Uncovering Real Reason Todd Bowles Is On Buccaneers Hot Seat
Uncovering Real Reason Todd Bowles Is On Buccaneers Hot Seat originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made the playoffs each year since Bruce Arians retired as head coach.
That is a testament to the job Todd Bowles has done since taking over for the Super Bowl winner. Bowles' 27-24 record is nothing to shrug about. In the last three seasons, he has kept the Buccaneers as a perennial playoff contender.
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That is no longer good enough, though.
Tampa Bay has one of the best offenses in the league and a defense with plenty of talent at each level. It's no longer good enough to get to 10 wins and feel good about a Wild Card victory. The Buccaneers are good enough to compete for a Super Bowl.
For that reason, Bowles is on the hot seat now. His career only shows a bigger reason why he may not be the right man for the job.
In the last two seasons, the Buccaneers have seen their offensive coordinator/play-caller find head coaching jobs elsewhere. Because of Bowles' background as a defensive-minded coach, Tampa Bay will have to continue to recycle offensive coaches whenever they do a good enough job.
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Therein lies the difficulty of hiring non-offensive play-callers for head coaching jobs.
The more quarterback Baker Mayfield excels with a different play-caller, the more obvious it is that Tampa Bay needs to find a quality head coach who won't bring instability on that side of the ball.
If a team is going to rely on a defensive-minded head coach, it needs to make sure it excels with multiple playoff wins per year. Think of coaches like Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills, Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles, or Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.
None of those coaches calls plays on offense, forcing the team to recycle its play-caller. However, each coach has reached the conference championship. Bowles has not.
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If Tampa's coach wants to prove he deserves his current job, he'll need to get past the team's previous history of good-but-not-great seasons over the last few years.
His job may depend on it this year.
Related: Buccaneers' Coach Todd Bowles is 'More Ron Rivera than Mike Tomlin'
Related: Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield Victim of Most Dropped Passes
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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