When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought in Zac Robinson as their new offensive coordinator, they weren’t just hiring a fresh offensive mind - they were reuniting a quarterback and coach who’ve been through the fire together.
Robinson and Baker Mayfield first crossed paths in 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams, and the story of how that partnership began says a lot about both men - especially Mayfield’s grit and readiness when everything around him was chaos.
That season, the Rams were in a bind. Matthew Stafford was out.
So was backup John Wolford. The defending Super Bowl champs needed a quarterback, fast.
Enter Mayfield, signed off waivers midweek, with barely enough time to unpack his bags before being asked to lead an NFL offense.
Robinson, then the Rams’ quarterbacks coach, remembers exactly how it went down.
“We gave him a handful of plays,” Robinson recalled during his introductory press conference in Tampa. “Twenty to twenty-five plays. It was 10 at night, and we had a Thursday night game coming up.”
That’s not just a crash course - that’s being thrown into the deep end with no time for swimming lessons. But what stood out to Robinson wasn’t just Mayfield’s ability to absorb the playbook. It was how he did it.
“He came in the next day with his notebook, all highlighted and color-coded,” Robinson said. “Right away, I thought, ‘I know the player, I know the talent, but he’s made of all the right stuff.’”
That moment stuck with Robinson. And it’s easy to see why. Mayfield wasn’t just trying to survive - he was preparing like he’d been there all season.
The results? On a short week, with a barely-there playbook and little chemistry with his new teammates, Mayfield led the Rams to a dramatic 17-16 comeback win over the Raiders.
Just a few weeks later, he lit up the Broncos on Christmas Day, going 24-for-28 for 230 yards and two touchdowns in a 51-14 rout. It wasn’t a season to remember for the Rams overall - they finished 5-12 - but Mayfield provided some much-needed sparks in a dark year.
Now, Robinson and Mayfield are back together, this time in Tampa Bay. Robinson becomes the Bucs’ fourth offensive coordinator in as many seasons. For Mayfield, this marks the ninth OC he’s worked with in his nine-year NFL career - a revolving door that makes consistency hard to come by.
But this pairing has history. More importantly, it has trust.
“I’m fired up to work with ‘Bake’ and the rest of the guys,” Robinson said. “It’s a good group of dudes, and I’m looking forward to it for sure.”
That kind of familiarity - coach and quarterback knowing exactly how the other ticks - can be a difference-maker. Especially for a Bucs team looking to build on a promising foundation and bring some stability back to the offense.
The NFL is a league built on relationships as much as it is on schemes and stats. And in Robinson and Mayfield, the Buccaneers are betting on a bond that’s already proven it can weather the storm.