Despite his recent downward fall amongst the NFL ranks in his time with the Bucs, Josh Grizzard is still highly coveted amongst NFL circles…and by a recent Super Bowl champion team.
Reportedly, the Philadelphia Eagles have interviewed Josh Grizzard for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Grizzard was initially promoted form within to replace Liam Coen as the new Bucs offensive play caller, but after only one season with the team, was fired by head coach Todd Bowles.
Grizzard originally came to the Bucs by way of the Miami Dolphins, working under Mike Mcdaniel, Brian Flores and Adam Gase as an offensive quality control coach. Interestingly enough, while Grizzard only spent two years working with Mike Mcdaniel, he played football at Mcdaniel’s alma mater, Yale. However, with the Bucs, he didn’t really paint himself in glory.
The Bucs dropped from the fourth ranked scoring offense in the league under Liam Coen to being ranked 18th under Grizzard. In all fairness, the Bucs suffered from the injury bug, losing key players like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Bucky Irving throughout the season. Still, they also missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, when many thought they could be Super Bowl contenders.
Why the Buccaneers’ Struggles Don’t Tell the Full Story
Still, when you look at the offensive decline of the Eagles on the other hand, chances are they can take whoever they can get. After a similar situation that saw Kevin Patullo get promoted from within, the Philadelphia Eagles saw their offense decline massively. In fact, the Eagles offensive decline was so bad, it makes Grizzard’s tenure with the Bucs actually look good.
The Bucs actually ranked one spot higher in terms of points scored per game than the Eagles and also ranked three spots higher in terms of yards per games. But when it came to third down conversion rate, Grizzard’s offense ranked an astonishing thirteen spots higher than Patullo’s. One massive area that Grizzard will need to improve in though is generating touchdowns in the red zone. The Eagles led the league in red zone touchdown rate, while the Bucs only ranked 24th.
A Second Chance in Philadelphia’s Search for Offensive Identity
While the numbers tell the tale of a coordinator who struggled to get the best out of his team, the experiences show a guy who has been mentored by some of the best offensive minds in the league.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get the job in Tampa without working for Mike McDaniel for two years. That kind of put the system together of things you believe in, fundamentally, schematically. So being able to be on that staff for two years, that was invaluable because it brought things that I believed in together into one package instead of having pieces of all these different coordinators I’ve been around”, Grizzard said of the valuable experience he was able to have under a coach like Mcdaniel.
Under Nick Sirianni, Grizzard will get even more experience, this time with a Super Bowl winning head coach. He will also get better resources as well, so it’s not far fetched that in a better system, Grizzard can excel.
Former Bucs OC Receiving Interest From Eagles