Jason Licht’s Input Into Hiring Josh Grizzard
May 5th, 2025
How things work inside One Buc Palace.
Since Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is the shot-caller when it comes to football operations, how much does he pull strings behind the scenes when there’s a coaching vacancy?
Last week, when appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the former Colts punter wanted to know if hiring new Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was Licht’s call or what say he had in the matter.
Since that was a coaching staff issue, Licht said he pretty much let Todd Bowles handle the hiring process, though Licht said he was involved in the interviews. How much was unclear.
“You know, I trust Todd, obviously, to know who he likes as a coach and what he’s seen all year,” Licht said. “He’s been in the meeting rooms with [Grizzard] the whole year.
“And for us this [offseason], we interviewed a lot of candidates. I was a part of the process, but Todd did the majority of it.
“But really, at the end of the day, it was pretty easy with Josh Grizzard, or ‘Grizz’ as we call him.”
McAfee was fascinated that Grizzard hails from Lizard Lick, N.C. McAfee wanted to know if that had anything to do with the truTV reality series “Lizard Lick Towing.”
Then, Licht went into how much the Bucs offense celebrated when they found out Grizzard would replace Liam Coen, who bolted in the dark of night to Jacksonville.
“He has a great relationship with our entire offense, and he’s a sharp guy,” Licht said. “Just because he went to Yale doesn’t mean that he’s sharp. I know some people from Yale and Princeton and other Ivy League schools that I wouldn’t trust coaching our offense.
“He’s just a great dude,” Licht said. “And I know when we when Todd named him the offensive coordinator I got text upon text from players, and most notably Baker, that was really really fired up about [the hire]. So he’s off to a great start.”
The only thing that worries Joe is will the Bucs’ luck run out? Being a first-time play-caller is not easy.
The Bucs got a little lucky with first-time playcaller Dave Canales in 2023 and Baker Mayfield had a career year. Then the next season, first-time NFL playcaller Coen did a masterful job and Mayfield had an even better year.
Is it too much to expect Mayfield to have a third-straight career year? If that does happen, the Bucs will be in great shape come January.
May 5th, 2025 at 10:39 am
Grizzard the Lizard Wizard
May 5th, 2025 at 10:48 am
No doubt in my mind the offense is still better yet.
It’s not so much the coaching as Baker having a running game and the right WRs.
They are ranking NFC QBs this morning and Baker hasn’t been in the top 3 yet.
Always the underdog and I love it as a fan.
May 5th, 2025 at 11:00 am
for some reason i’m confident, just like i was the last two years. weird lol.
May 5th, 2025 at 11:14 am
I think Canales was the lucky one. Baker on a good team is a King Maker and Canales just road the coat tails.
May 5th, 2025 at 11:42 am
I’ve been critical of Bowles but he’s done pretty well picking OC’s. Some other clubs have been terrible. Great WR’s, Baker development, and run game improvement have helped.
I think the OL will improve from very good to elite this season, so Baker and Grizz will benefit. Grizz just needs lots of mental reps in play calling before the season starts. Get a sharp programmer to develop an AI play calling simulator! If the offense is healthy, another great offensive season.
May 5th, 2025 at 12:04 pm
don’t need another career stat year from baker. just need to be more efficient, spread the ball around & decrease turnovers. 40 tds, – 4000 yds passing – 70% comp. rate – less than 10 int. – no fumbles. that’ll work
May 5th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
Lizard Lick is a town just south of Raleigh, North Carolina. Lizard Lick Towing is based out of that town. It has to be the same place.
Go Griz! Barring any key injuries, he has all the tools he needs to be a sensation. We are pretty deep at most every offensive position… except maybe QB. But then again, who is? SF got pretty lucky when they found out Mr Irrelevant could actually play. 95% of the time you lose a bunch of games and find out your third stringer is playing third string for a reason. NE got more than lucky with Brady. His combine results are what dropped him down to the 6th. Belichick didn’t have a crystal ball. That was a flyer move that ended up turning out pretty a-okay for them… biggest understatement ever.
Go Griz and Go Baker!! Go Bucs!!
May 5th, 2025 at 12:23 pm
I agree 100% with Joe on this one.
A regression is almost inevitable.
If that does take place the defense will have to improve significantly.
That doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence after seeing the results the last few years.
Probably still good enough to win the NFC Least though.
May 5th, 2025 at 12:38 pm
I get on Bowles a lot and IMO for legitimate reasons. But one of his strengths seems to be relationship and culture building. If that’s the case I would assume that one play caller or one player is not responsible for the success, rather it’s the sum of its parts. I would predict another great offensive year. Not sure if it’ll be better but it should still hum.
May 5th, 2025 at 1:06 pm
People, including JOE, really do not remember CANALES very well. That offense was horrible most the time. Showed signs of life in the last 1/3rd of the season but it was run for 1.5 yards & dump it off 80% of the time.
GRIZZ was responsible for the amazing 3rd down track record of the Bucs last year. I have full confidence they will be over 30 points per game, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s closer to 32.
May 5th, 2025 at 1:23 pm
No reason not to have goals of the best offense AND best defense.