ORLANDO, Fla. -- Last month, when interest was heating up over then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen for head coaching jobs, it was suggested to quarterback Baker Mayfield that he might be an "OC Whisperer."
After the 2023 season, Dave Canales became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers despite having only one year of experience as a coordinator and calling plays in the NFL. Coen was in the same situation. After only one year as a playcaller this past season, he accepted the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coaching job last month.
"I've had too many [coordinators] to say that," Mayfield jokingly answered, alluding to seeing his coordinators leave for good and bad reasons after some tumultuous years that led to the Bucs being his fourth team in a year when he signed in 2023.
He has found his footing in Tampa. He threw a career-best 28 touchdown passes in 2023 and then 41 in 2024, both times leading the Bucs to NFC South titles with 9-8 and 10-7 records, respectively. He was selected to the Pro Bowl each year.
Now, the tune has changed. Teams are plucking his coordinators for head coaching positions largely because of his performances.
Mayfield was vacationing with his offensive linemen when he saw on his phone that Coen, who told the players earlier in the week that he was staying with the Bucs, was in Jacksonville meeting with the Jaguars.
"I found out much like the rest of us," Mayfield said Saturday at the Pro Bowl.
Coen had a FaceTime call with them the next day.
"I left him on read just like he left me on read for a little bit. I made him beg," Mayfield said with a grin. "Obviously, people have their thoughts on how it went down, and I understand the emotional aspect of it, but I'm happy for Liam. We all had a few choice words for him before we actually told him we were happy for him. I can't be mad at that -- as much as I would want to have him still here."
Left tackle Tristan Wirfs added, "I think we gave him a lot of crap. Happy for him. That's the business, but yeah we had to give him a hard time. ... [He] had called us. He said, 'Love you guys.' And we're like, 'Yeah, same to you, brother.'"
Mayfield will have his ninth offensive coordinator in eight seasons in 2025, although this time, it's someone in the organization -- last year's pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard. Though he is also a first-time offensive coordinator, Grizzard ran the team's third-down offense last year before being promoted.
"I mean for me, it was, 'How can we make it somewhat -- that continuity is safe with the guys?'" said Mayfield, who was involved in this year's search. "'How can we make sure that we're actually taking a step forward and not a step back, having to restart again?' Every season's different, but having the continuity within the same system and keeping a lot of the same pieces is really, really important."
Though Mayfield has grown accustomed to change, he welcomes some consistency, but Grizzard will put his spin on the Bucs' offense this year.
"In terms of the offseason, the OTAs -- you're not installing brand new plays," Mayfield said. "And that's so helpful. ... I mean we had a lot of young guys step up this year, so for them not to have to learn a new system is huge. I'm used to it. It's hard work, but I'm happy for our whole team and unit just being able to go on to the next one."
Two other key coaching pieces will also be back -- offensive line coach Kevin Carberry and assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci. They played a role in a run game that went from last in the league in 2023, averaging 88.8 rushing yards per game, to 149.2 in 2024 -- fourth best.
In addition to Mayfield's 41 touchdown passes, which were tied with the Ravens' Lamar Jackson for second most in the NFL and two behind Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, his completion percentage rose from a career-best 64.3% in 2023 to 71.4% -- third best in the league behind Tua Tagovailoa (72.9%) and Jared Goff (72.4%). His 16 go-ahead passing touchdowns were also a career best, topping his previous high of 10 in 2020, and second in the league behind Burrow.
He threw for a career-high 4,500 passing yards, which was third in the league. His 11.8% off-target percentage was fourth best (his previous career best was 14.6% last year and career average was 16.1%).
Mayfield also became the fourth player in NFL history with 4,000-plus passing yards, 40-plus touchdowns and a 70-plus completion percentage in the same season -- joining Drew Brees (2011), Aaron Rodgers (2020) and Burrow (2024). He was the 10th player to throw for 4,500-plus yards and 40-plus passing touchdowns in a season, joining Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Joe Burrow, Andrew Luck, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford.
The Bucs' 28.6 offensive points scored per game were fourth best last season and the third most in franchise history behind two Tom Brady-led teams in 2020 and 2021.
But what will it take for Mayfield and the Bucs' offense to build off those numbers?
"That's getting everybody on the same page," Mayfield said. "And Grizz was our third-down guy and he was a huge part of those installations and what we were trying to do on third downs. ... That's why I'm excited. He's a guy that didn't get a lot of credit behind the scenes last year, but he'll be at the forefront of it."