Former Oklahoma Sooners superstar quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield has found an NFL home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mayfield has spent three seasons in Tampa, and is set to return for his fourth year with the franchise in 2026.
However, after the Bucs had a disappointing collapse to their 2025 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time during Mayfield's tenure with the team, Tampa decided to make some changes. The biggest of those changes affected Mayfield greatly, as the franchise moved on from Josh Grizzard as the offensive coordinator.
With Mayfield and the Buccaneers looking to bounce back in 2026, the team hired someone who already has a relationship with Mayfield, but who also made his name at a school that the QB isn't fond of. On Tuesday, the Bucs introduced former Oklahoma State star quarterback Zac Robinson as the team's new offensive coordinator, meaning two quarterbacks beloved by their schools on opposite sides of the Bedlam rivalry will be working closely together in the NFL.
Robinson was at OSU from 2005 to 2009, and he became the starter in 2007. For his final three collegiate seasons, Robinson was a standout dual-threat quarterback who made the Cowboys' offense very dangerous. He had 88 total touchdowns in Stillwater, threw for over 8,000 yards, and ran for almost 1,900. He was drafted in the seventh round, and played for the Patriots, Seahawks, Bengals and Lions from 2010 to 2013 in the NFL.
Robinson's coaching career began in 2019 when he was the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams, working for Sean McVay. In 2020, he was the assistant wide receivers coach, before going back to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2021, when the Rams won the Super Bowl.
His career really took off in 2022, when Robinson was promoted to pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. It was also in 2022 that he worked closely with Mayfield during the five games that the former OU signal-caller spent in LA. During Robinson's introductory press conference with the Buccaneers, he recalled his short time with Mayfield, including a comeback win on Thursday Night Football when Mayfield had been with the team for less than two days.
"We got Baker in 2022, when we'd had some injuries at the quarterback spot. I've known of Baker for a very long time. I went to Oklahoma State, he went to Oklahoma, he diced us up every single time that they played. I've had a ton of respect for him from afar as a player. Then to be able to get him in there (in 2022 with the Rams), and see what kind of worker he was, I'll never forget we gave him a handful of plays, short week, Thursday night game, so we gave him kind of a menu of plays, and Baker could probably tell you about 20-25 plays, and that was probably about 10 o'clock at night ... Right away I was like, I know the player, I know the talent. He's made of all the right stuff. Obviously that time we spent together was invaluable ... I'm fired up to work with Bake ... When you have a guy like that, you have a chance to win every Sunday ... Probably the best in the league throwing on the run."
After two seasons in that role with the Rams, Robinson left the McVay nest and became the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He called the plays for the last two seasons for the Falcons, and now will do the same as the Buccaneers' OC under head coach Todd Bowles.
Let's get to work 💪#WeAreTheKrewepic.twitter.com/L1MhkxgpeC
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 27, 2026
Reportedly, Mayfield pushed for Robinson to be his next offensive coordinator, and Robinson's offense obviously has plenty of McVay staples, which is also true for former Bucs' OC Liam Coen, who was in that role in 2024, and helped Mayfield to a career-best season. Clearly, that's the type of offense Mayfield wants to be running. His career was teetering when he got to Los Angeles late in 2022, and his time with McVay, Coen, and Robinson earned him the shot he got with the Buccaneers.
As Mayfield and the Bucs look to return to their place atop the NFC South, and get back to the playoffs, the former Oklahoma signal-caller will be working in lockstep with a former Oklahoma State passer in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Former Bedlam QBs set to work together in the NFL
