Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury have each resurrected their careers in recent years, with the arrow pointing up for both. Could they possibly have a shot to reunite after a short stint with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2013?
If there is a chance, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht would be wise to make it happen — no matter the cost.
Why Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Should Break the Bank To Reunite Baker Mayfield and Kliff Kingsbury
A hot-shot young offensive coordinator with a vast amount of experience and a 29-year-old quarterback coming off a career-best season — what better combination than that for an NFL franchise?
The Buccaneers may have a chance to pair those two together.
Kingsbury is in the thick of a deep playoff run with the Commanders. His play-calling and play-design acumen has been on full display in the postseason, highlighted by hanging 38 points on the NFC’s No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions.
Mayfield had the best season of his career in 2024, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, tied for second in the NFL. Just entering the beginning of his prime, the arrow is pointing up for QB.
The Buccaneers can pair the two together because late on Jan. 23, the Jacksonville Jaguars hired former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen as their head coach.
That marked the second year in a row that Tampa Bay’s OC was hired away for a head coaching position. (Dave Canales was hired as the Carolina Panthers head coach after the 2023 season.)
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The formula is there for an OC to coach Mayfield and the talented Bucs offense and use the year as a launching pad to a head coaching position. The thought of Kingsbury and Mayfield together has to be a dream combination for Licht.
It also wouldn’t be the first time Kingsbury coached Mayfield, and there was some animosity between the two.
Mayfield, a three-star recruit out of Lake Travis High School, had only three offers to choose from — Florida Atlantic, Rice, and New Mexico. He decided to bet on himself and walk on with the Red Raiders in 2013, which also happened to be Kingsbury’s first year as the head coach in Lubbock.
Out of camp, Mayfield’s bet paid off, as he won the starting job. The Red Raiders began the season 5-0, with Mayfield passing for eight touchdowns and five interceptions before suffering a knee injury in the fifth game. He missed over a month, coming back for the final three games.
They lost all three, and Mayfield threw four interceptions, losing his starting job prior to the bowl game to backup quarterback Davis Webb, who went on to win the game’s MVP award.
Mayfield subsequently transferred to join the Oklahoma Sooners, where he led the team to three consecutive Big 12 titles.
Prior to that magnificent run, which included being named the Heisman Trophy winner in 2017, Mayfield claimed in an interview that Kingsbury stopped speaking to him during and after his injury, failing to open a line of communication between his once-starting quarterback.
Kingsbury was asked about the situation in an interview with ESPN in 2019.
“Obviously, I’d like to have that gone differently and handled things differently,” he said. “You live, and you learn, and I’m just glad we’re in a good place now.”
Since Mayfield’s departure, both of their careers took off. After three seasons with the Sooners, Mayfield was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL Draft. After six seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech, the Arizona Cardinals hired Kingsbury as their head coach in 2019.
Four seasons later, he was fired.
After leading the Browns to their first playoff win in 27 years, Mayfield was essentially discarded two years later. He was sent to the Carolina Panthers in 2022 for a draft pick.
At that point, it seemed like both of their careers were on a downward path. Kingsbury took a couple of months off before being hired as a senior offensive analyst for the USC Trojans, a far cry from being the head man of an NFL team.
Mayfield spent 2022 with the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams, showing life as the Rams starter down the stretch of the season. That earned him a one-year, $4 million deal with the Buccaneers. He was expected to compete with fellow QB Kyle Trask for the starting spot.
He won the job outright and reignited his career, throwing for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns.
It took Kingsbury one more year to begin revitalizing his career. After a year spent mentoring star quarterback Caleb Williams with the Trojans, Kingsbury was hired as the Washington Commanders OC in 2024 with hopes of bringing the best out of rookie quarterback and No. 2 overall selection Jayden Daniels.
Kingsbury has done that and more, helping coach Daniels to one of the best seasons the NFL has ever seen by a rookie — at any position.
With the departure of Coen and the meaning of their relationship, it makes sense for Kingsbury and Mayfield to potentially reunite.
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The likelihood of Kingsbury leaving a job with a young QB already on the doorstep of the Super Bowl is low — unless Licht comes with the dollar signs. After his performance this season, Kingsbury deserves all the money that might come his way.
A reunion with Mayfield would bring out the best in the quarterback and the Buccaneers’ offense; if Licht gets the chance, he should do whatever he can to ensure Kingsbury is the team’s offensive coordinator in 2025.
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