“We Were Both Juiced”
January 28th, 2026
“Mike, I hired another winner.”
Baker Mayfield got his man.
New Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson got his, too.
The duo met in Los Angeles when Mayfield spent six years with a bad Rams team in 2022, reeling after losing starting quarterback Matt Stafford.
Mayfield was an ok starter on the field, working on ridiculously short notice after Los Angeles signed him in December. He had 2 strong starts and a few rough outings.
Regardless, Mayfield impressed just about everyone in the Rams organziation. That included his quarterbacks coach, Robinson, who told WDAE radio yesterday how Mayfield was a fast learner and a standout guy behind the scenes. Robinson said their strong connection took a matter of hours. “Man, I feel like I’ve known this guy for five years,” is how Robinson described his first days with Mayfield in L.A, adding Mayfield is super smart, very detailed.”
Robinson told WDAE host Tom Krasniqi that his relationship with Mayfield has been steady since 2022.
“I know that guy’s made of all that right stuff. I’m pumped to work with him. You know, we’ve always stayed in touch,” Robinson said. “We’ve always stayed in touch, even from that point [in 2022] and connecting in the offseason, even during the season sometimes. I look forward to working with Bake. I love his competitiveness. I love everything he’s about.”
Mayfield, per Robinson, was jacked up to reunite with his friend — with a joint goal to take the Bucs offense to new heights.
“He was fired up. We were both kind of texting exclamation points,” Robinson said of Mayfield. “You know, we were both juiced. I was able to kind of connect with him after that. Yeah, we were both excited for it knowing these opportunities to work together, shoot, sometimes they come up. The timing of them can be different, so that fact that it worked out this time, man, we are definitely both pumped up.”
Joe is here for the high-fiving and back-slapping. Mayfield and Robinson are a great fit. Now the have to produce in a hurry.
Ira Kaufman Talks All Things Zac Robinson Meeting, The Todd Bowles Temperature, Sam Darnold Vs. Baker Mayfield & More
January 28th, 2026 at 2:20 pm
Ahhh first again
Browns DC Jim Schwartz Wants Out; 49ers Among Potential Suitors
Hey, why aren’t the Buccaneers in on Jimmy S???
He would help Bowles tremendously!!!
Don’t let the 49ers get him!!!
January 28th, 2026 at 2:22 pm
Minimum 40 points per game since the defense in
2026 is RINSE AND REPEAT
January 28th, 2026 at 2:31 pm
Seems like Mayfield has furthered quite a few NFL coaches career’s. Will he ever get us to the Super Bowl? Who knows, but Tom Brady wouldn’t get you there either with a 22nd ranked D! The more I hear the more I like the fact that these guys are working together.
January 28th, 2026 at 2:36 pm
Well, i wish him well, but with todd in charge, we’re doomed on D!
I cant believe two guys I was pushing hard for us to draft last year (Emmanwori and Schwesinger) are top 5 for DROY. And I said get a WR in the 2nd, get one of these guys first…..Um, im for hire for the scouting dept Jason, you know Im good bro. (you listened on Elijah Roberts, great pick for depth, 5th rd)…now lets get that beast Vega Loane!!
January 28th, 2026 at 2:48 pm
we’ll see
GO BUCS!!!!
January 28th, 2026 at 3:09 pm
I listened to this interview.
Best line, in my opinion. T Kras asked Robinson how good the offense would be.
Robinson, with no hesitation at all said “Top 5”.
Ok, Zac, Lets Go! That’s what I want to hear.
January 28th, 2026 at 3:21 pm
MadMax Says:
January 28th, 2026 at 2:36 pm
Well, i wish him well, but with todd in charge, we’re doomed on D!
I cant believe two guys I was pushing hard for us to draft last year (Emmanwori and Schwesinger) are top 5 for DROY. And I said get a WR in the 2nd, get one of these
=======================================
GM’s make drafting way to complex. Key is to identify the best player at each position ;then, scale everyone else to these benchmarks. Combine data important but the tape never lies.
January 28th, 2026 at 3:22 pm
@Bucnjim @MadMax etc
Total defense 19th
Total offense 21st
But the defense is the whole problem 🙄
January 28th, 2026 at 3:24 pm
^^ Also are they looking nfl ready….thats what i want to see…men playing amongst boys….and gut, i rely A LOT on my gut feel.
January 28th, 2026 at 3:26 pm
What were those stats when we were 6-2 Tom?
January 28th, 2026 at 3:28 pm
You can’t overestimate team chemistry. Barring another slew of injuries and some defensive moves in the draft and free agency, next season has promise.
January 28th, 2026 at 3:32 pm
Actually both scoring defense and red zone D were close to last. The offense didn’t have a great year because of injuries to all their starters. I’ve posted before though that special teams cost the team 3 wins!
January 28th, 2026 at 3:32 pm
There are 17 weeks in a season Max.
January 28th, 2026 at 3:49 pm
Baker was excited about Grizz, too.
Look at the stats, Zac Robinson is a garbage OC.
January 28th, 2026 at 4:02 pm
My point proven!
January 28th, 2026 at 4:03 pm
Im out, have to get up tonight for work
January 28th, 2026 at 4:05 pm
cant see the forest for the trees…..
January 28th, 2026 at 4:22 pm
Just worthless happy talk as always in late January.
The SB is a week and a half away and guess who isn’t playing? Mayfield.
But Sam Darnold is and he was in the same draft class.
It likely helps that he has a defense with a pulse.
If we had Darnold and the Seahawks had Baker, neither would be in the SB.
3rd and 28.
January 28th, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Gaine$ needs to be replaced with a 6-5 beast at DT.
He’s only 5-11 and looks like a dwarf from Lord of the Rings.
Log@n H@LL needs to be replaced. I miss Gholston.
SVD and LVD need to be replaced. SVD is a good special teams guy.
Watt$ is useless on special teams.
D Jones is useless on special teams.
Bra$well is useless on special teams. And at OLB.
We need M@rk Andrew$. C@de is Brate-2.0. Not a true #1 TE.
January 28th, 2026 at 4:51 pm
Words are great, but there were a lot of great words flowing this time last year too. And guess what, our offense scored over 120 points LESS in 2025 than it did in 2024 … with essentially the same people supposedly in the starting lineup both years. But injuries made a huge difference and an inexperienced OC made a difference. Such is life.
Bucs’ offense scored 7.2 points average LESS in 2025 than it did in 2024 (380 pts vs 502 pts). One full TD LESS. That’s the kiss of death in the NFL. Scoring fewer points (380) than your defense allows opponents to score (411) isn’t very impressive either. We’ve got a LOT of work to do.
What I keep reading in the JBF comments is largely that we’re doomed, because of the Bucs’ defense. It needs a LOT more ‘renovation’ than our offense does, but I have to believe that the Glazers made it VERY CLEAR to Todd that their patience with our defense is running very thin. I’m also convinced that there’ll be significant changes to the defensive coaching staff AND to the defensive roster (I’ll be surprised if more than 12-13 of the 2025 defensive players make the 2026 roster). The big question in my mind remains ‘The Scheme’. Todd Bowles has become his own worst enemy.
Bucs’ goals in 2026 should include winning the NFC South and winning at least 1 playoff game. To do that, we’ll need BOTH our offense AND defense to rank in the Top-10. In 2025 Bucs ranked #18 offense and #20 defense, so that’d require MAJOR improvement. Using 2025 stats, Bucs’ offense would need to score 438 points to rank #10 (San Fran scored 437 pts in 2025 to rank #10). That’s 25.8 PPG on average; should be doable unless injuries derail us again.
Bucs’ defense meanwhile would have to improve even more. They allowed 411 points in 2025 to rank #20. The Rams ranked #10 last season by allowing 346 points. So for us to beat that in 2026, we couldn’t allow more than 345 points (20.3 PPG average). That’d mean we’d have to allow 66 FEWER points in 2026 than in 2025 (about 4 points LESS per game).
Is that doable? Well, in the 4 years from 2020-2023 the Bucs’ defense allowed a total of 1,391 points … 348 points per season average. We blew it in 2024 (385 pts allowed) and in 2025 (411 pts allowed). I for one think that we can get back to that 348 pts per season with better players & better coaching. Probably be much easier though if Todd would hire a real DC and just limit himself to being the HC.
January 28th, 2026 at 4:57 pm
Teacherman … Didn’t know that Gaines was only 5’11”. Bucs’ site must’ve measured him with lifts in his shoes.
All those guys who can’t play S/Ts and don’t start need to be replaced on our roster. Last season S/Ts was an abomination, and cost us dearly.
I agree that Cade isn’t a #1 TE, but I’d sure like to keep him, yet add a beastly TE. Might take a year or 2 though for him to grab the #1 reins (we can’t spend a high draft pick on a TE, nor spend a huge amount of money to sign one).
January 28th, 2026 at 5:29 pm
DR, always logic before emotion. Some of us try it the other way around. Includes me. Think I’d learn. No matter what happened last year our defense showed up the second half of the season and our offense didn’t. My eyes told me our defense stunk up the field last year. But our defense played well enough to do better than 2-7 down the stretch. I don’t know much but if Mauch and Bredeson can get through the season that’d be good for another win or two.
January 28th, 2026 at 7:00 pm
I know we fired several defensive coaches along grizz. I haven’t heard who or if we’ve replaced them yet. Injuries definitely hurt, but I think terrible coaching and overall lack of coherent scheming and game planning led to hopelessness and most of the team simply quitting. The whole team lacked oomph. Desire. Oh, sure you can say they wanted to win, but after the bye our opponents wanted it more than we did. Certain of our players, most notably Brasswell do not belong in the league, but I think we have better core players than the team’s lack of effort showed. Most of these guys would thrive elsewhere I’m my opinion. I can only hope better orchestration will provide better results…at least on offense. Defense???
January 28th, 2026 at 7:26 pm
Why are the Bucs staying with Todd Bowles as the DC. It makes no sense.
January 28th, 2026 at 8:37 pm
@Mad Max
The offense would have ranked 18th in PPG during the first 8 games. 21st taking away the defensive TD vs the Saints
The defense would have ranked 11th in PPG during the first 8 games and 8th if you took away the TD given up by the blocked FG vs the Jets.
I wanted Bowles fired but the offense was mid to bad most of the season.
January 28th, 2026 at 9:28 pm
I’ll say one thing: any time a QB believes that a coach will elevate their game, that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
January 28th, 2026 at 9:38 pm
@ Teacherman Says: “Gaine$ needs to be replaced with a 6-5 beast at DT.”
If Lickt had done what I was SCREAMING, he would’ve STOLEN Deone Walker. A 21-year old, 6’7” 350lb ANIMAL, who can move like a DE and ‘line-up’ all up and down the line. Can rush the passer off the edge, or line-up over center like a ‘traditional’ NT. Either spot, he CANNOT be contained one-on-one. A True Freshman All-American MONSTER, was a 1st-Team ALL SEC as a 19 year-old. Was just named 1st-Team ‘All-Rookie’ by ESPN AND Pro Football Writers of America. I seriously, do not understand HOW you miss on him. He only played a very limited number of snaps at the beginning of they year, too. By the time the Playoffs got here, HE DOMINATED the line-of-scrimmage in that Denver Game. Even, deflecting 2-PASSES AND an INTERCEPTION. It took AT LEAST 2-guys on him EVERY TIME, and it was STILL all they could handle. Hell, he had a BROKEN vertebrae in HIS BACK, that he played through all during his 20 year-old, Junior Season. He played EVERY SNAP for a real sh!tty, drama-filled, poorly coached Kentucky team, and he was gassed. He was a freaking ‘projected’ TOP-10 PICK going into that season. Not even 22 year-old yet! It’s INSANE. A former 5-STAR Recruit outta Detroit (Cass Tech HS, I think… one of those powerhouses up there).
January 28th, 2026 at 9:54 pm
I never heard of him causing THE FIRST problem there at Kentucky, either. All 3-YEARS. And, left me tell ya something… That team during his Junior season was a complete total DISASTER. They had soooo many issues and troublemakers inside that locker room, it was PATHETIC. Hell, they all had given up on the year. But, NOT Big-Deone. He was just completely GASSED in the 4th-Quarters of games. And, HELL, he was playing with a BROKEN vertebrae in HIS BACK. I mean, THAT ALONE should tell you something bout the kid. Because, HE didn’t have to. He was a projected Top-10 pick going into that season. He could’ve called-it a “day,” and DIDN’T. Now he might not have been one of JL’s “Choir Boys,” but he wasn’t a problem. HE WAS A MEAN SOB. Hell, He’s A FOOTBALL PLAYER. One BADASS ONE, at that. So, what else would you expect!? It’s the major flaw of JL’s BS he spews… Only, because he doesn’t know HOW to evaluate TALENT. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.
January 28th, 2026 at 11:11 pm
Bottom line. Need a head coach. Look at patriots 4 wins to Super Bowl. Why?? Coach
January 28th, 2026 at 11:13 pm
Vrabel a smart guy. 4 wins to Super Bowl coaching matters
January 29th, 2026 at 2:29 am
Another pointless Rah! Rah! Sizz boom BAH! post. Would you expect the guy to say anything other then what he said?
January 29th, 2026 at 7:35 am
Greg Gaines was 6’1″ when measured at the combine , but Todd told him he needed to lose some height to be quicker in coverage……………