Buccaneers are quickly losing ground on one of the top coaches on the market
The Bucs need to pick up the pace if they want a shot at Mike McDaniel.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have five positions to fill on its coaching staff and the most important spot is offensive coordinator.
The Buccaneers, on paper, already return an offensive roster that is easily top-10 before the 2026 season even starts. It boasts an above-average quarterback, solid receiver corps, all five starters on the offensive line for the third-straight year, and playmakers at running back. Those are all pieces anyone would love to work with.
So it’s easy to see why three of the Bucs’ five coaching interviews (with a fourth on the way) have centered around the OC. It’s a very intriguing situation and it certainly feels like the Buccaneers can bring in one of the top guys on the market if they play their cards right.
Last week, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said the Bucs were a team to keep an eye on regarding former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. While he’s sure to draw plenty of head coaching interest, McDaniel as the Bucs OC would be a home run hire that can help Todd Bowles keep his job.
The Bucs can set up an interview with McDaniel since the Dolphins are out of the playoffs, but they’ve yet to do so. Now, McDaniel has multiple head coach interviews scheduled in the Browns, Falcons, Titans and Ravens, as well as the OC position with the Detroit Lions, who also boast one of the best offensive rosters.
The key with them, too, is Dan Campbell’s seat is as cool as a cucumber compared to Bowles’.
Bucs need to move on Mike McDaniel, now
There’s zero reason for the Buccaneers to keep McDaniel out of their coaching search, so it begs the question of why they’ve yet to at least get a virtual interview scheduled.
It’s one thing if McDaniel wasn’t talking with the Lions – why would he not go ahead and line up the head coach interviews, first, and see how they go?
But that’s not the case. He’s dipping his toes into the Lions’ OC pool. Therefore, the Buccaneers need to get him a pass to their own pool and let him see how the water feels. It’s total malpractice if they don’t at least have a conversation.
It’s a pivotal year and Bowles needs to pull out all the stops. McDaniel is as good as it gets and would easily help the Bucs offense get back to what it can be.
Tampa Bay can’t afford to keep falling behind, especially when looking at the teams on McDaniel’s interview list. All of those teams, except the Browns, have offensive foundations in place and one can make an argument for all of them.
The Buccaneers are an enticing gig, as well, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand the immediacy behind getting on a top candidate’s radar. McDaniel is about to have a banquet of decisions to make on his table and adding to the plate doesn’t help the Bucs.
McDaniel can build a scheme that’s tailor-made for Baker Mayfield
When McDaniel arrived in Miami, everyone wanted to know if he could fix Tua Tagovailoa.
For the most part, he managed to do just that. He built an offense centered around Tagovailoa’s strengths, as well as what he learned from his time as run game coordinator in San Francisco under Kyle Shanahan.
That led to one of the NFL’s most potent offenses over the last couple of years and McDaniel can do just that again in Tampa Bay with Mayfield and Co.
Dolphins offensive ranks from 2022-2025 under McDaniel
- Points per game: 23.3 (12th)
- Touchdowns: 179 (11th)
- Yards per play: 5.78 (5th)
- Third down conversion rate: 37.4% (22nd)
- Total yards per game: 347.9 (8th)
As you can see above, the one area for concern is McDaniel’s approach on third down. That’s a pretty underwhelming ranking and while the Buccaneers finished 11th on third down conversions in 2025, that’s a conversation for Bowles and Jason Licht to have, for sure. If they ever talk with him, of course.
Regardless, if the Buccaneers are serious about adding a viable offensive coordinator, they need to get a move on this. All they’re doing is falling behind and when facing the kind of year 2026 is shaping up to be – the writing on the wall is getting etched deeper and deeper with each passing day.
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The Bucs are prioritizing the OC search, as they should.
