Buccaneers OC Josh Grizzard to test out where he'll call plays in preseason

Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard will be calling plays for the first time in his career when the Bucs open preseason play against the Tennessee Titans. Last season, Grizzard spent most of his time working from the booth as the team's passing game coordinator, but is reportedly going to test out where he will call plays this upcoming season, according to Pewter Report.

New #Bucs OC Josh Grizzard will be calling plays on the field tonight vs. Tennessee and possibly up in the coaches box next week at Pittsburgh.

Grizzard is going to use the preseason to experiment on where he wants to be calling plays during the regular season.
— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) August 9, 2025

Each play caller has their reasons for either calling plays from the box or the sidelines, so it will be interesting to see what direction Grizzard looks to go.

Grizzard to test play calling in preseason

New Buccaneers OC Josh Grizzard speaks to media at One Buccaneer Place. | Logan Robinson/BucsGameday

The Bucs' past two OCs, Liam Coen and Dave Canales, both called plays from the sidelines. In fact, the majority of play callers tend to stay on the sidelines for games so they can be more hands-on with the play calling along with their players.

Grizzard will first test out how he likes coaching on the field in the Buccaneers' first preseason game against the Titans, and will then test out coaching from upstairs in the box during Tampa's second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Josh Grizzard, Baker Mayfield | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Grizzard was a huge piece of the Bucs' success in 2024, and they are hopeful that promoting him to OC will have the same effect in 2025. Grizz wasn't only the passing game coordinator under Coen, but also manned the Bucs' third-down offense, which was top of the league last year.

If Grizzard can carry over his magic from a season ago and tie in his wrinkles to an offense that will be carrying over much of the same from 2024, then we could see Baker Mayfield and company once again reap the rewards.

The defense is where most folks' attention will be, but there is still pressure on Grizzard to perform at a high level with all the weapons he has at his disposal. It will be about putting the right players in the right situation and situational play calling for them to continue humming from where they left off a season ago.

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