Bucs Bringing Back Former Titans Head Coach For More Sitdowns
January 21st, 2026
Former Titans coach Brian Callahan.
Back to Door No. 2.
So the Bucs swung and missed on offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. Joe hopes the Bucs cried over their beers last night and got it out of their system. Time marches on.
Per well-plugged-in Albert Breer of SI.com, the Bucs already are bringing guys back in for another round of interviews. And since Breer spent the time typing their names, Joe guesses the Bucs have three guys in mind as their next offensive coordinator.
Joe thought the biggest attraction with Brian Callahan was his father, Bill Callahan. But the elder Callahan, a renowned offensive line coach and the former Raiders head coach, was hired by Baker Mayfield’s buddy Kevin Stefanski with the Dixie Chicks this week.
Guess you could argue the younger Callahan did an OK job with rookie quarterback Cam Ward this past year. Ward had absolutely no one around him.
Of the three names Breer mentioned, “this Joe” (and only this Joe) guesses he would take Zac Robinson. At least he tended to get the ball to his playmakers in Atlanta, Bijan Robinson and Drake London.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:13 am
This is just proof they’re not of the value they think they are with Bowles
Jason tying his ankle to an anchor here bc this ship is sinking
Next red flag is the loss of Mike Evans followed by the lack of FA interest and of course 0 trade talk
January 21st, 2026 at 10:13 am
Joe, the absurd number of penalties committed by the Falcons in their last win over the Bucs seems to say they were not well coordinated on offense. Maybe that’s correctable, but it seems Bowles is selecting from a poor set of retreads.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:14 am
Yeah but wouldn’t Failclowns have an advantage over us knowing his offense already?
January 21st, 2026 at 10:14 am
Lmao… How the mighty have fallen
January 21st, 2026 at 10:15 am
And he got the ball to Kyle Pitts down the stretch when (the Bucs turned) Pitts into a superstar.
Take from thy enemy to strengthen thine own self.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:16 am
The pickings for a good offensive coordinator who also has play-calling experience are slim. Guess Bowles could dip into college for a playcaller. There are some guys with NFL experience in that pool. Ryan Grubb springs to mind.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:16 am
Please Lord no Zac Robinson 🤦♂️
I like the allure of Bill Callahan too. But if Jags OC Grant Udinski get’s a job promotion elsewhere, there probably goes one of the few strengths on offensive staff we had last couple years in Carbs/Picucci to the Jags. If Bucs fans didn’t need more reason to talk about the Jags & Coen and live in the past.
So I guess outta the 3 I like Pitcher and his work with Burrow. But aren’t the Bucs (Todd?) looking for an OC WITH play-calling experience? Which he doesn’t have working under Zac Taylor
What a freaking mess of this start to an off-season and I’m usually Bucs optimistic-leaning.
Whoever they hire as OC, I just hope they knock it out of the park this upcoming season. But I ain’t getting that vibe this far…one iota!
January 21st, 2026 at 10:16 am
Ohhh boy…well, at least tickets will be cheap next year !!!
January 21st, 2026 at 10:18 am
Always a savvy move.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:23 am
I’m not sure I can give credit to Robinson feeding the ball to Pitts…..eating our defense alive…..with London out…..any defensive coach should have designed a plan to shut Pitts down…..but we didn’t.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:26 am
Insane, wonder why they haven’t reached out to Jake Peetz he has a similar path to Coen, minus the college HC part and they interviewed him back in 2024. He was in the NFL, then college, back to NFL under McVay and then Seattle. Also, no word on if they reached out to Nate Scheelhaase, Davis Webb, Daboll, or Joe Brady. This search is all very odd, they most of seriously thought they had McDaniel. Why rush it now if that was the top choice, re-access and get it right.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:27 am
TampaBayBucFan–True, but I guess what I’m saying is Robinson is at least smart enough to realize “hey, this works, I’ll keep doing it until they stop it.” Which the Bucs didn’t stop it.
I also realize I’m setting up a low bar… But at least Robinson doesn’t tend to outthink himself (at least when he plays the Bucs). And he did all of that with two inferior QBs thank Baker.
Idk…I get the hesitancy with ZR. But outside of a hot-shot college coach, there are no more sexy options if Todd M is off the list too.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:28 am
than* Baker…
January 21st, 2026 at 10:30 am
Why would we hire a coach from a team like the Titans? I guess so Bowlzo himself looks better in comparison
January 21st, 2026 at 10:31 am
If they’re happy with the Todd Bowles defense (which nobody in their right mind would be), why are they being so picky about the new OC? just bring Byron Leftwich back, he was the Todd Bowles of the offense.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:32 am
Callahan called plays for 3 games and then handed it off. Never called plays in Cincy.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:35 am
What about Joe Brady? He’s available now
January 21st, 2026 at 10:36 am
Should have fired Bowles. Shaping up to be a waste of a season. Great job Glazers!
January 21st, 2026 at 10:36 am
Glazers made their bed of disappointment and can now lay in it. The spiral of garbage will continue with the retaining of bowles. Now the coordinators will be cast off failures. Nobody with any great credentials wants to come to this toxic wasteland.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:41 am
With the 2nd pick…in the 2027 NFL Draft…The Lakeland Licht’s select …( insert small school offensive lineman here )
January 21st, 2026 at 10:42 am
Nate Scheelhaase
Joe Brady
Dan Pitcher
Zac Robinson
In that order.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:47 am
Yes lets bring in the guy that orchestrated one of the worst offenses in the NFL in 2025.
That’ll pair well with the 32nd ranked red zone defense of Bowles.
I’m revising my prediction from 5-12. That was a bit short sided of me.
Now it’s looking more like a 2-15 season from an optimistic perspective.
Bowles is a HOF HC\DC. All other 31 teams must be green with envy!
January 21st, 2026 at 10:52 am
I want Joe Brady too!
January 21st, 2026 at 10:52 am
When the smoke clears, the Bucs next OC will be the bottom of the barrel…
Only a desperate man at this point would risk his career and near future on a team ran by a well established failure…
January 21st, 2026 at 10:53 am
Oh no, no, no.
Mhystc – Agree with you on Nate and Joe. If the Bucs go with the other two or Callahan, we should have just kept Grizz.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:02 am
Honestly, think I would also look for a good college coach at this point. Think that might be better than the re- treads from the pro ranks….
January 21st, 2026 at 11:07 am
None of the 3 coaches mentioned is HC caliber. If i had to choose i’d rather have Grizz back instead of the 3. I could live with Robinson. The best choice would be Scheelhaase if Brady or Monken aren’t available.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:15 am
Why doesn’t this site put up statistics or anything that would make the readers smarter because obviously they aren’t researching anything themselves. If you look the Falcons offense in 24 they aren’t that far off from where we were when we had Coen and that was with a hobbled Kirk and a rookie in Penix there defense just sucked. The Falcons offense in 25 was a little better than ours considering they had no one on offense outside of Robinson and London (who was out for almost 5 games), Pitts showed up here and there. I honestly think Robinson would do pretty good here.
The posters on this site clearly need educating and the Joes should at least provide that.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:18 am
Joe Brady seems he will be retained by the bills as HC bring in Scheelhasse at this point let’s see what he got
January 21st, 2026 at 11:19 am
Nate Scheelhaase
Period.
Otherwise, we’re screwed.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:20 am
Another day of The Bowzo Curse.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:21 am
Nice self-promotional virtue signal, TombsEN.
“Joe, look at me, look at me! I’m so well-researched and awesome!”
January 21st, 2026 at 11:22 am
Does he come with a deal for Will Levis as QB2?
January 21st, 2026 at 11:25 am
Screw it, this season is a lost cause – let’s make it a full/blown circus and bring back Gruden as the OC on a 1 year contract. That would at least get some butts in the seats for the Glazers.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:26 am
McDaniel took one look at the Bowzo players and ran for the Hills…Beverly Hills.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:27 am
“Going off the rails of a crazy train.”
January 21st, 2026 at 11:28 am
Oh look a new football guru…self proclaimed…Tombs the genius is here. Oh enlightened one.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:29 am
heyjude Says:
January 21st, 2026 at 10:53 am
Oh no, no, no.
Mhystc – Agree with you on Nate and Joe. If the Bucs go with the other two or Callahan, we should have just kept Grizz.
Grizz was very poor at getting timely plays called. He could never do what the Rams did and run a hurry up offense. Maybe Todd was behind the mostly up the middle run plays and a few short passes but it was brutal to watch.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:30 am
Bucs should go hard for Nate Scheelhaase. I reading Chris Shula gets a head coaching job with the Steelers, sheelhaase will be his OC though.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:32 am
A coach who considers himself as capable as Canales or Coen would find this an attractive opening. My impression is that Bowles gives great freedom and responsibilities to his coordinators and both of those thrived on that. Grizzard may have been too young and inexperienced with independent responsibilities.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:36 am
HC Grover Says:
January 21st, 2026 at 11:26 am
McDaniel took one look at the Bowzo players and ran for the Hills…Beverly Hills
————-
Nice narrative. Ever consider writing children books?
January 21st, 2026 at 11:39 am
None of those guys are good options.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:39 am
But would he be able to bring Will Levis with him?
January 21st, 2026 at 11:40 am
Nobody liked the OC’s we hired that went on to be head coaches. Bowles did well on those hires so I’ll leave it to him.
Naturally the expert offensive wizards on here know better.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:45 am
@Eric
Liam Coen out of anyone left do you think anyone is going to have a top 5 offense and be better? How did that season end up? Doesn’t matter who Bowles hires, his ceiling is 10 wins stop bragging about his hires because it’s not like it will matter
January 21st, 2026 at 11:46 am
Bucs will be last place in the nfc south next season. Watching bucs games on TV wont even be worth the electric required ro power it on.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:46 am
I just hope the Bucs don’t hire an OC that hasn’t called plays before
January 21st, 2026 at 11:49 am
Jay Gruden ?
January 21st, 2026 at 11:50 am
“The pickings for a good offensive coordinator who also has play-calling experience are slim. Guess Bowles could dip into college for a playcaller. There are some guys with NFL experience in that pool. Ryan Grubb springs to mind.”
As a Bama fan also, The bucs definitely do not want Grubb.. He is total ass. I don’t know of 1 bama fan that wants to keep him around.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:53 am
Sadly, the OC we wind up with will not be the best, it’ll be the one who agrees to take the job out of desperation.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:53 am
Todd and HC Grover, I do not think I am enlightened I just research before speaking but a lot of people nowadays would much rather speak and no nothing what they are talking about. That is just dumb to me.
January 21st, 2026 at 11:54 am
Bring back John Gruden as offensive coordinator
He is better than everyone of these choices!!!!
January 21st, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Whoop ti do.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:18 pm
Jesus this would be a horrible higher. Did anyone watch the Titans play last year. Hell NO Glazers do better. Its bad enough your keeping Toilet Bowles but now you want to bring in coaches from losing teams that were horrible last year. Don’t like Callahan or Robinson. Go get Joe Brady since Buffalo fired that whole coaching staff that was actually good.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Who cares at this point another subpar hire to go with our subpar coach. Blazer could’ve gone all in last year instead I guess they gave Licht the directive to not get free agents so here we are the Falcons and Panthers are now better than us
January 21st, 2026 at 12:24 pm
Let me correct that for you Siants, Falcons and Panthers are better than us. We will finish dead last in this division with Bowles. I do think special teams will be better though. Danny Smith is a solid coach but anything was better than what we had.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:28 pm
Running out of options. Kyle Trask could be available as OC and cheap. He has plenty of experience holding a clipboard on the sidelines and knows the Bucs complicated schemes.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:29 pm
lol Bucfan81 your right!!!!
January 21st, 2026 at 12:31 pm
TombsEN Says:
January 21st, 2026 at 11:53 am
Todd and HC Grover, I do not think I am enlightened I just research before speaking but a lot of people nowadays would much rather speak and no nothing what they are talking about. That is just dumb to me.
The word is “know” – do some fu&$@ research lol
January 21st, 2026 at 12:34 pm
What are the downsides of the guy from Cincinnati? Was he a play caller?
As far as Atlanta guy goes, they did him. No favor by drafting. Michael Penix. The guy can’t even take snaps under center, has to be either pistol or shotgun
January 21st, 2026 at 12:39 pm
I’d much prefer one of these coaches who did okay with a bad QB than anyone who worked with Joe Burrow.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:42 pm
No one wants to be first mate on the Titanic?
Weird. The Glazers are complete trash. They buggered this up…Man U pt 2
They suck out loud.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:43 pm
The only coordinators willing to coach with a lame duck coach are desperate. I expect a exodus of many players not wanting to go down on this sinking ship. Every game will be an away game because no one will buy tickets for this. We are currently in contention for the number 1 pick in 2027. This is going to destroy so many careers. Truly incompetence at the highest. I will always be a Buccaneer fan but this is like the 1980’s Bucs with Culverhouse…
January 21st, 2026 at 12:53 pm
licht will draft a TE 1st round..
bowles will lead us to 6wins…
baker will lead the NFL in INTs..again…
no confidence in 2026
GO BUCS!!!!
January 21st, 2026 at 12:56 pm
Do other Bucs fans here just seem downhearted? What is there to look forward to? Perhaps it’s a feeling of being 2nd rate. Relegated to the kids table at a NFL family function? Was Liam our ticket out of this funk? Did we miss an opportunity that seldom comes by? Oh how I lament!
January 21st, 2026 at 12:57 pm
Two of the 3 fired by other teams. Great work Glasers! So much for the theme of Winning means everything. Money means more.
January 21st, 2026 at 12:58 pm
I’ll Take Either of them Canales an Coen were not the big names everyone wanted Either an they turned out Pretty Good. So maybe we get Zac an he can get Kyle Pitts to follow him since Pitts just had a Career year an also We get a good player from AtL an we get better they get Worse is always great. I’ll Take any one of them honestly Grizz didn’t have an Play caller Experience an still looked good at times he just had trouble stacking plays together an it looked like Bowles was telling him what to do at times since he lacked experience.All these guys have Experience an know how to call plays an if Grizz can make this offense look good at times these guys have experience should make this offense Fly I trust Jason An e wrythi g happens for a reason y’all we were not supposed to get Mike McDaniel all good Bucs will be fine
January 21st, 2026 at 12:59 pm
Lower the flags and our expectations.
January 21st, 2026 at 1:19 pm
6 wins is being quite generous
January 21st, 2026 at 1:33 pm
If Bowles had any dignity he would apologize to all the Buc fans for his performance as defensive coordinator/ head coach and resign before any more damages is done too the organization. They can’t even find an offensive coordinator that wants to work for Bowles.
January 21st, 2026 at 2:25 pm
The Titans! That’s my kind of organization to emulate!” -Hugh
January 21st, 2026 at 2:39 pm
Of the 3, I’ll take Dan Pitcher. The other two are known commodities that have failed when given the chance to call plays. Zac Taylor calls plays for the Bengals, so this would be Pitcher’s first time calling his own offense. Pitcher was actually offered the job 2 years ago, but turned it down to stay try to win it all with the Bengals.
January 21st, 2026 at 2:53 pm
Why not at least interview Nate Scheelhaase and at least kick the tires. The Browns have already interviewed him twice. He seems like a great option, young, from the McVay tree, worked with Baker, and has previous high level QB experience.
January 21st, 2026 at 2:54 pm
1. They did last year.
2. Joe’s pretty sure they don’t want a first-time playcaller.
January 21st, 2026 at 2:55 pm
hard pass on said dude
January 21st, 2026 at 2:59 pm
the problem with next season is we are sweeping no one in the divisional games…
so that means a minimum of 3 losses right there in division, before looking at the daunting schedule of solid to excellent teams outside the division…
i mean can we go 3-3 in division……yeah maybe…
but we can also go 2-4…
i have us maybe losing 10 games next year, but obviously all maneuvering and shuffling of staff and players has just begun…but initially if feels like a double digit loss season coming up, from where we stand now
January 21st, 2026 at 3:23 pm
Joe, why would the Bucs not bring in Joe Brady for an interview? He definitely better than the other candidates (except Monken).
January 21st, 2026 at 3:31 pm
What are we doing……honestly. At this point continue searching. These guys arent special. You can find someone off the street to be as good as these guys. Keep looking, wait for teams to finish playoffs. Interview Scheelhaase. Look at the college ranks. No need to waive the white flag with these guys.
January 21st, 2026 at 3:34 pm
Just remember Robinson’s offense was 24th. So for everyone saying Pitts was a superstar, Bijan was stouf, London was great. Just remember, 24th and very little explosiveness. For xomparison, mcdaniel had Tua injured for half the time he was there, hill injured, and Tua being avg at best just like Penix and Cousins, and that didnt hold him back. Hard pass on these names.
January 21st, 2026 at 3:40 pm
Brian Callahan didn’t have much to do with Ward’s mildly successful year in Tennessee as he was fired after 6 games.
But reading up more on Callahan — he didn’t call plays in Cincinnati. So he’s not an experienced guy at all, even though on paper he was the Bengals OC for 5 years. At the same time, listen to any Bengals fan, and they will tell you the play calling has been horrendous for years – ultra predictable, basic, no movement, just Burrow bailing out the coaches. Not sure how much of that is true, but I do know when Coen was here, very few people complained about the play calling. Then again, Coen level guys who are proven are getting HC jobs, not OC jobs.
With that said, I’ll say it again – this is one area where Bowles deserves the benefit of the doubt. He should take his time, do 30 interviews if he wants, just get the right guy like he did with his first two picks (unlike last year were Lot Lizard was appointed the job).
January 21st, 2026 at 3:46 pm
@TombsEN
You’re right. Joes do occasionally post stats but it’s usually to further a narrative. You notice that there have been VERY few stats posted that show the absolute impotence of the offense last year whereas we’ve read many many posts blaming the D (and Todd) for everything under the sun. Most (over 80% @ least) of the posters here have no interest in learning anything, they just want somebody to tell them what to think or agree with their opinion.
Sad but true.
January 21st, 2026 at 4:42 pm
Hello everyone, I’m not a fan of Callahan I like Pitcher myself because the Bengals had a good until Joe burrow fell apart. So he’s a QB whisperer if he makes it to his second year 🤔 Maybe Mayfield either puts it all together or his backup, that we have fall to number 15 this year baby 😆
January 21st, 2026 at 5:13 pm
Like vultures picking over the carcass after the apex predators have eaten their fill. Going to be another tough year ahead.
January 21st, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Well I didn’t know 11 interceptions was more than G Smith 17, Tua 15, Darnold with 14, Herbert at 13.
January 21st, 2026 at 7:50 pm
At this point I think I’d rather they swing for the best first time playcaller available. As a defensive coach, Bowles’s best stat is picking offensive coordinators- 2 out of 3 (and I’m not even sure Grizzard was all that bad). These candidates all have experience but I don’t think it’s necessarily good/ successful experience. Look at that Scheelhaase kid again or someone similar.
January 21st, 2026 at 7:53 pm
Or maybe Shanahan from IU?
January 21st, 2026 at 7:58 pm
Some of you are sitting here hoping and wishing for this OC or that OC. It doesn’t matter. We WILL be the same mediocre team next year, no matter who we get. The team takes on the image of their coach!!!! We’ll start off hot, like usual. Todd always has the team ready early. But as the season goes on, and just like Todd Bowles personality, the team gets tired and boring, zero enthusiasm, which is why we always see the mid season lull. Bookmark this. 2026 will be NO better and Bowles will be fired.
January 21st, 2026 at 8:20 pm
The ATL just hired their OC and it was not this guy though his Dad is going to coach the ATL OL. I heard on PR this afternoon that they can confirm that Zack Robinson is in Tampa for his in person interview and Callahan gets his turn tomorrow. Looks like it is down to Callahan, Robinson and Pitcher. You’d think Bowles would want a coach with playcalling experience and Robinson might bring Tyler Allgeier with him as the guy is a FA so I would guess he is a fave but then again, Bowles may want someone he would be able to contro like Grizzard and would not be a threat to him as a potential successor after he saw what happened with Coen. Bowles makes the OC position a tougher sell than it would be with an HC who is not on the hot seat.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:03 pm
DJR – bingo.
Even if MM would have joined it would have meant no more than 9 wins, maybe 10 if you’re lucky. It’s bust or average.
The scary part is 9-10 wins. That introduces uncertainty for ‘27.
I’m guessing Todd had 11 months left. Tick tock.
January 21st, 2026 at 10:07 pm
I mean, we might as well consider bringing back Greg Olsen while we’re at it
January 22nd, 2026 at 12:31 am
As soon as Raheem was fired and Grizzard was let go I figured it was probably Zac Robinson’s job to lose.
January 22nd, 2026 at 9:03 am
yeah sure let’s get the guy whose offense with Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijon Robinson ranked 24th in points scored. What a mastermind!