New coordinator Zac Robinson aims to revolutionize Tampa's offense with Sean McVay's philosophy, blending run-pass marriage and dynamic motion to create leverage advantages.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new offensive coordinator, and that's a line fans have gotten used to over the past several years.
The Bucs got a new OC in 2023, when Dave Canales came over from the Seattle Seahawks.
When Canales left to coach the Carolina Panthers, Tampa hired Liam Coen from the University of Kentucky.
Like Canales, Coen did well enough in Tampa to become an NFL head coach, taking over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
To succeed Coen, Tampa promoted passing game coordinator Josh Grizzard, and like Canales and Coen, Grizzard left after the season.
But Grizzard because the Bucs fired him.
Now Tampa has brought in Zac Robinson, who was the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, but wasn't retained on new head coach Kevin Stefanski's staff.
One of the biggest things that will excite Bucs fans about Robinson is the man he worked for before Raheem Morris in Atlanta.
Sean McVay is 40 years old and has already won a Super Bowl, played in another, made three NFC title games and grown an already extensive coaching tree.
Eight of McVay's former assistants have gone on to become NFL head coaches, with Coen being one of them, having worked with the Los Angeles Rams before going to Kentucky.
Who knows if Robinson will be an NFL head coach one day, but for now, the Bucs are happy to have him as OC.
At his introductory press conference Tuesday, Robinson talked about his offensive philosophy and how working on McVay's staff helped shape it.
"My background comes from Sean and true run-and-pass marriage," Robinson said, "Obviously, we'll pick our spots with what that looks like exactly and we'll find out once we kick it off in September."
Motion is a part of Robinson's scheme, but he emphasized the need to motion for the right reasons.
"You talk to a defensive coach, the thing that they want you to do is line up in static formations, typically normal width, and they can just tee off on it... the more that we can create leverage advantages in the run game as well, or manipulate second level defenders in the run game, pass game."
This motion is complex, and can be a lot for Tampa Bay's players to handle.
But Robinson wants to make sure to use it in a way his team is comfortable with.
"There's definitely times I look back in terms of times you have to be better, like, you're playing on the road, what type of motion, snap points?" he said. "What are you asking the quarterback to do, knowing he might be on a silent cadence if it's a third down in the shotgun? So you're always doing it for a reason. But I'm definitely a big believer in all those things that come with it, and the issues that it can present for the defense."
In Robinson's second season in Atlanta, the team began to use 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers) and even 13 (one running back, three tight ends, one receiver).
Robinson isn't sure yet if he'll continue to do that in Tampa Bay, but certainly isn't ruling it out yet.
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