9:51am: After the team lost a host of staffers on offense over the past few days, two in-house candidates for the play-calling post exist. The Bucs are also meeting with tight ends coach John Van Dam for the OC position, CBS Sports Jonathan Jones notes. This will be Van Dam’s first OC interview.
Van Dam has been with the Bucs longer than Lewis, arriving as an Arians hire back in 2019. The Bucs promoted Van Dam from the quality control level in 2021, making him assistant tight ends coach ahead of what turned out to be Rob Gronkowski‘s final season. Van Dam moved up to his current position in 2022, overseeing the development of draftees Cade Otton and Ko Kieft.
9:11am: A number of teams have reached out to Thad Lewis about an OC role. The young assistant’s current team is now part of that mix. Amid a widespread search to replace Dave Canales, the Buccaneers have circled back to Lewis.
Lewis’ interview for the Tampa Bay OC post will take place Wednesday, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The Bucs, who employ Lewis as their quarterbacks coach, join the Bills, Bengals, Titans and Raiders as teams to have reached out to Lewis about their OC position.
When Canales-to-Carolina buzz began to intensify, Lewis came up as a natural candidate to take over. The former quarterback has been with the Bucs for the past three seasons, beginning as assistant wide receivers coach under Bruce Arians before being moved to work with QBs last year.
Although Lewis did not have a chance to coach Tom Brady, Baker Mayfield‘s 2023 showing has understandably generated interest here. The Bengals and Bills promoted candidates internally, while the Raiders and Titans are still looking. Lewis, 36, having just one season coaching QBs puts him on the lighter end in terms of ideal experience. But Mayfield bouncing back after a woeful 2022 in Carolina should give Lewis a quality platform toward being a serious candidate to move up the ladder in Tampa.
The Bucs have already lost three key staffers on offense, seeing Canales take wide receivers coach Brad Idzik, run-game coordinator Harold Goodwin and O-line coach Joe Gilbert with him to Charlotte. Lewis following Canales and his new Panthers assistants out the door would stand to drive a full-on reboot on that side of the ball. Seeing as Mayfield showed the form that once generated extension rumors in Cleveland, losing Lewis as well might be counterproductive for a Bucs team interested in a second contract with the quarterback.
Courtesy of PFR’s Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker, here is how the Bucs’ process looks as of Wednesday morning:
- Ken Dorsey, former offensive coordinator (Bills): To interview
- Tanner Engstrand, pass-game coordinator (Lions): To interview
- Brian Johnson, former offensive coordinator (Eagles): Interviewed 1/30
- Jerrod Johnson, quarterbacks coach (Texans): Interviewed 1/30
- Thad Lewis, quarterbacks coach (Buccaneers): To interview 1/31
- Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator (Chargers): To interview 1/29; hired as Eagles OC
- Jake Peetz, pass-game specialist (Rams): To interview
- Antwaan Randle El, wide receivers coach (Lions): Interviewed 1/26
- Zac Robinson, quarterbacks coach (Rams): Interview requested; hired as Falcons OC
- John Van Dam, tight ends coach (Buccaneers): To interview
- Alex Van Pelt, former offensive coordinator (Browns): Interviewed 1/29
I guess PFR isn’t going to acknowledge Dorsey’s hiring in Cleveland. His status hasn’t been updated on any of these reports over the past few days (while others who were hired later are properly listed)
John…Von Dam?