Bucs OL coach Kevin Carberry discusses return of key backup.

Bucs offensive line coach Kevin Carberry is back. Joe’s sure glad he survived the purge. Carberry is a damn good coach.

But last year had to be an absolute nightmare for Carberry. He starts the season without his All-World left tackle. Then he moved his first-round pick of a center to left tackle and his left guard got moved to center.

In Week 2, Carberry loses his starting right tackle to a bum wheel. In the same game, down goes his right guard.

Carberry and the Bucs (and Baker Mayfield) were left scrambling the rest of the year, always trying to plug a hole before another lead would sprout.

One of the more underrated moves the Bucs made this offseason was bringing back backup tackle Justin Skule. Joe knows this made Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke’s offseasons.

Both Wirfs and Goedeke, separately, had told Joe in the past how much Skule helped them out. If Skule couldn’t be on the field to help his team, he damn sure was going to do his best to help his teammates.

Whenever Wirfs or Goedeke came off the field after a series (Skule would monitor closely the tackle that was closest to the Bucs bench), Skule would go over what he saw Wirfs/Goedeke were doing right, maybe doing wrong, and what Skule saw from the guys that Wirfs and Goedeke were blocking.

Skule was like a player-coach. Wirfs raved about him to Joe, once telling Joe that Skule would detail to Wirfs how many steps he had left when backpedaling on pass blocking before he got too close to Mayfield.

That allowed Wirfs to know when to plant. Wirfs told Joe he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head — but Skule was those eyes. And since Mayfield is mobile, Wirfs wasn’t always sure where Mayfield might be.

(Robert Hainsey was a like-minded guy and Joe is sure Hainsey and Skule were a part of the reason the Bucs’ offensive line in 2024 was so damn good.)

Skule was baptized by Aiden Hutchinson at Detroit in 2024 where he had 4.5 sacks on Skule — in a Bucs win. Skule quickly settled down and played solid ball after that, even when later locking horns with Nick Bosa after Wirfs left with an injury.

Joe asked Carberry yesterday about Skule and Carberry seems pumped to have him back in the offensive line room.

“It’s great having Justin back,” Carberry said. “Just great having him in the room, having him around. He’s got a great personality. He’s a great worker. He’s a great professional.

“[Skule has] some good experience for guys to lean on, certainly, and he’s just a smart, intuitive player that’s been around different places, and certainly at our place, and just excited having back.”

Carberry noted that when the Bucs needed Skule when the line was pinched by injuries, Skule did solid work.

“He played in some big, meaningful games for us,” Carberry said.

Yeah, the Bucs offensive line was a shambles last year due to injuries. And let’s be real: There wasn’t much reliable depth.

It is good the Bucs have a guy back who can play both left and right tackle, and is respected by all his coaches and offensive line brothers for being a true professional who can be leaned on in a tight moment.

Dirk Koetter would call Skule a “glue guy.”