Zac Robinson seeks to restore Tampa Bay’s offensive dominance by leaning on a close bond with former coordinator Liam Coen as the franchise resets following a disappointing season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans have mixed opinions on Liam Coen.
They love Coen for what he was able to do in his lone season as offensive coordinator, as the Bucs were fourth in the NFL in scoring under his watch.
They dislike Coen for how his time in Tampa ended. Long story short, Coen agreed to stay in Tampa, and then didn’t.
The optics of Coen’s departure are up for debate, but what isn’t is that Coen made the right career choice. In his first season as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Coen turned a 4-13 team into a 13-4 team that won the AFC South.
The Bucs, meanwhile, lost seven of their last nine games to lose out on the NFC South for the first time since before COVID, and a big reason was that the offense wasn’t good enough.
The Bucs went from fourth in scoring under Coen to tied for 17th under Josh Grizzard. Although injuries to key players such as Bucky Irving and Tristan Wirfs played a part in their offensive struggles last year, head coach Todd Bowles determined that Grizzard wasn’t the man for the job and fired him not long after the season ended.
Enter, Zac Robinson.
The Bucs hired Robinson, who had been the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator for two seasons, to replace Grizzard. Before Atlanta, Robinson learned at the feet of Sean McVay, spending five seasons on the Los Angeles Rams’ staff.
For two seasons, Robinson and Coen worked together, and the two maintain a close relationship.
“Absolutely,” Robinson told reporters this past Tuesday. “Liam and I talk almost every single day.
Robinson then pointed out that their relationship became different during the 2024 season, when both were coaching in the same division. The two still talked, just not so much about football.
Now, the two are in separate conferences and don’t play each other in the regular season, so the only way Robinson and Coen would go head-to-head would be in the Super Bowl.
Robinson didn’t elaborate much on the phone calls he and Coen share, but talked a little about what he saw from Coen’s Bucs offense from afar.
“I was watching the tape and could see (what Coen did with the Bucs) from afar. They had some gap schemes going that they kind of fell into as the season progressed and ended up being really successful.”
With the exception of Grizzard, Bowles has done well in hiring offensive coordinators. The first OC he hired, Dave Canales, did well enough to get a head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers. Coen succeeded Canales, and Grizzard became Bowles’ first miss.
Bowles said at the NFL Combine in February that Robinson reminds him of Coen. If he can produce similar results, the Bucs just might win the NFC South again.
Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!