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The search for the next Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator is starting to heat up.
As the team has interviewed multiple candidates for the vacant playcalling position on the Bucs staff after the team parted ways with Byron Leftwich after a disappointing 2022 NFL season.
A Potential Return to Tampa Bay for Keenan McCardell?
One interesting name that has emerged as a candidate for the offensive coordinator role is former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Keenan McCardell.
McCardell won a Super Bowl with the Bucs back in 2002 and spent the 2022 NFL season as the wide receivers coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
He enjoyed a very successful NFL career, amassing 883 receptions for 11,373 receiving yards and 63 touchdowns.
McCardell helped Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson lead the league in receptions (128) and receiving yards (1,809) last season.
The Vikings passing game ranked 6th in the league averaging 263.8 yards per game.
However, McCardell wasn’t the first candidate to officially interview for the role. That honor went to the Passing Game Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach of the Denver Broncos Klint Kubiak, who interviewed for the position on January 25.
This marks an interesting interview seeing that the Denver Broncos passing game was below average this season, ranking 19th at 211.3 yards per game, and finishing dead last in points per game at 16.9.
The third candidate that has been interviewed for the offensive coordinator position was the Jacksonville Jaguars Passing Game Coordinator, Jim Bob Cooter, who was interviewed on January 26.
Cooter has previous experience as an offensive coordinator during some of his time spent with the Detroit Lions from 2016-2018.
His presence with Jaguars did help second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence improve in nearly every statistical category from his rookie season.
Other Candidates are Expected to be Interviewed
While the Bucs have already started the interview process, reports from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo indicate that the Bucs are still scheduling interviews with other candidates, which include New York Giants Quarterbacks Coach Shea Tierney.
Garafalo’s tweet reads, “#Giants QB coach Shea Tierney will interview with the #Buccaneers for their vacant OC position, sources say. Tierney has worked closely with HC Brian Daboll with Alabama, the #Bills and NYG, and the development of Daniel Jones this past season has been noticed around the league.”
Tierney had a profound impact on Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones this season, who posted career highs in passing yardage (3,205), completion percentage (67.2 %), QBR (60.8) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (3-to-1).
The franchise was so unconvinced about the future of Jones with the organization, they decided to decline his fifth-year rookie option, making the former No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Bucs recently lost out on one of their top replacement targets for Byron Leftwich, when former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien decided to return to the New England Patriots as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Whoever becomes the next offensive coordinator of the team could impact the decision of quarterback Tom Brady, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on March 15 when the new league year begins.
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