In the NFL, you can either sink or swim. After four years with Todd Bowles at the helm as head coach, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just barely keeping their heads above water.
Buccaneers Owner Joel Glazer Explains the Decision to Retain Todd Bowles
Heading into their Week 9 bye after a double-digit throttling of the NFC South rival New Orleans Saints, the Buccaneers were surging and appeared to be one of the hottest teams in the NFC. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was playing well, and Emeka Egbuka, their first-round wideout, was blossoming into a phenom before their very eyes.
That wouldn’t remain the same song and dance for the final nine games of the season. The Buccaneers fumbled down the stretch and collapsed, with a whirlwind of injuries to blame.
Running back Bucky Irving missed a handful of games with foot and shoulder injuries and was hindered by them for the last 6 games of the season, never surpassing 100 yards from scrimmage. Wide receiver Mike Evans missed two months with a broken collarbone, Mayfield fought through a painful left shoulder injury, and All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs was limited to just 12 games with an oblique injury.
To add insult to injury, Egbuka, who recorded multiple 100-yard performances in the first half of the season, wouldn’t eclipse that mark for the remainder of the year.
Multiple starters were lost to injury in the secondary, including cornerbacks Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison, and safety Tykee Smith. The onslaught on both sides of the ball played a significant role in the team ownership’s decision to keep Bowles in the fold for another season.
“Every team has injuries, but there were significant injuries last year at significant positions,” said Buccaneers owner Joel Glazer. “There were a lot of close games down the stretch that didn’t go our way. But we’re trying to build a championship team.”
“You can try and throw a dart every year – or you can try and build a Super Bowl-winning team,” Glazer added. “We feel like we had a great team and we’re constantly building, building, building, adding to the foundations that we have.”
The Buccaneers lost 7 of their final 9 games to end the season, and 5 of those were 1-score losses. The same can be said for their impressive start to the season, though; 4 of their 6 wins were by 1 score. The pendulum just so happened to swing the other way down the stretch.
Bowles’ tenure as the team’s head coach has left much to be desired. Sure, the Buccaneers have finished with first-place records in the division in 3 of his 4 years, but that isn’t saying much when an 8-9 record will get the job done and earn you a home playoff game.
The Buccaneers won their division with 10 wins in 2024, 9 in 2023, and 8 in 2022. This past season, they finished below .500 for the second time under Bowles with an 8-9 record.
Even so, Glazer believes that all the pieces are in place to help the Buccaneers skyrocket back to the top of the mountain, a place they haven’t been since the 2020 campaign, when Tom Brady was under center.
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“If you look at our roster, if you look at our team, I think we are great in a lot of spots. But like a lot of teams, you have to add,” Glazer said. “So obviously, ultimately the head coach is the one who this falls at his feet, but I know Todd’s very respected in the locker room and nobody wants to win more than Todd.
“And again, everybody has injuries, but I think we had some significant challenges we had to deal with last year,” Glazer continued. “It was unfortunate down the stretch. Frustrating down the stretch. But you see week in and week out, this team plays hard for Todd [Bowles]. Nobody lies down. You have the odd game where things don’t quite go your way, but every game until the final whistle, these players are fighting, fighting, fighting.”
There was at least one major departure on both sides of the ball for the Buccaneers this offseason. Evans signed with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency after 12 seasons in Tampa Bay, and Lavonte David, the All-Pro linebacker who spent 14 seasons with the team, hung up his cleats.
In free agency, they brought in linebacker Alex Anzalone, defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, safety Miles Killebrew, and running back Kenneth Gainwell, among others. Gainwell is going to serve as the backup to Irving, taking the place left behind by Rachaad White, who signed with the Washington Commanders.
Bowles will undoubtedly be on the hot seat next season, as despite his defensive prowess, the Buccaneers’ defense hasn’t been great. According to PFSN’s Defense Impact Metric, since becoming Tampa’s head coach, Bowles has failed to lead the team to a top-10 defense in any of his four seasons. Their best finish came in 2022, when they ranked 11th in the league.
