Are the Buccaneers creating a coaching pipeline?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going through a minor cascade of coaching and staff changes, apparently. That started when the San Francisco 49ers lured tight ends coach Jon Embree away with an assistant head coaching position (and presumably a lot more cash).

The Bucs then promoted offensive quality control coach Ben Steele to Embree’s former position. And now, the Bucs are moving “assistant to the head coach” Zack Grossi to Steele’s old position of offensive quality control coach — an entry level coaching position. That last move was reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

Grossi was a pro scout the year before, and joined the Bucs as a scouting assistant in 2014 after playing and coaching at Concord University, where his duties included coaching the tight ends. So I guess he’ll replace Steele in three years or so, or whenever Steele moves on.

None of this is particularly remarkable, except for one thing: these are the beginnings of a coaching pipeline, which is ideally what you want in a long-term coaching staff. When people leave, you want to be able to replace them with people you’ve groomed, who know how you work and what the team’s philosophy is. And you don’t have to panic and scramble to find a quality replacement.

Of course, we’re only talking about some relatively small coaching openings and this may be different once more significant positions start opening up. Or it may just change anyway with the next smaller opening. It’s a good early indicator, though.