Todd Bowles believes he’s ‘earned the chance’ to return as Buccaneers coach despite disappointing finish
Tampa Bay’s once promising season ended with a victory, but officially concluded when another NFC South result eliminated it from playoff contention Sunday.
The outcome capped a tremendous collapse that has folks eyeing Todd Bowles’ job security. However, Bowles believes his track record outweighs the Buccaneers’ meltdown.
“All I can do is coach and be myself. I’ve earned the chance,” Bowles said Monday. “I’ve won three straight division titles. So that says a lot as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really have a message for fans. Other than true fans are true fans and we’re going to try our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel how they feel. That’s not a coach’s problem. A coach’s problem is to make the team better.”
After a 6-2 start, the Buccaneers won just two of their final nine games, surrendering their once commanding lead in the NFC South and leaving the door open for Carolina to take the division crown, snapping the Bucs’ four-year run as division champs, the last three under Bowles.
The finish reflected poorly on Bowles, the coach of a team that claimed an early spot among NFC contenders, got healthier as the season progressed but declined in the execution department. As Bowles explained it Monday, “the mistakes we made weren’t talent-driven, they were more mistake-driven.”
“It’s disappointing we didn’t get in. It’s very disappointing,” Bowles said. “[It’s the] first time in five years, so you kind of get used to it a little bit. But, we did it to ourselves. We did it to ourselves. We’ve got to take a deep evaluation, starting with myself. Once I do that, I’ll evaluate the coaches and players and we’ll go accordingly.”
Buccaneers fans who rode the Tom Brady wave to a title and watched their team claw its way to playoff berths after Brady’s and coach Bruce Arians’ departures were content with remaining competitive, even if it didn’t produce more than one playoff win over the three division titles secured by Bowles. Then the 2025 season happened, opening the floodgates of frustration that spilled so violently, even the usually mild-mannered Bowles unleashed a tirade-laced rant after his team blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in their Week 15 loss to Atlanta.
“I understand their frustration, and I understand our frustrations, as well,” Bowles said Monday.
