Buccaneers OC Josh Grizzard describes what he learned from Liam Coen last season

On Thursday, Josh Grizzard held his first press conference as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator.

Over the course of his coaching career, Grizzard has had the opportunity to work under a number of different coaches each with different offensive philosophies. This past season — his first in Tampa Bay — Grizzard held an important role on Liam Coen's staff as the pass game coordinator. Coen leaned on Grizzard heavily throughout the year, and one of his most important tasks was leading the team's third-down strategies on offense heading into each game.

It was an element of Grizzard's influence that was highly successful as the Bucs led the entire NFL in third down conversion rate, converting an impressive 50.9% of their third down attempts on the season. That said, the 34-year-old offensive coordinator will be expected to bring much more to the table than just his expertise on third downs.

During his introductory press conference, Grizzard was asked about what he learned working under Liam Coen last season, and the Bucs' new OC had plenty of valuable takeaways.

First was Coen's belief in marrying the run with the pass. It was something that Coen put into action, as evidenced by the fact the Bucs finished near the top of the league in both rushing and passing offense.

"I have a ton of respect for how he did it because he would come up here and talk all the time about the marriage of the run and the pass game and was very good at the podium, but when you hang your hat on that in the meeting room, when you try to do that on game day as well, he really believes in that, and I'm aligned in that as well. "

Grizzard also acknowledged the way that Coen engaged with players and coaches, and his genuine love for the game, "Just seeing him on a day-to-day basis, how he communicated with the players, with the coaches, his love for the game."

The final thought Grizzard introduced when discussing what he learned from his mentor last season was Coen's aggressiveness as a playcaller. "On game day, just seeing he wasn't afraid to let it rip and challenge the defense, I appreciated that."

Here’s Josh Grizzard on what he learned from Liam Coen — says that the “marriage of the run and the pass” was a big Coen emphasis he’s in line with: pic.twitter.com/VnI6NQ2fTF
— River Wells (@riverhwells) February 6, 2025

It's fair to assume that based on his diverse background learning from an array of different coaches that Josh Grizzard will bring some new concepts and ideas to the team's offense next season. That said, there's also some comfort in the continuity that is expected with Grizzard having worked directly under Liam Coen last year.

Based on what he had to say at his introductory press conference on Thursday, it sounds like marrying the run with the pass, collaborating with his players and staff and being aggressive as a playcaller on game days are some of the main concepts he plans to carry over from last year.

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