T.J. Ward Wonders How John Harbaugh Got Fired But Todd Bowles Did Not
January 15th, 2026
Not a Todd Bowles fan.
In a recent edition of “The Arena: Gridiron,” former Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib and former NFL quarterback Cody Kessler agreed that with three division titles under his belt, Todd Bowles both earned and deserved to return for a fifth season leading the Bucs.
But another former Bucs defender scoffed at the suggestion.
Ex-Bucs safety T.J. Ward audibly sighed when he heard Kessler and Talib make that argument for Bowles.
Ward, who won a Super Bowl ring with the Broncos, couldn’t believe the soft-pedaling by Talib and Kessler.
“What are we here to do?” Ward began. “We in this to win championships, not divisions.
“[A division title] is great. It helps you win championships.”
Part of the reason Ward wasn’t buying what Talib and Kessler were selling is he thinks the Bucs skated on two of those division titles by playing in a weak division.
“You can use that term, divisions, very lightly,” Ward said. “Because he went 8-9 (in 2022), 9-8 (in 2023). I give him 2024, 10-7, yeah. This year, 8-9.
“So you really winning the division based off of luck and what the other teams’ wins or losses and tiebreakers and all that?. You’re not really just going out there, going 14-2 and winning the division that way.”
Ward said he’d be willing to give Bowles a pass if it was the offense that let the team down. But instead, it was Bowles’ side of the ball.
“His specialty is defense,” Ward said. “Their defense was atrocious. Atrocious. You have to find ways [to fix a defense].
“As a defensive coordinator, lose a player there, you lose a player here, you’ve got to put guys in place to make plays and do what they do best. I really didn’t see him do that.
“If Harbaugh gotta go, then Bowles gotta go.”
But Bowles is staying.
While Talib felt Bowles had the street cred to stick around, Talib wondered why Baker Mayfield wasn’t catching some of the flak that was hitting Bowles.
Joe thinks that’s a fair point.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:01 am
Glazers. Sell Sell!!! New owners needed.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:02 am
Manchester Buccaneers.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:02 am
NOTHING short of a new head coach is ACCEPTABLE!
January 15th, 2026 at 9:04 am
He ain’t wrong.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:08 am
TJ Ward is a smart man. We all wonder the same thing.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:08 am
Spoken nothing but the absolute truth here in every way.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:10 am
Baker was not catching some of the flak because is the coaches responsibility to bench Baker when he is not helping the team due to his injuries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2026 RINSE AND REPEAT
January 15th, 2026 at 9:13 am
TB is BA’s boy! That’s way he’s still here…heavy sigh
January 15th, 2026 at 9:16 am
If the Bucs are indeed keeping Bowles for this coming season which, we havenât heard Licht or the Glazers make that statement, they need to sign McDaniel tomorrow. Let him coach the offense unobstructed and, if he and the offense produce and Bowlesâs defense doesnât, we have our next head coach.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:18 am
Was the worst division for that long in the history of the NFL.
Would be way more impressive to win 3 wild cards than three division titles in the kiddie pool.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:19 am
Talib still seeing visions of cabs drivers in his head. Baker can only take so much flak. Heâs taking criticism every week but Bucs are stuck with him contractually plus there are no better options. There are endless options to replace Bowles
January 15th, 2026 at 9:20 am
Remember?
1995 Sam Wyche 7-9 Fired
started: 5-2 finished: 2-7
2025 Todd Bowles 8-9 Pat on the Head
started: 6-2 finished: 2-7
I don’t see the difference.
Of course daddy was running the team back them.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:29 am
Even being a ex-Buc, Talib and Kessler probably don’t follow the Bucs like “we” do. All they are really looking at are the stats, the wins/losses, the division titles, and they will agree regardless of the strength of the division, it’s hard to win in the NFL. If they followed like we do, they maybe feeling a bit differently.
Prior to the season, I appreciated Bowles ability to generate pressure when we didn’t have the D-line to do it independently, and yet this collapse down stretch, I was ready to move on. Collapsing has been a trend with Bowles teams, and unfortunately, this time he couldn’t dig himself out of it, and with a soft schedule having to play teams that were literally playing for nothing. Bowles appears to be consistently outcoached, and I’m now in agreement that we’ve seen his ceiling. Short of having a hall of fame roster his defenses just aren’t good enough. Don’t tell me Kancey was the lynch pin in all of this?
49ers are a great example of a team that actual had the lowest pressure rate of any football team in the NFL, while losing (2) elite playmakers on defense and yet somehow coaches figured out a way to get their defense off on 3rd downs and now they are into the second round of the playoffs. How does that happen?
January 15th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Ward said heâd be willing to give Bowles a pass if it was the offense that let the team down. But instead, it was Bowlesâ side of the ball.
âHis specialty is defense,â Ward said. âTheir defense was atrocious. Atrocious. You have to find ways [to fix a defense].
Thats the issue. If our defense was a top unit and we lost due to offensive ineptitude, I would have no problem keeping Todd. But his defense has been garbage for years. So we have to rely on a top offense to bail out Todds defense.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:33 am
If they fired Todd they would be the 9th team looking for a new head coach and a new OC. According to some on this site none of the really exceptional candidates for head coach would take this position as the Bucs ave a bad QB they are stuck with, bad tight ends and bad edge rushers and secondary. The Bucs will be lucky to get a good OC with all the vacancies let alone a HC.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:42 am
Bowles stopped being a defensive genius the year after the SB. Cooper Cupp – sound familiar ? Bowles should have been fired back then as DC right after that game. Instead somehow his buddy Arians got him promoted to head coachâŚ. The guy is a loser that throws his players under the bus. McDaniel could step in as HC tomorrow , take over the offense and hire a decent DC. However the Glazers are letting their pride get in the way and are determined to ride this team to the bottom. Oh and Licht also needs to go, but that wonât happen either.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:47 am
That is the only point to be made for his need to be fired…YOUR side of the ball, the defense was atrocious! So if he got rid of some coaches, and the new ones run his same inept evidently waaaay to hard to learn defense, what in the world thinks it will change!? I know drafting players might help, but will surely take them years to process and learn this challenging scheme, so ipso facto, Blows will be fired! Doesn’t he see/realize this?? I means sticking to your guns and going down with the ship is definitely one way to approach it…the other, which might actually save your ass, is to change it up….we all know which way he will proceed
January 15th, 2026 at 9:49 am
Harbaugh got stale, both from coaching the same team for almost 2 decades and within the locker room . And his QB wasnât backing him.
Though Toddâs message might be stale (no one here really knows unless youâre in the locker room), I donât think the two situations are fair to compare side by side
January 15th, 2026 at 9:55 am
When there’s a turd in the Bowles, you flush. It’s obvious
January 15th, 2026 at 9:55 am
Wow, that was a scorching get-together discussion about Todd. Some feeling the last game saved him. Probably so. And the thing is, they all like him.
January 15th, 2026 at 9:59 am
Yep!!! Like 99 percent of the fans been saying. R white even said bowels should not call plays but whatâs he know right đĽ´
Sure the 15 people who still want this guy as the coach will have something else to say
January 15th, 2026 at 10:01 am
Licht with another bungled decision. First it was letting Coen leave now its not canning Bowels and bringing in Harbaugh and Monken. I really wish the Glazers would sell to someone who actually cares about the fans. Guaranteed season tickets diminish next year, at least for Bucs fans. @joe I would love to know those numbers if and when they come out
January 15th, 2026 at 10:09 am
If Bowles had 17-2nd half double digit leads blown on his resume, and couldnât quite connect with his 2-Time MVP QB then yea Ravens ownership likely asked themselves why theyâre compensating the special talent and not getting special results as a team.
Harbaugh and Bowles have different problems, unique to the teams theyâre on. We donât have a defense put together like that Ravens defense, and we damn sure donât have a Lamar Jackson lvl of potential from the QB position lol
Agree on our defense playing the way they did and it being Bowlesâ specialty is and was a bad look, but when you consider we went into the bye week +5 in the turnover margin with 5 giveaways to 12 takeaways in 5 of our first 8 game.
Then coming out after the BYE and breaking even in that depeartment, 11 giveaways to 11 takeaways. You can start factoring in the offenses involvement in us finishing 8-9 as a team. We sucked enough in all 3 phases to go 2-7 down the stretch.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:14 am
The only thing I can think of, Todd is having an affair with Darcie Glazer.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:17 am
Ward said heâd be willing to give Bowles a pass if it was the offense that let the team down. But instead, it was Bowlesâ side of the ball.
âHis specialty is defense,â Ward said. âTheir defense was atrocious. Atrocious. You have to find ways [to fix a defense].
Hahahaha, I could not agree more!!!!
January 15th, 2026 at 10:17 am
All comparisons are not valid, or even useful. The only things Harbaugh and Bowles have in common is that they both coached in the NFL last year and both had teams that missed the playoffs. They do not even compete in the same conference, much less against each other. Similarly, to compare two teams in different divisions simply by W-L records does not tell anything about the comparative “strength” of either division. Prima facie, I would suspect that a division with a 14-2 [sic] winner is less competitive than one with a 9-8 winner.. The former probably swept his division and lost outside the division; at worst it was 4-2 in its division.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:18 am
Baker was injured. But Jason Licht signed a worthless POS Teddy to be a back up.
Well, as only Jason Licht can do…we couldn’t put Teddy out there when needed bc he stunk. Another wasted signing/money by that POS LOSER JASON LICHT.
Get a real back up. Get a real HC. Get a real GM.
The Glazers are crap owners
January 15th, 2026 at 10:19 am
Correction: “The only things …are….”
January 15th, 2026 at 10:19 am
HC Grover Says
“Glazers. Sell Sell!!! New owners needed.”
That’s ridiculous.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:20 am
Because of the
Bumbling 3 Stooges Brothers
January 15th, 2026 at 10:23 am
If the Bumbling Brothers had a tax attorney as Bad as Bowels has been as HC heâd be GONE like the wind !
January 15th, 2026 at 10:25 am
Can you imagine a OC comes here makes the offense top 5 like Coen did, and the defense plays terrible and they let the OC take a head coaching job somewhere else and keep Bowles again? What a nightmare. Glazers wouldnât make the same mistake twice right ? Then again itâs the glazers, theyâre clueless.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:26 am
Ward is right.
Bucs And Them Says:
…”If the Bucs are indeed keeping Bowles for this coming season which, we havenât heard Licht or the Glazers make that statement…”
That is a very good point. We’ve seen the media make the claim. Has Bowles even said it?
I can only think, though, that they would not be interviewing OC and ST candidates if they were going to replace Bowles. The new HC would certainly need to be a part of that process.
I think we’re stuck with Bowles, but I’m hoping we’re not. If anyone is hired for a coaching spot, that would pretty much lock Bowles in.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:28 am
I can’t believe the blasphemy! He’s talking about our Defensive Guru!
Killing me!
He just fired all the weak links!
Now this ship will sail!
January 15th, 2026 at 10:29 am
accurate!! and for three years, the whole back into the defense runs around confused !!
January 15th, 2026 at 10:30 am
They were holding the GENIUS down!
January 15th, 2026 at 10:32 am
If you want to compare Bowles to another head coach, how about Zac Taylor. His team also finished third and he’s the only coach left in the AFC North?
January 15th, 2026 at 10:34 am
HARBAUGH WAS OT FIRED! He quit. He is still under contract for 1 more year and another option year. Any team that wants him would have to trade for him.
Geez, Google is right there, people.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:34 am
Good takes by TJ Ward. Bowles is benefiting from misplaced trust in Bowles by the Glazer clan probably justified by the fact that they already owe fired coaches and managers at Man U over $40 million bucks. It is all about the coin, probably also why the Bucs have not made a big free agent splash in a while, all about the coin.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:36 am
Leave if it up to Mr. white Guilt himself – WarrenBrooksLynch to be an apologiest for Lamar. Pop quiz: What is Harbaughs playoff record pre Lamar, and how many superbowls does he have pre lamar. Question 3 – what is harbaughs playoff record with Lamar. Once you answer those questions, ask yourself if it is Harbaughs fault
January 15th, 2026 at 10:38 am
If only the Outback Boys had been able to buy the franchise!
January 15th, 2026 at 10:41 am
FortMeyersDave
I very much doubt ManU and the Bucs are the same business and share the same cash flow. So being out 40 million in one business really doesnât effect what the other business does or their cash flow. I very much doubt the Glazers are coming out of pocket for their cap for either team (business). That money âlivesâ in the business.
If they are coming out of pocket for their businesses, well the Glazers have much bigger problems
January 15th, 2026 at 10:45 am
“While Talib felt Bowles had the street cred to stick around, Talib wondered why Baker Mayfield wasnât catching some of the flak that was hitting Bowles.
Joe thinks thatâs a fair point.”
Are you throwing Baker under the bus to cover for Todd????
January 15th, 2026 at 10:57 am
The Emperor has NO CLOTHES!
January 15th, 2026 at 11:00 am
glazers dont care about fans like art blank does in Atlanta/
January 15th, 2026 at 11:00 am
Bowles verified to the TBT
He is OFFICALLY back. It’s been reported.
January 15th, 2026 at 11:01 am
âŚ.Cooper KuppâŚ
January 15th, 2026 at 11:02 am
@ Jimbo – Harbaugh was FIRED
January 15th, 2026 at 11:15 am
âLeave if it up to Mr. white Guilt himself â WarrenBrooksLynch to be an apologiest for Lamar.â
I found the adult who canât read beyond a 7th grade reading level in here.
White guilt? Sir, how in the blue hell can you tell what color my skin is just by the words I type? Donât be stupid, which is how that statements sounds.
Harbaugh, hasnât won a postseason game since 2020
Harbaugh, has this nasty thing about blowing 2nd half leads. 17 of which were double digit leads that ended in losses for his team.
Harbaugh, inherited a team with HOFers on the side of the ball he specialized on.
My guess is that youâre insinuating Lamar Jackson is why Harbaugh got fired, when in reality not being able to win in the postseason WITH Lamar Jackson is kind of an indictment on Harbaugh in and of itself.
Maybe going from 12-5 to 8-9, says more than it says anything.
Considering Jackson was hurt and maybe the fact the team since drafting Jackson is 4-11 when Jackson misses games says heâs more valuable from a player standpoint and 100% for a salary cap standpoint than Harbaugh.
Jacksonâs first year as starter he got every single MVP vote from the AP, and that same AP gave Harbaugh COY nods for that 1 decision.
Look, Iâm answering questions you didnât even ask because I realize the lights are on but not all your dogs are barking and need some help troubleshooting the bio-computer between your ears.
January 15th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Refreshing to see that there are actually players that have football intelligence and not all brainwashed meatheads!…
January 15th, 2026 at 11:19 am
My hope is that whichever offensive coordinator we sign is one who has a pedigree that can become our head coach. By that I mean that if his side or the ball does very well this here but overall our record is poor or the defense is very poor and it is still Todd doing the play calling, that he gets fired and the offensive coordinator becomes our new head coach.
Hoping for McDaniel!
January 15th, 2026 at 11:26 am
Anything at all will be above my expectations for Buccaneer Bowzoville.
January 15th, 2026 at 11:31 am
The answer is really quite simple. Bowles is a protected person.
And the Glazer kids are going to profit no matter what the record of the team is ultimately.
They can use the Bucs as a slush fund for their soccer team in Europe.
Bowles is going nowhere and he has cover from Licht and Arians as well.
I’m just lowering my expectations until sanity returns.
8 or 9 wins is the max per season on average unless the OC is great, then 10 is the max. This is due to the Swiss cheese defense.
Worst case scenario for 2026 is a full on collapse that lasts all season from the beginning to the end. In that case I’ll say 3 to 5 wins max.
We are what we thought we were. Pathetic.
January 15th, 2026 at 11:35 am
Jimbo says (in all caps) THAT HARBAUGH WAS NOT FIRED…and then says to google it.
You can’t make this stuff up..yes he was indeed fired dummy. Tomlin was the coach THAT QUIT..try to keep up
January 15th, 2026 at 11:36 am
Allsott
Bowels might not be going anywhere but the fans are
They will stay at home and the RayJay be taken over by the visiting team fans every home game!
They probably but more beer and food than the season ticket holders so the Bumbling GâBoyz donât really careâŚ. Enough!
January 15th, 2026 at 11:50 am
Steelers going to interview Ejiro Evero for their HC job. The Panthers defense was no joke. Steelers know coaching talent. Tomlin probably recommended him. The Panthers proved that you can have a good defense without a top line pass rush. That defense gave Stafford and the Rams fits. 4 picks I think over two games.
January 15th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
glazers are in save money money just like after winning first super bowl
January 15th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
I’m with Grover in this tread and plenty of others BUT DEFINITELY it’s TIME…..
Time for New Blood in Ownership! The “Glazer Group” DO NOT HAVE ANY PASSION FOR THE NUMBER ONE REASON WE ALL TUNE IN…. “WINNING”!
The Glazer whom loved His Team has passed, the now owner “ENTIRE GROUP” Couldn’t Care Less! And therefore operate As So..
Not being Aggressive “Pre Season End” said all we “AS FANS”, MUCH LESS POST SEASON whom FEED this absentee “Group”, Has CLEARLY Shown their Colors and ALL we Need to know about the ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF NEW PASSIONATE OWNERSHIP!
What about from a PURE BUSINESS PLATFORM? BECAUSE This has become such a lousy business model. SO SLOPPY! NO ONE is in the Wheel House! THAT is NOT how you run a Tight Ship!
Just Screaming it Out There….
January 15th, 2026 at 12:18 pm
Harbaugh wants full control of personnel which I believe he pretty much had in Baltimore. The receivers stunk, they brought in D. Henry. Mark Andrews and Lamar are about the only decent offensive players. We need someone who is younger and more energetic and can actually coach especially on Offense side.
We need to figure out if we are missing the grades on these drafts or is the current staff unable to develop them. Way too many picks turn into complete duds especially on defense. I bet if asked Todd heâd say Morrison had a better season than Egbuka. ( hint: this is the answer to my question)
January 15th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Baker is catching some of the flak! Just read some of the posts. Not nearly the flak that Bowles is getting but his share nonetheless.
January 15th, 2026 at 12:26 pm
Rachaad was right about Bucs fans đ
He was way too nice but..
January 15th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
Sadly it speaks to the standard of lack of standards for this organization. Mediocre is good enough, certainly good enough if it means eating a bad contract extension and admitting a mistake. The Glazers make business decisions based on money because they are not and never have been football people. They donât have a burning desire to be the best, and it bleeds through to everyone else when ownership isnât invested in winning. May I remind you these Glazers are Nepobabies, they never build anything, that was all Malcolm, who understood struggle and accountability.
January 15th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Fire Bowles. He is not a defensive genius. The D has sucked for a number of years.
January 15th, 2026 at 1:16 pm
If Bowles was just the DC and not the HC he would have been fired.
His defense has been horrible the last 2 years.
Last year Liam Coen saved Bowles’ job for him.
This year he didn’t have that luxury and should have been fired
January 15th, 2026 at 1:19 pm
Does Baker coordinate the defense and special teams? Our offense had issues but let’s stop deflecting, the Offense was not close to being the main issue here. Out of all the units, the offense was by far the most injured and was middle of the pack in scoring and yds. Our defense and special teams had almost all of their players available and still crap the bed all season long.
Start by fixing the special teams and the defense and then we can take a look at our offense and how Baker performs.
Our defense, led by an alleged defensive guru, has been a bottom performer in the league for several years straight but let’s focus on the offense that, in 2 of the last 3 years, played well enough to get it’s OC hired as a head coach. Is it that hard for you guys not to flail around aimlessly all the time?!
January 15th, 2026 at 1:19 pm
Because of money, had no business giving him the extension. There is no other credentials to keep him if they are serious about winning. And Arians helped keep his boy around. Both of his guys are garbage. Leftwich couldn’t get a job anywhere and well we know what todd brings.
January 15th, 2026 at 1:33 pm
Todd and Darcie sitting in a Tree
January 15th, 2026 at 1:55 pm
Me too! Inexplainable. Indefensible.
January 15th, 2026 at 4:13 pm
I wonder if we stopped wanting to win. I really mean that. It just doesn’t add up. There isn’t a reason to keep bowles. Cant coach defense & stinks as a HC what more are they waiting for. In all his years of coaching his best record was with the jets at 10-6 and with us 10-7…. Whoopie… The guys been coaching for 9 years as a head coach and stinks.
Hes not magically going to get lucky and get us a 12 win season next year ill be money on it.
Also his defense cost us a second super bowl lets not forget that because I sure wont forget that blown coverage to the Rams
January 15th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
I love my Bucs but can no longer watch with Bowles has head coach. It will be more of the same. Team needs a new direction urgently.
January 15th, 2026 at 7:27 pm
Bowles lost a lot of integrity saying he deserved staying as HC based on merit while Dan Campbell took more responsibility for his teamâs failures. Bowles lost a lot of credibility. For me, it ranks up there with Leeman Bennett being clueless that he deserved to be fired. Our team deserves to be punchlines on late night shows again.
January 15th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Be serious. Harbaugh lost his job because his franchise QB wanted him gone.
January 15th, 2026 at 10:03 pm
Bowles is the new version of Jeff Fisher. Heâs gonna be an 8-8 coach like Fisher was. All those years winning and losing and Fisher would go 8-8. I hate Sean Payton, but that guy knows what it takes to win! Harbough was available and a proven winner and always had a bad a$$ D. Between Bowles new deal and all the money the Glazers spent on the 50th year, they couldnât afford to cut Bowles so they want to make the fans suffer another year and waste what talent Evans and Godwin have left. As a player Iâd be pissed that youâre wasting good players prime years on a D minded coach that gets taken to the woodshed every time a rookie, 2nd and 3rd string qb plays and El Capitan Kirk go against him. McVay doesnât even have to try for his team to make Bowles D look like high schoolers. Damn Joke!
January 15th, 2026 at 11:26 pm
Ward has a good point. Iâm disappointed in the Bucs HC, and if itâs going to be more of the same Iâll need to stop watching them; until I hear they stop regressing and start getting better. Itâs the HC fault, he lays most blame on everyone else.
January 16th, 2026 at 1:01 am
3rd & 28!
3rd & 28!
January 17th, 2026 at 8:10 am
I am really tired of repeating myself, but again, how is it Baker Mayfield’s fault that we can’t tackle anyone, pressure anyone, cover anyone, or protect our QB? How is Baker responsible for the pathetic around 30 sacks we had all season, and the fact that our secondary is in the bottom 3 in the league? Was Baker responsible for the horrendous special teams problems? Was Baker the reason we made every QB we played this season, especially the rookies, look like Joe Montana because we could not get any pressure on them, and they picked our junk secondary apart? Was Baker calling the unimaginative plays that ruined his passing game, and killed our offense as the season progressed? No. Todd is a lousy coach, and his god awful defense is proof of that, but Todd can also only be a lousy coach to the talent that Jason Licht puts in front of him. When we needed pass rushers, O-line, and secondary, we got receivers. I like Tez and Emeka like everybody does, but in the game against the Bills, Sterling Shepherd had more receptions than the rest of our receivers combined. We only sacked Josh Allen once, and Baker put 34 on the board which should have been enough to win. In the next game, the Texans sacked Josh Allen 8 times and won. That is pretty good evidence that if we had focused on positions of need, we would have won more games, and we would have made the playoffs again. We didn’t because Todd Bowles and Jason Licht ignored positions of need. PERIOD.Todd and Jason both should have taken notes from a coach with class, Mike Tomlin, and followed suit.