Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback coach Chandler Whitmer is entering his first season coaching a specific position in the NFL. According to The Athletic, the young assistant coach is already getting buzz in league circles around what he could do with Baker Mayfield.
Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic listed one assistant coach for all 32 NFL teams that will start to get buzz around their name this season. Whitmer was the choice for the Bucs based on his work with Fernando Mendoza, Kirk Cousins and Justin Herbert.
“While plenty of league curiosity surrounds new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, Whitmer will probably also draw a lot of his own after spending the last season as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of College Football Playoff champion Indiana ⦠and No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza,” wrote Rodrigue.
If Whitmer can find success with Mayfield, he will continue to climb the coaching ranks.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Hired an Assistant Coach The League Wants
GettyUniversity of Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and co-offensive coordinator Chandler Whitmer.
Whitmer is only 34 years old and was in college through 2014. His first chance with a football team came in 2018 as a graduate assistant for Yale. He turned that into an opportunity with Ohio State in 2019 as a graduate assistant.
He jumped to Clemson for another graduate assistant job in 2020 before getting his first NFL experience in 2021. The Los Angeles Chargers hired him to be their offensive quality control coach from 2021 through the 2023 season.
When Brandon Staley was fired in 2023, the team moved on from Whitmer. But he stuck around the NFL, joining the Atlanta Falcons in 2024.
Kevin Kroger was the tight ends coach for both the Chargers in 2023 and the Falcons in 2024, potentially linking him to both staffs.
The 2024 Falcons offense was run by Zac Robinson. However, after one year as the passing game specialist, he moved on to Indiana University to be the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Hoosiers.
This was his first time getting real experience as a top-level assistant, and Indiana went on to win the National Championship. When Robinson jumped from the Falcons to the Buccaneers this year, he hired Whitmer to be the quarterbacks coach.
So, Whitmer has now worked with Herbert, Cousins, Mendoza, and Mayfield in each of the past four seasons.
Chandler Whitmer has a Great Opportunity with the Buccaneers
Whitmer is an ascending coach, and he might have landed in an ideal spot. In two of the last three years, the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers has moved on to being a head coach. First, it was Dave Canales with the Carolina Panthers. Next, it was Liam Coen, who is the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
So, if the group can turn things around for the Bucs, it is clear that the NFL will take notice. If Robinson moved up to head coach, he would either take Whitmer with him as an offensive coordinator, or the Bucs would promote him from within. That tends to be what happens with the quarterback coaches on rising offenses. This is why he is a strong pick for a coach on the rise.
At the same time, Josh Grizzard was fired after just one season as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator. So, in the one scenario where things do not go well, it could end quickly. Whitm
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