Buccaneers To Hire Chandler Whitmer As Quarterbacks Coach
After winning a national championship as Indiana’s co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2025, Chandler Whitmer is heading to the NFL. Whitmer has agreed to become the Buccaneers’ QBs coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Fresh off a perfect season at Indiana, where he helped quarterback Fernando Mendoza to a Heisman Trophy, Whitmer received multiple NFL offers, per Pelissero. A late-January report connected the 34-year-old to the Raiders, who will likely use the No. 1 pick in April’s draft on Mendoza. Instead, though, Whitmer will work with Buccaneers starter Baker Mayfield in 2026.
Whitmer, a former college QB at Illinois, Butler Community College and UConn, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2019. He went on to hold the same position at Clemson in 2020 before jumping to the pros as a quality control coach with the Chargers.
After three seasons on former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley‘s staff, Whitmer worked as a pass game specialist with the Falcons in 2024. Zac Robinson, who became the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator last month, was in charge of the Falcons’ offense then. Whitmer is now the latest ex-Falcons staffer to reunite with Robinson in Tampa Bay, joining senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese and passing game coordinator T.J. Yates.
Although Mayfield enjoyed the best three-year stretch of his career under previous quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis, the Bucs moved on after the signal-caller’s numbers declined this past season. Mayfield posted career highs in completion percentage (71.4), yards (4,500), touchdowns (41) and passer rating (106.8) over 17 games in 2024. The 30-year-old logged perfect attendance again in 2025, but he completed a far less impressive 63.2% of throws for 3,693 yards, 26 TDs and a 90.6 rating.
Buccaneers Interview Indiana OC Chandler Whitmer For QB Coach
The Buccaneers made some changes to their offensive coaching staff in January and have been in the process of hiring replacements. Former Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has made the in-division move to replace Josh Grizzard in the same role, and now Tampa Bay is looking at Indiana co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer to fill the role left vacant after they dismissed Thad Lewis, per Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.
After only a year away from the NFL, Whitmer could be headed right back. A former college quarterback who spent time at Illinois, Butler Community College, and UConn, Whitmer didn’t start his coaching career until five years after his playing career ended, working as a graduate assistant at Ohio State and Clemson in 2019 and 2020, respectively. From there, he got his first NFL opportunity as a quality control coach with the Chargers in 2021. He spent three years in Los Angeles before getting hired by the Falcons in 2024 to serve as Atlanta’s pass game specialist.
Whitmer made the move to join Curt Cignetti‘s staff at Indiana after Tino Sunseri departed for the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach job at UCLA. Whitmer stepped into his co-OC title, shared with offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan. In doing so, Whitmer ended up tying himself to transfer quarterback (by way of Cal) Fernando Mendoza.
Working with Cignetti and Whitmer, Mendoza would go on to lead the NCAA in passing touchdowns (41), finish third in the NCAA in completion percentage (72.0), and fourth in the country in yards per attempt (9.3). The team’s success resulted in the Hoosiers winning their first ever national championship game, and Mendoza took home the top individual prize when he won the Heisman Trophy and became the favorite to be selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mendoza was certainly a talented player when he came in, but it seems clear the system designed by Cignetti and Whitmer contributed to his huge leap in 2025. Tampa Bay could be looking to pair Whitmer with another Heisman-winner after Baker Mayfield had a down 2025 campaign. Whitmer interviewed with the team this week and could return to the NFL just a year after leaving.
Raiders Rumors: Brady, Spytek, Whitmer
John Spytek was hired before Pete Carroll, who has since been fired. This year’s Raiders HC search — their fourth in the past five offseasons — will be the GM’s first with true involvement. Spytek was not involved in the Carroll hire last year, ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden indicate in an expansive look at the Raiders’ present state of affairs.
The team hired Spytek two days before hiring Carroll last year. This is not uncommon for teams seeking to fill HC and GM positions in one offseason. Ryan Poles technically arrived before Matt Eberflus in 2022, but he was not a key player in that search. Spytek, though, is the point man for the Raiders in-house, as he is running things locally while Tom Brady — who has been involved from afar since being approved as a minority owner in fall 2024 — made “five or six” appearances at the team facility in 2025, Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller estimated.
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Brady did play the lead role in the Raiders firing Tom Telesco and hiring Spytek, his former college teammate who later ended up in the Buccaneers’ front office during the QB legend’s Tampa stopover. Brady later led the Raiders’ pursuit of Ben Johnson and then played the central role in a failed Matthew Stafford recruitment. The 47-year-old QB retiree-turned-FOX analyst was believed to be against a Sam Darnold free agent signing, and he was a key figure in the trade for Geno Smith, per an agent of a Raiders player (via Kahler and McFadden). That certainly appeased Carroll, but the Carroll-Smith reunion backfired quickly.
Brady will continue to carry plenty of say with the Raiders, who are believed to be pursuing an offense-oriented HC to pair with expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. But Spytek will be the one running things from inside, as Brady will continue with his FOX role for a third season in 2026.
“My preparation is very much centered around what I have to do in broadcasting,” Brady said of his Raiders role, via The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. “I love, obviously, having a chance to be involved with the Raiders. To be a former player and have a minority ownership is like a dream come true.
“I couldn’t afford to pay to be a general partner. I did very well in my career. It’s awesome to kind of help shape and strategize and be a visionary for a team. I love being involved in football.”
The Raiders will be expected to move on from Smith, who appears destined to follow Jimmy Garoppolo and Gardner Minshew as Vegas QB acquisitions to last one season. Although Smith signed a two-year, $75MM extension, it will cost the Raiders just $18.5MM in dead money to drop him. That amount would be lessened in the post-June 1 scenario.
Mendoza is the latest QB to rocket to the top sector of the draft with a dominant college season. The Raiders secured the No. 1 overall pick, shelving Brock Bowers and, more controversially, Maxx Crosby (who has since undergone knee surgery for an injury he believed he could play through), for the season’s final two games. One of Mendoza’s Indiana coaches, co-OC/QBs coach Chandler Whitmer is a name to monitor regarding a Raiders role, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore tweets.
Whitmer, 34, was on all three Brandon Staley Chargers staffs before landing with the Falcons in 2024. He joined the Hoosiers last year, and his role in Mendoza’s Heisman-winning season and the team’s 16-0 national championship season certainly brought a stock boost.
The Raiders, though, still have a head coach to hire before turning their attention to assistants. Brady heavily influenced Chip Kelly‘s move from the college ranks back to the NFL; that would make another college-to-NFL hire draw some scrutiny. The Raiders gave their one-and-done OC a $6MM-per-year deal only to fire him in-season. Kelly is now Northwestern’s OC.
NFL Coaching Rumors: Vrabel, Desai, Falcons
Following his first head coaching stint in Tennessee, Mike Vrabel has been serving as a coaching and personnel consultant in Cleveland. His job with the Browns was obviously a last-second alternative after he attempted to go after another head coaching gig in the offseason and failed.
We had heard rumors back in January following the hiring of Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles that Vrabel was the second option for the job. That rumor was reiterated by Diana Russini of The Athletic recently. Vrabel had reportedly nailed his interview with the Chargers, and there was legitimate concern that Harbaugh might have backed out of the agreement to become head coach. Unfortunately for Vrabel, Harbaugh returned to the NFL, leaving Vrabel in a quick search for work.
The next head coaching cycle should give Vrabel a bit more time to find a job, and according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, he may not be the only one who departs. Kay claims that, should Vrabel leave for his next head coaching gig in 2025, there’s an expectation that he will attempt to bring pass game specialist and tight ends coach Tommy Rees with him.
Rees doesn’t have much NFL experience. Starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Northwestern, Rees spent one season as an offensive assistant for the Chargers in 2016 before going back to the collegiate ranks. He spent three seasons as Notre Dame’s quarterbacks coach before earning the offensive coordinator title for three more years. Before joining Cleveland, he spent a single season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Alabama.
Here are a couple other coaching rumors from around the NFL:
- Another coach who took a small role in 2024 was former NFL defensive coordinator Sean Desai. Desai has spent two separate seasons as a coordinator in the NFL, both times failing to retain his position into the next year. After being fired by the Eagles following the loss of six of their final seven games, Desai took the role of senior defensive assistant with the Rams, calling the scout team defense against the team’s offense in practice. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Desai is expected to be a hot name in the upcoming cycle as a candidate to once again become a defensive coordinator.
- In the realm of college, Falcons pass game specialist Chandler Whitmer has been hired to serve as the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator for Indiana in 2025, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He is set to replace Tino Sunseri who will take the opportunity to call plays at UCLA next year. Whitmer brings four years of NFL experience, previously working as a quality control coach with quarterbacks for the Chargers. He also spent time as a graduate assistant with Clemson and Ohio State. This will be his first job as a full-time position coach.
Ken Zampese, Ike Hilliard, Barrett Ruud Join Falcons’ Staff; Team Retains Jerry Gray
In Zac Robinson and Jimmy Lake, Raheem Morris installed two first-time NFL coordinators as his top lieutenants. The returning Falcons leader will backstop the OC-DC tandem with some experienced staffers in key posts.
The Falcons hired Ken Zampese as a senior offensive assistant, and the team is retaining defensive assistant Jerry Gray. The latter, an Arthur Smith hire, agreed to an extension to stay under Morris, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes. Zampese worked as the Bengals’ OC from 2016-17, while Gray has multiple stints of DC experience. The veteran staffer served as the Bills’ DC in the 2000s and led the Titans’ defense from 2011-13. Gray will continue in an assistant HC/defense capacity.
Gray, 61, came to Atlanta after philosophical differences with then-Green Bay DC Joe Barry keyed a Wisconsin exit. The former decorated DB has been an NFL assistant for the past 27 seasons. A second-generation NFL assistant, Zampese brings 24 years of experience at this level. The 56-year-old staffer is best known for his 15 seasons on Marvin Lewis‘ Bengals staff, most of which coming as the team’s QBs coach. Zampese was in that role for the past four seasons under Ron Rivera in Washington.
Ike Hillard also joined the Falcons as their wide receivers coach. This will mark a return to the league for the former Giants starter. Hilliard, 47, did not coach in 2022 and was last in the NFL as the Steelers’ receivers coach from 2020-21. An NFL receivers coach from 2011-21, Hilliard was at Auburn in 2022. The Falcons also added Kevin Koger as their tight ends coach. Koger was on the radar for OC positions in 2022, interviewing for the Broncos and Packers’ jobs. Koger, 34, spent the past three years as the Chargers’ TEs coach. These appointments will be rather important, given the investments the Falcons made in Drake London and Kyle Pitts.
As Hilliard settles in, the Falcons will shift T.J. Yates from receivers coach to quarterbacks coach. The former NFL QB spent three seasons on Smith’s staff, arriving during the 2021 offseason in which Morris left for Los Angeles. This will be his first season as a team’s top QBs coach, though it is not yet known exactly who Yates will be developing. Morris is also keeping Dwayne Ledford as offensive line coach, adding the role of run-game coordinator to his title. Smith brought Ledford out of the college ranks in 2021. Pro Football Focus ranked the Falcons’ O-line fourth last season. The Falcons retained assistant Steven King but will move him from an offensive staffer to assistant special teams coach.
Multiple Rams staffers will follow Morris as well. Tim Berbenich, a 2023 Rams assistant, signed on as a Falcons pass-game specialist. He will also hold game management responsibilities. Lance Schulters, whose DB career included a stop in Atlanta, joined Morris’ staff as a defensive assistant. He last coached with the Rams in 2022. Nick Jones, a three-year Rams staffer, is signing on with the Falcons as assistant O-line coach. Offensive assistant K.J. Black will also come to Georgia after spending time on McVay’s staff.
Jay Rodgers, whom the Chargers fired shortly after dismissing Brandon Staley, will receive another opportunity as part of this staff. The Falcons hired Rodgers as their D-line coach. Rodgers has been an NFL D-line coach for the past 12 years, serving in that capacity for the Broncos and Bears ahead of his L.A. stay. Justin Hood will move up to DBs coach, after spending 2023 on the quality control level in Green Bay.
Former NFL linebacker Barrett Ruud will also make his coaching debut in the pros, being hired as Atlanta’s ILBs coach. Ruud coached at Nebraska, his alma mater, from 2018-22. The Falcons will keep Michael Pitre as their running backs coach. Helping Tyler Allgeier to a 1,000-yard rookie year, Pitre has held this role for the past two seasons.
Rounding out the staff, the Falcons are hiring the son of longtime Patriots O-line coach Dante Scarnecchia. Steve Scarnecchia is onboard as the Falcons’ chief of staff, coming over from the Jets. Ex-Bolts assistant John Timu is now on Lake’s defensive staff. Chandler Whitmer, in place as a pass-game specialist, will join Rodgers, Timu and Koger incoming from the Chargers’ staff.