As Todd Bowles heads into his fifth season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach in 2026, the staff around him will have a new look in all three phases of the game. The Buccaneers began the process of reshaping their coaching staff on Thursday when they parted ways with five assistants, including Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard and Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey.
In addition to Grizzard and McGaughey, the team will not be retaining Thaddeus Lewis (quarterbacks), Kevin Ross (cornerbacks) and Charlie Strong (defensive line). Also, Senior Offensive Assistant Tom Moore and Safeties Coach Nick Rapone have elected to retire.
“These decisions are always difficult, but the disappointing end to the season required some changes to our coaching staff in order to ensure we live up to the high standards we have set here,” said Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles. “These coaches have all put in tremendous amount of work and effort, but unfortunately, the results were not there this past season. Our goal is to compete for championships every year, and it is my responsibility to make these tough decisions in order to reach those expectations. I want to thank these coaches for all that they have contributed to our success over the years, and I wish them well.”
For Moore, his retirement puts a cap on an incredible coaching career that spanned more than six decades, including 48 years in the NFL.
“Tom Moore is a legend in the coaching profession, and it has been an honor and a privilege to have him on our staff,” said Bowles. “Tom’s incredible knowledge and understanding about the game is unmatched and he has served as an invaluable resource for our entire coaching staff over these past seven years. He always offered up unique perspectives and very helpful insights that assisted our coaches with their game preparation, but it will be the personal interactions I had with him every day that I will miss the most.”
The Buccaneers finished the 2025 season with an 8-9 record, losing the NFC South title to the Carolina Panthers on a tiebreaker on the final afternoon. As such, Tampa Bay’s NFC-leading streak of five straight playoff berths and four straight division titles – including the last three with Bowles at the helm – came to an end.
While a long list of injuries undoubtedly played a part, Tampa Bay’s offense took a step back in 2025 after ranking in the top five in points scored, total yards, rushing yards and passing yards in 2024. The Bucs finished 18th in scoring, 21st in total yards, 21st in rushing yards and 20th in passing yards this past season.
The Buccaneers also had mixed results on special teams in 2025. Most notably, they had five kicks (three field goal attempts, two punts) blocked and ranked 30th in average kickoff return yards allowed. In the final three games of the season, with the division title on the line, the Bucs elected to kick off exclusively into the end zone and take touchbacks. The one kick in that span that fell short of the end zone was returned 47 yards to set up a field goal drive in a three-point loss at Miami in Week 17.
Tampa Bay’s defense finished 21st in points allowed and 19th in yards allowed in 2025. The team’s run defense remained strong but the pass defense ranked 27th and the pass rush produced its lowest sack total in Bowles’ seven seasons with the team.
