Prior to December 2022, Zac Robinson knew Baker Mayfield mainly as a rival from their college football days—Robinson at Oklahoma State and Mayfield at Oklahoma. However, Robinson’s understanding of Mayfield deepened when the quarterback joined the Los Angeles Rams late in the 2022 season.
Mayfield had spent most of that year with the Carolina Panthers after being traded from Cleveland, but was waived by Carolina during their Week 13 bye. The Rams, dealing with an injury to Matthew Stafford, claimed Mayfield off waivers. Two days later, Mayfield played almost an entire game against Las Vegas and led a memorable 98-yard game-winning drive on Thursday Night Football.
At that time, Robinson served as pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Sean McVay’s staff. He provided Mayfield with a script of about 20-25 plays on Tuesday evening and met with him the next morning. That meeting gave Robinson new insight into Mayfield’s preparation and approach.
“It was like at 10 o’clock at night [when Mayfield got the plays] and he came in the next day and I saw his notebook – we had a bathroom break, [so] I saw his notebook – he had highlighters everywhere, color-coded,” recalled Robinson. “Right away, I was like, ‘Okay, I know the player, I know the talent, but he’s made of all the right stuff.’ Obviously, that time that we spent together was invaluable during a tough season…he came in and ignited that group. I’m fired up to work with Bake and the rest of the guys. It’s a good group of dudes and I’m looking forward to it, for sure.”
Robinson is now tasked with shaping Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense as their new offensive coordinator. His previous experience working with Mayfield gives him confidence in building cohesion among Tampa Bay’s offensive players.
“I knew Baker had been through adversity – he had had great success in Cleveland and then obviously went to Carolina,” said Robinson. “He came in right away and was meeting guys for the first time in the huddle on Wednesday’s practice and you could just see everybody gravitates towards Baker. That’s what you’re looking for from that position. You want that true igniter, you want that guy that elevates the rest of the group.
“When you have a guy like that, you have a chance to win every single Sunday. The impact that he has, obviously just as a leader – you can speak to the talent and the type of player he is and all those things, but those guys that give you a chance every single Sunday – and the guys in that locker room know it – it’s a big deal.”
Mayfield’s short stint with Los Angeles helped stabilize his career trajectory after leaving Cleveland for Carolina earlier in 2022. After Tom Brady retired following Tampa Bay’s playoff run at home against Dallas in January 2023 (https://www.nfl.com/news/tom-brady-announces-retirement-from-nfl-after-23-seasons), Tampa Bay signed Mayfield ahead of free agency (https://www.nfl.com/news/buccaneers-sign-qb-baker-mayfield-to-one-year-deal). Since then he has started all games over three seasons—including playoffs—and helped secure two division titles for Tampa Bay; they narrowly missed another title in 2025 due to tiebreakers.
Entering his fourth season with Tampa Bay under his fourth different offensive coordinator—after Dave Canales left for Seattle (https://www.seahawks.com/news/seahawks-hire-dave-canales-as-offensive-coordinator), Liam Coen returned to Kentucky (https://ukathletics.com/news/2024/01/11/liam-coen-named-kentucky-football-offensive-coordinator-and-quarterbacks-coach/) after one year each in charge—and following Josh Grizzard’s departure after last season—Robinson joins from Atlanta where he spent two years coordinating Raheem Morris’ offense.
Mayfield attended Robinson’s introductory press conference this week at Buccaneers headquarters. Their reunion comes as both look forward to continuing their professional relationship developed during their brief collaboration in Los Angeles.
“Baker was the number-one pick in the draft for a reason,” said Robinson about Cleveland’s selection at first overall in 2018 (https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-select-baker-mayfield-with-no-1-pick-in-2018-nfl-draft). “In terms of the arm, there’s not a part of the field that he can’t attack. You start there and then you get to the instincts and the feel for the game. You mentioned it, the movement part is huge. You have to be able to move at this day and age in the NFL as you guys know. His ability to throw on the run – he’s probably the best in the league at throwing on the run. He’s great in keeper game, great in boot game. [I am] looking to evolve that part and making sure we’re playing to Baker’s strengths and rest of guys’ strengths… The third-down conversions…when you have quarterback who can extend those plays…that’s huge.”