Despite collapse, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles says he ‘earned the chance’ to return in 2026
Calls for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make a coaching change were amplified when the team lost a clear path to the playoffs and finished the 2025 season with seven losses in nine games. With the campaign now over, coach Todd Bowles said he has yet to meet with the team’s owners and has publicly explained why he should keep his job.
Four teams furloughed their coaches within 24 hours of the end of the regular season. Bowles said his track record speaks for itself as to why he should not join this group.
“All I can do is coach and be myself,” Bowles said Monday. “I’ve earned this opportunity. I’ve won three straight division titles, so that says a lot to me. But I don’t really have a message for the fans other than real fans are real fans. We’re going to try to do our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel what they feel. It’s not the coach’s problem. The coach’s problem is making the team better. That’s all I’m looking forward to.”
The second half of the season eliminated some of the goodwill Bowles had built with Buccaneers fans throughout the three prolific years to begin his tenure. Tampa Bay opened at 6-2 but finished the campaign below .500 after posting two separate losing streaks of at least three games. He has only won twice since October.
According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, the losing season is unlikely to mean the end of the Bowles era in Tampa. The Buccaneers gave Bowles a three-year contract extension last offseason. Changes to the assistant coaching staff, however, could be in store for a franchise looking to return to the playoffs as quickly as next year.
“I understand their frustrations, and I understand our own frustrations as well,” Bowles said. “It’s well justified and well justified inside the building as well.”
Reasons to be optimistic as Bowles enters fifth grade
Barring an ouster in the coming days, Bowles will prepare for his fifth year at the helm in search of a bounce back to the NFC South title. The division’s shortcomings should be a source of optimism for Buccaneers fans, who just saw their team win three straight NFC South titles. The Carolina Panthers won the division this season with a losing record, and neither they nor the Atlanta Falcons or New Orleans Saints project as powerhouses in the immediate future.
Bowles has taken Tampa Bay to the playoffs more often than not, and with his current roster construction, he should be squarely in the mix to do it again in 2026.
The offense has all the tools it needs to run the division with a young and talented supporting cast around Baker Mayfield. Receivers Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson and Jalen McMillan give the Buccaneers a trio of youngsters, and if Mike Evans re-signs and Chris Godwin stays healthy next year, they should round out one of the best receiving units in the NFL. Standout running back Bucky Irving will also return.
