Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer is expected to become a hot name in coaching circles soon. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield can see why. Mayfield has already seen changes to his own game thanks to Whitmer, and credits him specifically for improving his footwork in the limited time they have spent together.
“Still honing in on those little details, making some of the simple throws even easier than they should be, and it starts with your feet,” Mayfield said, describing the impact of Whitmer. “If you are out of rhythm in the system, the timing, the routes, and the concepts, bad things are going to happen, so it starts with my feet.”
Mayfield joked that it can be annoying, and because Whitmer is smaller than Mayfield, and they are around the same age, it makes Mayfield want to bully his new coach. However, when he got serious, he admitted that his coaching style is exactly what he needs.
“He’s annoying for sure,” joked Mayfield. “Every once in a while I’m going ot have to put his little ass in a headlock and beat him up. But I need that.”
Whitmer is just three years older than Mayfield. However, he is a rising coaching name, and if Mayfield has success this year, a lot of NFL names will call for Whitmer.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Has Strong Praise for QB Coach Chandler Whitmer
GettyBaker Mayfield with the Buccaneers
Earlier this offseason, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic listed Whitmer on her breakout coaches column
“While plenty of league curiosity surrounds new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, Whitmer will probably also draw a lot of his own after spending the last season as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of College Football Playoff champion Indiana … and No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza,” wrote Rodrigue.
Whitmer was playing his senior season at UConn when Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma. However, when Mayfield was drafted first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, Whitmer was a graduate assistant at Yale.
He moved from Yale to Ohio State to Clemson before being hired as the quality control coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. He spent three seasons there before Zac Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons added him to their offensive coaching staff as their pass game specialist.
Whitmer jumped to Indiana in 2025 and coached Fernando Mendoza as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before joining Robinson again in Tampa Bay. After working with Justin Herbert, Kirk Cousins, and Mendoza, he is now on to Mayfield.
Mayfield is Relying on Whitmer for Strong 2026 Season
Mayfield has had four coordinators in as many years, and it seems as though his success goes with the coordinators. Dave Canales and Liam Coen were great. They got promoted to head coaches, and Mayfield succeeded.
However, Josh Grizzard was not as strong. Mayfield struggled, and he was fired. So, now it is on Robinson and his staff, led by Whitmer, to get the most out of the former number one overall pick. He is looking for this year to earn him a big contract, so a lot is on the line.
Baker Mayfield Reveals Major Impact of Rising Bucs Assistant