Bucs Hire New Offensive Line Coach

Kevin Carberry’s Playing History

Carberry played college football for Ohio University in the Mid American Conference as a defensive linemen from 2002 to 2005. He made second-team All-MAC in 2004 and was a team captain for his last two seasons.

After going undrafted in 2005, Carberry signed on with Cleveland Browns for training camp, staying in the state of Ohio. He was cut in August of that season but ended up signing to the practice of the Detroit Lions where he remained all year.

The next year, Carberry took a shot in the NFL Europe league, playing for the Berlin Thunder. After that run, he went to the Carolina Panthers in 2006 but didn’t make the team out of training camp.

Carberry’s football playing career was not done yet as he went over to the Arena Football League and played for the New York Dragons in 2007 with their home games taking place on Long Island. In 2008 he played for the Philadelphia Soul as the team won the ArenaBowl that season.

Kevin Carberry’s Coaching History

Moving into coaching, Carberry started at St. Ignatious Prep high school as teh defensive coordinator and speical teams for 2007 and 2008. He next moved to the collegiate level as a graduate assistant for Kansas from 2009 to 2011 and then as the defensive ends coach for Stephen F. Austin during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

It was when Carberry made the jump to the NFL where he also moved from the defensive side to the offensive side of the ball. His first NFL opportunity came with the Dallas Cowboys as Carberry was hired as an offensive assistant for 2014 and 2015. Bill Callahan was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for Dallas at the time, so when he became the offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins, Carberry joined Callahan a year later in Washington to be their assistant offensive line coach in 2016 and stayed for the 2017 as well. Rams coach Sean McVay was also on this coaching staff.

To upgrade his positioning as a coach, Carberry went back to the college ranks and became the run game coordinator and offensive line coach for Stanford from 2018 to 2020.

When the opportunity came calling to work with McVay again, Carberry took it. He was the offensive line coach in 2021 where the Rams won Super Bowl LVI and continued that role the next season. Carberry was let go following following the 2022 run. As previously stated, Carberry worked with now Bucs’ offensive coordinator Liam Coen that year.

In those two seasons, the Rams were 26th in the league in rushing  yards per game (99) and 27th the year after at 97.7. Obviously there’s going to be a big emphasis for the Bucs improving their running game as they’ve been last in the NFL over the last two years.

Carberry joined the staff of the New Orleans Saints in 2023 as an assistant offensive line coach. The Saints were 21st in rushing at 102.5 yards per game.

Bucs’ Offensive Line Intact 

Coming to Tampa Bay, Carberry has a lot of great pieces to work with on the offensive line. What more needs to be said about Tristan Wirfs? His move to left tackle went on with very little issue and he continues to play at a dominating rate as arguably the best tackle in football. On the right side, the Bucs had it work out out with Luke Goedeke playing his natural position at right tackle. He improved leaps and bounds, solidifying his role as a right tackle that can be trusted against great competition.

Where work needs to be done is on the interior offensive line, starting at center. Don’t be surprised if there’s an upgrade at that position as many have fallen in love with Oregon prospect Jackson Powers-Johnson. Robert Hainsey is fairly average at center, having his ups and downs, but it’s certainly a position where the Bucs want to upgrade.

There’s tons of promise over Cody Mauch at right guard, who is expected to take a big step forward next season. Mauch was already playing better as a rookie than Goedeke did at guard the year before, so if he can progress the way Goedeke did from year one to year two, Mauch could truly become a powerhouse on the Bucs’ offensive line.

At left guard, Matt Filer was eventually replaced by Aaron Stinnie, who of course started during the playoff run when the Bucs won Super Bowl LV. Stinnie is an unrestricted free agent this season, however he won’t have the biggest market. It wouldn’t hurt getting Stinnie back in the mix to compete for a starting role, but finding another free agent to fill the role would also suffice.

Carberry has a lot of great talent to work with on the Bucs’ offensive line. We will see how different they can look with a goal of improving the run and playing a more physical brand of football.