Former Head Coach of Baker Mayfield Comments on His Bounce Back Season

Baker Mayfield found new life with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a one-year, prove-it $4 million deal in 2023 and had the best season of his NFL career, achieving career highs in passing yards (4,044) and touchdown passes (28) while leading the Bucs to an NFC South crown and a win in the Wild Card round of the playoffs over the Philadelphia Eagles.

With the resurgence in his career, the Buccaneers will likely want to retain his services over a long-term extension.

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Baker's comeback story is one to admire and his former head coach at Oklahoma University Lincoln Riley spoke highly of the quarterback who won a Heisman Trophy under his tutelage during an interview with Jim Rome.

"I'm so proud of him. He's healthy and got in a great situation which he really hadn't really been in a great situation in the league other than maybe the few games he spent with coach McVay here in Los Angeles and the guy really took off. It's exciting to see, I think he's grown up a lot, I think he's really matured as a player, he's always had the fire and the competitiveness at such an elite level, the ability to inspire people in within that locker room, within an organization its just a gift the guys always had and so to see it come full circle, to see him being in a place I know that he is very very happy he's really enjoyed the Buccaneers' organization, really enjoyed living in Tampa and looks like has found a permanent home there which is so cool. So, yeah its just great to see man. Your road to the top a lot of times is jagged and can take different twists and turns and his is a great example. He stuck with it and he continues to battle and man is he in a great situation right now."

.@LincolnRiley on a huge bounce back season for @BakerMayfield. pic.twitter.com/8ekZ725r9J
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) February 5, 2024

Baker Mayfield's career trajectory is on the up and he has shown the resilience to become a top quarterback in the league that accompanies the traits that we already love about him. Baker hasn't had a solidified coaching staff in quite some time, and he once again will have a different offensive coordinator with Canales leaving for Carolina and the new hire of Liam Coen to become the Bucs' new OC.

The positive thing is that Baker already is familiar with Coen from their short time together in Los Angeles, so there should be a mutual understanding of how each of them can work to take the Bucs' offense up another notch in 2024.

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