TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making changes and playing chess with its coaching staff this off-season in the hopes of returning as a powerful NFC South competitor for the 2022 season.
The team just announced in a news release the addition of three new assistant coaches in addition to promotions and movement within the current coaching staff.
Joey Fitzgerald joins the Bucs as defensive quality control coach, Jeff Kastl as offensive quality control coach and Bob Sanders will lead the outside linebackers.
Veterans among the Bucs coaching staff are making moves as the team replaces and regroups for the 2022 season.
Larry Foote, who has coached the team's outside linebackers for three years, will step into the team's inside linebackers coaching role and replace Mike Caldwell who recently accepted the defensive coordinator position for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Foote has coached Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul combined for three Pro Bowl selections since he started coaching outside linebackers at Tampa Bay, the team says.
Tim Atkins, who was previously a defensive quality control for the Bucs, will take over the defensive/special teams assistant role in the replacement of Cody Grimm, also recently hired by the Jags.
John Van Dam served as an assistant tight ends coach during the 2021 season. Ahead of 2022, Van Dam will take a lead role becoming Tampa Bay's tight ends coach as Rick Christophel, who was the tight ends coach from 2019 to 2021, moves into a new role as senior offensive assistant.
Incoming outside linebackers coach, Sanders, will take over for Foote. He comes with 17 years of NFL coaching experience and 40 years of coaching experience total on his resume. Sanders and Arians are familiar with each other. He worked alongside Arians and current defensive coordinator Todd Bowles as a linebackers coach for three seasons at the Arizona Cardinals. Players of note that Sanders coached in Arizona include 2017 pro-bowler Chandler Jones and Markus Golden who both recorded double-digit sacks in 2016. Sanders entered the NFL as a linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2001 to 2004. Before that, he spent 22 seasons at the collegiate ranks, including the University of Florida where he coached for 11 years.
This is incoming defensive quality control coach, Fitzgerald's, first year coaching in the NFL after spending the 2021 season as the quarterback coach at Northwestern State. Before that, he spent two years as a wide receiver coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Fitzgerald is no stranger to Florida. The Ft. Lauderdale-native also previously served as recruiting specialist at the University of Florida in 2018 when the ACC team went 10-3 to a Peach Bowl victory. Fitzgerald played quarterback at Hampden-Sydney College from 2005 to 2008, during which his team won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship in 2007. His coaching career began soon after when he attended Florida Atlantic University for grad school.
Kastle, the newly hired offensive quality control coach, joins the Bucs after spending two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana State University in 2020 and 2021. Before that, he spent four seasons with the University of Texas-San Antonio where he began his career as a wide receivers coach in 2016. Kastle is a former University of Michigan quarterback and spent four seasons coaching in Power Five conferences — among the teams: LSU, Michigan and Auburn.
