The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not make a coaching change this offseason, opting instead to stay the course with Todd Bowles. After last season’s second-half collapse, many fans wanted Bowles gone, especially with how many big-name coaches became available this offseason.
After a 6-2 start, Tampa Bay finished 8-9 and missed the postseason despite playing in the mediore NFC South, a division that was easily up for grabs. The Buccaneers lost seven of their final nine games and gave away control of their playoff path, allowing the Carolina Panthers to win the division and sneak into the postseason instead.
Now, one NFL analyst has labeled the Bucs’ decision to keep Bowles as the “worst move of the offseason.”
There Is No ‘Football Argument’ to Keep Todd Bowles in Tampa Bay
On the latest episode of PFSN’s “Football Debate Club,” PFSN’s deputy editor Alex Kennedy did not mince words when asked about the offseason’s worst decision.
“I am going to go with the Buccaneers keeping Todd Bowles as their head coach. I don’t think there’s a football argument you can make [that explains] keeping Bowles in Tampa. The defense has been awful. He struggled as a game planner. Clock management has been an issue.
“They got worse as the season went on. They had five bottom-10 finishes in PFSN’s Defense Impact metric in the second half of the year. It’s not about continuity because they fired all of his coaches or a bunch of his assistant coaches. I think this is all about saving money. This was all about, ‘We don’t want to pay two coaches, and he was extended last year. Let’s be cheap.'”
The underlying metrics support the frustration. The Bucs ranked 19th in DEFi last season, but they were one of the worst defenses in the league over the second half of the season.
From 2019-2021, the Bucs boasted a top-five DEFi grade each year with Bowles serving as the team’s defensive coordinator. However, since he became the head coach, Tampa Bay hasn’t finished as a top-10 defense once, and the team’s DEFi grade has gotten worse in each of the last four years (78.4 to 77.6 to 74.2 to 72.8). This lines up with the argument from many Bucs fans that Bowles is significantly better as a DC than as a head coach.
Bowles’ overall record in Tampa sits at 35-33. Two losing seasons, brief peaks tied to division titles, and a pattern of inconsistency have kept the team hovering around the middle of the pack.
What makes the situation more frustrating for Bucs fans is that they had several potential replacements in the building, but opted to stick with Bowles each time. Former offensive coordinator Liam Coen left and won 13 games as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach, capturing the AFC South.
Dave Canales parlayed his Buccaneers OC job into the Panthers’ head-coaching gig, and now he faces Tampa Bay twice a year and just stole the NFC South crown from them.
From a roster standpoint, the expectation is still to compete. The Buccaneers have enough talent to challenge for the division again, making 2026 a pivotal year.
If they rebound and reclaim the NFC South, the decision to retain Bowles will be framed as patience paying off. If the inconsistency continues, the criticism Kennedy voiced will only get louder.
