Plenty Of Work Ahead For Lavonte David
May 23rd, 2025
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
He’s seen it all in his 13 seasons as a Buccaneer — and now he craves another view from the top.
If it seems like Lavonte David has been a pewter marauder forever, you’re not far off. In NFL terms, 13 years is a very long haul. At times, it seemed like David was carrying Tampa Bay’s defense across his shoulder pads.
The Bucs posted only one winning season during David’s first eight years in the NFL as Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter failed to right a listing pirate ship.
The breakthrough came in the 2020 championship season and David is still hungry at the age of 35.
Age may be just a number, and David has accumulated very impressive numbers along the way. He’s fifth all-time in career tackles, only 25 stops away from sitting at No. 4. He’s ninth in career tackles for loss, needing only eight more to vault past Aaron Donald at No. 4.
Six times he’s been named one of the league’s Top-100 players in voting by his peers, and David remains the unquestioned leader of the Buc defense.
“He’s got another 10 years,” Todd Bowles says, only half-kidding. “Lavonte’s knowledge of the game gives our young guys a comfort level.”
A second-round pick by Mark Dominik in 2012, David has played 188 games for the Bucs, ranking third behind only Rondé Barber and Derrick Brooks. Those are a couple of Hall of Famers, and David is building his own credible case for Canton.
“He’s a do-it-all linebacker,” says Demario Davis of the Saints, a fellow member of the 2012 draft class. “He’s been doing it a long time and continues to play at a high level.”
David’s first pro start came as a rookie in the 2012 season opener, a home victory against Carolina that marked Barber’s 200th consecutive start.
The 2013 season began on a devastating note for David, whose late hit out of bounds against rookie quarterback Geno Smith in the final seconds paved the way for a Nick Folk 48-yard field goal and a Jets victory.
Tears rolled down David’s face as he trudged off the field, but he answered every question at his locker while staring down at the floor.
That’s class. That’s Lavonte David. Teammates came by to encourage David to keep his head up.
“You’ve just got to learn from it and move on,” said David, who had starred in the game with 8 tackles, a sack and an interception before his late gaffe.
The Bucs knew they had something special when David rebounded from that crushing Game 1 setback to earn first-team All-Pro honors that season with 145 tackles, 5 interceptions and 7 sacks.
David keeps coming back for more on a series of one-year contracts. One primary reason he keeps putting off retirement?
“They wanted me back and that eased my mind,” he says. “This team’s real tight. It’s a family-oriented situation and they treat us like so. Off the field, we’re always hanging out, getting along with each other. It’s never an offense-defense type thing. It shows on the field, too. I’ve got the utmost confidence in this football team. I felt last year was our year, but we didn’t get the job done. We’ve got all our pieces back … and we’ve added more.”
In recent years, David has witnessed the rise of Calijah Kancey and the demise of Devin White. He’s seen a ferocious pass rush that won a Super Bowl and a leaky defense that undermined the 2024 season.
“Last year, we weren’t ourselves,” he says of his young unit. “We had a high-powered offense. That’s lovely to have, but a lot of times the game came down to us and we weren’t able to get the job done.”
David’s job this fall is to lead by example and help Todd Bowles mold this group into an aggressive force. Bowles doesn’t want to contemplate life at One Buc Place without No. 54.
As he enters his 14th season, Lavonte David has experienced the full range of football emotions. Through it all, he has represented this franchise with distinction. Buc fans appreciate his skills and leadership, knowing one day he will surely enter the franchise’s Ring of Honor.
That’s for another time.
In the here and now, Lavonte David has work to do. Soon enough, the pads will come on and David will lead Tampa Bay’s hunting party into the season opener at Atlanta.
Mr. Penix, meet Mr. David. Penix is 10 years younger, but make no mistake — David remains young at heart.
May 23rd, 2025 at 12:02 pm
If we had a competent HC and a capable DC, we could send LVD out in style.
He’s earned the right to play for another title.
Unfortunately he probably won’t outlast the Bowles regime.
A great waste of so much talent due to incompetence and stupidity.
May 23rd, 2025 at 12:20 pm
i wish his name wasn’t Penix
May 23rd, 2025 at 12:59 pm
Spot on Walktheplank…spot on!!!!
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:10 pm
HOF!!!
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:10 pm
The scratchy needle broken record of the disgruntled continues to drone on and on in its boring loop of vitriolic impotence
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:15 pm
Soooo there are a lot of readers who want Bowles gone. Yet, the players love him. He has kept this team together as a close, cohesive unit through thick and thin. My question is, Who would he be replaced with? Are we to trade players and/or draft picks for a winning coach? Or, should we pick up one that has been discarded by another team? Perhaps we should hire a hot OC. How has that worked out for Carolina? Will Carolina or Jacksonville be better than the Bucs any time soon?
I know he’s not the perfect coach but for those who paint every post with Bowles disdain, who would you propose to take his place?
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:15 pm
ChiBuc Says:
“The scratchy needle broken record of the disgruntled continues to drone on and on in its boring loop of vitriolic impotence”
Some of us feel the need to be a counter balance to to unrealistic pie in the sky fluff boys that inhabit these message boards.
When they can’t stand to hear your opinion on a subject and feel the need to lash out in anger, you know you’re directly over the target.
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Fear not – the trolls will leave when the Bucs start to pile up wins come September.
May 23rd, 2025 at 1:47 pm
I wish it would be sooner.
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:01 pm
So do I. Pseudofans psucq
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:11 pm
This years Superbowl Championship for the Bucs would be a perfect retirement send off for LVD.
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:26 pm
WalkThePlank Says:
When they can’t stand to hear your opinion on a subject and feel the need to lash out in anger, you know you’re directly over the target.
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I think they just prefer to hear opinions that don’t seem as though they’re coming from a 3rd grade reader who is a Saints fan.
Personally I love reading opinions that contradict my existing beliefs if they’re backed up by a logical argument.
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:27 pm
Proudbucsfan, yes it would. I don’t know how you would leave this guy out of the HOF. What a great leader.
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:40 pm
BucsFanSince1996 Says:
“Personally I love reading opinions that contradict my existing beliefs if they’re backed up by a logical argument.”
There’s nothing more logical than the fact that Bowles is out of his depth at HC.
Just the record in night games in prime time should be enough for him to get run out of the office.
The boat has a massive leak in the hull. It’s the defense.
May 23rd, 2025 at 2:51 pm
#54 will always be compared to Wagner and Kuechly. Wagner gets all the national attention and love. I hope they don’t retire the same year. 2 LB in a HOF class? Depends on who else is on the ballet.
May 23rd, 2025 at 4:00 pm
WalkThePlank Says:
There’s nothing more logical than the fact that Bowles is out of his depth at HC.
Just the record in night games in prime time should be enough for him to get run out of the office.
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You just helped make my previous point for me by taking a tiny piece of the whole picture and ignoring anything positive. If all you look for is the negative that’s all you’ll find.
Please list the current and former Buccaneer players that played under Bowles in Tampa the past several years who expressed agreement with you that Bowles is out of his depth as HC.
The players LOVE Bowles, and some are taking hometown salary discounts to stay here in Tampa and play under him as HC.
Bowles is not the best HC in the league, and he has acknowledged that himself, but he was handed the job when the team was in salary cap hell. That will have a negative impact on ANY HC.
ATLBuc asked you earlier “Who are you going to replace him with?” What’s your answer?
May 23rd, 2025 at 5:06 pm
The Bucs have been bad in prime time/ night games for a lot longer than TB has been coach.
Gonna have to do better than that Plank.
I will say I’ve always thought he was a better DC than HC, but am more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt this season.
May 23rd, 2025 at 6:16 pm
I get some of the criticism how things have turned out with Bowles as HC, some have questioned his reasoning or not being more assertive at times for losses, prime time losses and different things but there is no telling if some of the decisions, had they been reversed, would have registered a different outcome, I.E. a win vs a loss. No 2 people will always agree on everything but there are things that happen that are beyond someone’s control, like injuries. If someone show’s me the fact’s for their reasoning that backs up their statements. Many here take a lot of time to do just that and thanks for those of you who do. I believe this team is starting to put together a solid roster capable of winning multiple championships in the coming years. Injuries are facts that one can’t ignore, EVERY HEAD COACH sites that as 1 of the 2 most important factors in a good season and it’s usually 1st. Winning the turnover battle is 2nd. We have come out of cap hell and been relevant. I thought Bowles lost the locker room 2 years ago and thought he should have been fired, I was wrong. He galvanized his players then and righted the ship last year, those are facts along with other facts. And I would ask who is the KNOWN SURE FIRE, CAN’T MISS coach we should hire to replace him? I understand passion for the team and others opinions but I would like to see them based on facts and I can get on board with that.
May 23rd, 2025 at 6:43 pm
There are very transparent reasons Bowles gets hate from the same guy that comments under seven different names and it has nothing to do with coaching.
May 23rd, 2025 at 7:01 pm
re: Sure fire coaches..
People who have only been OCs one year can get HC jobs, so the answer is there is no such thing.
The coaching talent has become as much or more watered down than the player talent, and that’s saying something.
May 23rd, 2025 at 7:19 pm
ballwasher61 Says:
I believe this team is starting to put together a solid roster capable of winning multiple championships in the coming years. Injuries are facts that one can’t ignore, EVERY HEAD COACH sites that as 1 of the 2 most important factors in a good season and it’s usually 1st.
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That’s true about the importance of injuries. And in Bowles first season as HC he lost Ryan Jensen to a season-ending injury and Ali Marpet to an unexpected retirement at 28 years old. One of the better O-lines in the NFL took a dramatic hit with an immobile QB, and an OC (not chosen by Bowles) who was unable to adjust.
None of those things were under the control of Bowles. He couldn’t even choose his own coaches that season because of how late he was promoted to HC, but some will still blame it all on him.
Of those things that he can legitimately be criticized for (including clock management, too conservative playcalling IMO ) he’s improving on those issues or in the case of clock management, a new hire will be helping him on gamedays. At the end of every season, just like the players are evaluated and told what to work on, the same is true for coaches as well.
Bowles acquired a well-earned ring when he was a DC and wants one as HC. The players, coaches, and front office are all aligned on that objective. If the football gods are kind, it could happen in the next season or two.
May 23rd, 2025 at 9:33 pm
GREAT ARTCLE. LOVE ME SOME LVD. hall of fame hall of fame hall of fame come on and chant it at the next game hall of fame. Ira he’s earned that gold jacket. Thru the lost decade thru the winning now. It doesn’t matter he always shows up and he at least gets the job done. We need 10 more LVDs on the field. Let’s goo
May 23rd, 2025 at 10:13 pm
Another gem of an article from The Sage.
Excellent.
May 23rd, 2025 at 10:41 pm
LVD is a class act. Hope he plays at the same high level in 2025.
As for the troll action, there have been plenty of roster additions and a few asst coaching changes. What has Bowles done wrong since the season ended? Nothing.
Let’s wait and see how this plays out. If we lose a bunch in a row and are hovering under .500 in Nov, you have some beef. Until then, it just a droning noise in the back ground.
May 23rd, 2025 at 11:05 pm
Is David #5 ALL TIME in tackles?
I would have thought that LVD would have passed D. Brooks in games played. Derrick played in Tampa for (12 ?)years?
In any event, LVD is greatly under appreciated! HOFer for sure if the voters don’t have their heads up their N.E. biased a$$es or Kuekley’s (sp?).
May 23rd, 2025 at 11:57 pm
Exactly! But let’s discuss what he has addressed (and believe me, I ranted about Bowles the DC during the Brady days)…. for starters he has admitted that the D is due for a scheme tweak/revamp, hired a clock manager, put an emphasis on ballhawks, pointed out the failure of last year’s pass rush, and acknowledged that points win games. So stfu and let’s judge the man by this yrs actions. He is making effort to evolve as a coach, has the respect of the team/players/league, keeps winning division titles while wet nursing rookie OCs, and does it all with decorum. The constant complaints are not contrarian, they are biased agenda based propaganda at this point
May 24th, 2025 at 5:59 am
The Bucs have had 13 HC’S, ONLY FOUR of them have winning records with the Bucs. That’s four out of 13! Less than 1/3rd of Bucs HC’s were/are winners!
Bowles(Bowels for the immature here) is one of those four with a record better than St. Chucky!
Does winning count? Coach Bowles has made his mistakes for sure, but…
He HAS improved the Bucs record every year!! .471 – .529 – .588
That projects to 10-11 wins this season and another trip to the playoffs!
He has done this with a team rebuilding from the disastrous last season of the GOAT and the talent drain caused by retirements and Cap contraints. (Give Jason some credit as well)
The trolls love to bring up his Jet’s record. .375…which matches the career Jets HC record for Pete Carroll. Does Carroll suck? Todd was the only coach to win TEN with the Jets in the past decade…the ONLY coach with a WINNING record for them in FIFTEEN years!!!
The trolls infect us with their manure, they can never address the FACTS!
I get it. It’s 21st Century “Murica where the loudest and most obnoxious get all the attention. Todd does not run his mouth and is not a media whorre!
I’m OLD school. Show me the money..or in the case the WINS!
May 24th, 2025 at 6:47 am
We are so lucky to have had Lavonte play for us and remain loyal. He deserved so much better than the lost decade, and I’ll be forever sad when he eventually retires a buc.
Absolute slam dunk HoF – anyone who knows the game knows this, his credentials shine even when Wagner and Kuechly were dominating the league.
Great article Ira, no one else in would want putting forward his case