Todd Bowles is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His offensive coordinator from last season, Liam Coen, departed to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars this year. An analyst believes Tampa Bay made a bad decision by sticking with the wrong coach.
Buccaneers Criticized For Picking Todd Bowles Over Liam Coen
Bowles posted a respectable 27-24 record across his first three seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach. He also helped them to reach the playoffs in all three of them, but turned in just a 1-3 record in those postseason appearances.
The franchise had the luxury of having Coen as their offensive coordinator in 2024, but he quickly became one of the hottest head coach candidates in the offseason following. The Buccaneers ultimately let him walk when he filled the Jaguars’ vacancy. PFSN’s Alex Kennedy believes this was a huge mistake.
“The Bucs’ ceiling is capped with Bowles as head coach, and while Tampa Bay has made the playoffs each year he’s been at the helm, it’s largely due to their weak division. This season, Bowles’ defense has disappointed (17th in PFSN’s Defense Impact Metric) while Coen has thrived in Jacksonville. PFSN’s model views the Jaguars as the 12th-best team in the league while Tampa Bay is 20th,” according to Kennedy.
As pointed out by Kennedy, the Buccaneers’ defense ranks just 17th in PFSN’s Impact Rankings, despite this being Bowles’ specialty. He formerly served as a defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach, so the mediocre ranking on this side of the football is a bit disappointing.
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Kennedy went on to explain that it has been the Buccaneers’ offenses that have been more impressive during his time as the head coach. This includes Coen thriving on his way to becoming a head coach himself, but it doesn’t end there. Dave Canales, the current head coach of the Carolina Panthers, served in the same role for Tampa Bay previously.
The trend has continued this season as their active offensive coordinator, Josh Grizzard, has been gaining momentum as a potential head coaching candidate for the upcoming offseason. This means that the Buccaneers could theoretically lose three offensive coordinators in as many years.
Canales has the Panthers in the mix for a playoff spot this year, while Coen has his Jaguars on top of the AFC South division entering Week 14. Coen has seemingly helped Jacksonville become legitimate Super Bowl contenders in his first year with the team, something Bowles has failed to do in his fourth year with the Buccaneers.
