired Zac Robinson, former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is just as thrilled. Tampa Bay hired Robinson to replace former offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who was fired after just one season.

Morris hired Robinson to be the Falcons play-caller in Atlanta when he arrived from Los Angeles in 2024. It was during his time with the Rams that Morris helped them win a Super Bowl as defensive coordinator. Morris and Robinson were on the same staff together with Robinson serving as Sean McVay’s quarterbacks coach, working with Matthew Stafford to help the Rams win a world championship.

Morris and most of his staff was fired after a pair of 8-9 seasons in Atlanta with Robinson landing in Tampa Bay this offseason where he will implement his own spin on McVay’s offense like former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen did in 2024. After battling the Bucs within the division for two years, Morris is thrilled for Robinson’s opportunity to join the Falcons’ NFC South rival.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and former Falcons HC Raheem Morris – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I love him to death, and obviously he’s a guy with great energy,” Morris told Pewter Report about Robinson. “You’re going to see the play style – how it reflects on the field. That’s what he wants to bring. You know, you’re getting all of the lineage from Sean McVay’s offense – that tree. You guys have already seen a little bit with Liam Coen. Now Zac brings his own style, his own spice to it. He was able to do some really good things in Atlanta do some different things, but he’ll add some things, do some other things and explore a little bit [in Tampa Bay].

“But at the end of the day, you know the tree starts with the tree – and that old Sean McVay playbook, and how you guys did it a couple of years ago with Liam, and how much success you had. Baker Mayfield played good as well. So, I’m looking for you guys to be real explosive, and do a lot of really good things on offense like I know Zac is able to do.”

Robinson got a ringing endorsement from Mayfield, who played the last five games with the Rams during the 2022 season after being claimed off waivers from Carolina. As L.A.’s quarterbacks coach, Robinson helped Mayfield prepare for 48 hours before he and the Rams came back to beat the Raiders on Thursday Night Football just days after the quarterback arrived.

Former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Brett Davis

Just because Robinson had veteran Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr., the team’s first-round pick in 2024, operate heavily out of the pistol formation and out of shotgun does not mean that will happen with Mayfield in Tampa Bay. In his first season in Atlanta in 2024, Cousins was 36 and coming off a torn Achilles. Penix, who had multiple ACL tears in college, was in shotgun over 70% of the time at the University of Washington.

Robinson simply adapted to what his quarterbacks do best. According to Morris, that is the sign of a good coach, and does not mean that Mayfield will be operating out of shotgun with regularity.

“I think it’s going look like whatever is suited for your players,” Morris said of the Bucs offense under Robinson’s control. “You know with the Rams we had Matthew Stafford – he’s an up-under-the-center quarterback. You guys have Baker Mayfield – he is an up-under-the-center quarterback. Whatever fits the guys best, definitely he’ll be able to do those things.

“But if it gets any advantage from being the pistol or be in a shotgun, you’ll be able to see some things implemented as well. You know he’s always going to have a player-first mentality; it’s a player-first type of approach. So, you can envision that those guys [in Tampa Bay] would be doing what you guys do best first and then implement a couple of those things as they go, as they game plan and as they fit within the offense and the scheme with what they’re trying to get done that day.”

Raheem Morris Said Falcons QB Change Did not Help Zac Robinson’s Offense

Part of what led to the Falcons finishing with back-to-back seasons with 8-9 records and the dismissal of head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was the lack of stability at quarterback in Atlanta. After signing Kirk Cousins to a ridiculous, four-year, $180 million guaranteed deal, the Falcons shocked the NFL world by spending the eighth overall pick on QB Michael Penix Jr.

Despite the outrageous amount of money Atlanta paid Cousins there were some concerns about how well he would play on a surgically repaired Achilles at age 36. In some ways, Penix was drafted to be an insurance policy for the 2024 season, in addition to being the Falcons’ quarterback of the future.

With Cousins struggling, throwing a league-leading 16 interceptions, and the Falcons needing a spark with a 7-7 record, Morris benched the veteran and turned to Penix, who showed some promise, but went 1-2 with a pair of overtime losses at the end of the season. Penix was named the starter in 2025 but tore his ACL midway through the season and struggled, going 3-6.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson and Falcons QB Kirk Cousins – IMAGN Images – Mark J. Rebilas

Two changes at quarterback in each of his seasons in Atlanta didn’t help Robinson’s cause, or the offense’s production. But Robinson adjusted and Cousins came in for some late season relief and finished with a 5-3 record as a starter, including winning the last four games of the season.

“You know it is never ideal to lose your quarterback, particularly in this league,” Morris said. “When you have a guy like Zac who can adapt and adjust to the people that he has, whether it’s the young quarterback or the older quarterback, or whether it’s a different guy at midseason you have to adjust to and be able to do what he does best – I think all those things are the strength of all of those guys who are really good coordinators, and all the guys that have the potential to be really good coordinators. Zac fits right into that mold.

“We’ve seen it with the Kyle Shanahan’s of the world, having to go from different quarterbacks. We’ve seen it from the Sean McVay’s of the world, having to go from quarterbacks. No different from what Zac was able to do. You know I watched him finish really strong at the end of the season with Kirk Cousins, who came into the season as our backup quarterback – and be able to watch him go finish and get four wins and doing it in a completely different fashion than what we had done earlier. I thought it was a credit and testament to him, and testament to his coaching.”

Morris was impressed with how Robinson grew as a play-caller, not just from 2024 to 2025, but also from game to game. He had to adjust to not only having to start two different types of quarterbacks – an inexperienced young lefty and a very experienced aging, non-mobile right-handed quarterback – but also having to play the last five games of the 2025 season without star receiver Drake London.

Former Falcons OC Zac Robinson – Photo by IMAGN Images – Brett Davis

“First and foremost, when you’re first-time game-planning, and sitting by yourself and doing all things you need to do to make sure your guys are going to have the ultimate success, you get those things out there, you kind of go out there and let it rip and you have some success. You do a lot of really good things. But I think it’s also developing, as people are learning you, and pick up some of your tendencies – to be able to adjust and adapt to make sure that you have all the necessary things you need in order to be successful.

“I think it’s being able to see it live, and it’s also I think planning off some of the things you’ve done, and then being able to give all your guys all the different routes, being able to have all the different runs and the cans, and the mechanism you need on where to go with the football and why – all of those things combined together. With him having two years under his belt now, he is primed and ready for some of the best years of his life.”

With Robinson having a better offensive line to work with in Tampa Bay, a deeper group of talented receivers, a better quarterback to operate with in Baker Mayfield, and two years’ worth of adaptation and play-calling experience, Morris expects his good friend to have even more success with the Bucs than he did with the Falcons.