Team Glazer Dangling Very Sweet Carrot In Front Of Mike McDaniel?
January 20th, 2026
Bucs’ head coach in waiting?
Joe’s doesn’t like this idea.
Monday, Albert Breer of SI.com, who not only is well-plugged in within league circles but has a direct pipeline to One Buc Palace, had an intriguing take on Mike McDaniel and the Bucs.
Could the Bucs secure McDaniel’s signature on a contract if they promised him he would succeed Todd Bowles, 62?
Mike McDaniel has made the rounds, and if I had to guess, he’ll probably wind up as an offensive coordinator in the next week or so. I’ve heard Tampa Bay could be a good spot for him, and that, if he does a good job, he could be set up to be Todd Bowles’s eventual successor.
Well, Joe isn’t sure that’s a great deal. Is there anything wrong with letting the guy earn his keep? What if the Bucs’ offense stinks under McDaniel and the Bucs have a losing record in 2026, and Team Glazer wants to move on from Bowles? Why would you then want to promote someone who hasn’t earned it?
If you ask many Bucs fans why they revile Bowles so much, some would say it’s their belief (no confirmation) that this type of arrangement is exactly how Bowles got the head coach job in the first place, an arranged marriage as a condition to lure Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians out of retirement.
January 20th, 2026 at 1:07 am
if mcdaniel likes those cold weather vibes, he could be rolling out to buffalo for a meeting
January 20th, 2026 at 1:12 am
McDaniel went 1-5 against the Bills in the past three years. The Mafia would burn the new stadium to the ground.
January 20th, 2026 at 1:13 am
Saleh is getting hired by the Titans so he is going to be looking for an OC and he and McDaniel both have San Fran ties. Seems to me that Saleh will reach out to his buddy and see if he wants the TN OC gig.
January 20th, 2026 at 1:13 am
Robert Saleh just named the Titans New HC !!!
McDaniel & Saleh are best buds…
Don’t be surprised if he goes there as their new OC building up Cam Ward..
January 20th, 2026 at 1:14 am
SO MANY better options still available for him and other quality Oc/HC….
Bucs are WAY to much of a HIGH risk with IBS seat beyond lava hot!
January 20th, 2026 at 1:16 am
Joe, I think if McDaniel (or any OC) puts up numbers like Coen’s (or at least close) and Bowles’ D continues to flounder; then said OC will probably replace Bowles. If the OC has mediocre numbers like Canales and Grizz; well that will not cut the mustard and they will get launched with Todd if the team underperforms again.
January 20th, 2026 at 1:17 am
he’s less jammed up behind bowles as next in line to be HC here…
yet he is totally jammed up behind saleh, if salah is the head coach over there
January 20th, 2026 at 1:44 am
Mcdaniels is going to the titans, which will leave the bucs to pick Zac Robinson.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:01 am
Two of Bowle’s OC’s have gotten head coaching gigs in the last couple of years. It’s just possible he would hold a different opinion of the team than our beloved fan base.
Might like to work with our receiving group and Baker. One Hall of Famer on there, a very promising rookie, and Mr. Godwin etc.
We will see.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:28 am
I can’t imagine he’d take that deal. But, if they just want to give him the HC job flat out, I’d be OK with that. He’d be a better higher than what I thought they’d be able to get as a head coach if they could land him.
Still considering Baker was so awful down the stretch that he got his OC fired and lost to McDaniel’s 3rd string QB, I still find it difficult to believe he’d take the job as OC. But I’d be happy to be wrong.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:32 am
Boy, did Saleh not ever screw the hell up by going to Tenne-FRICKIN-SEE. My GOD.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:37 am
Man we talking about the offense
Bowles can barely coach the defense
We give up a lot of passing yards
We get zero pressure on the quarterback
We let Carlton Davis and Devin white walk and wonder why we need better cornerbacks and linebackers
Now we got another year with a middle of the pack draft position, never bad enough to draft a truly elite can’t miss player on defense at #15
What is the damn point
Trade the pick
Trade next years pick
Trade the pick after that for all I care
I’d rather get a proven player than take another project like JTS
January 20th, 2026 at 2:38 am
Eric Says: “Two of Bowle’s OC’s have gotten head coaching gigs in the last couple of years. It’s just possible he would hold a different opinion of the team than our beloved fan base.”
Yeah, and NEITHER fricking one of them had a GD thing to do with TODD BOWLES. Not a ONE. Canales was just LUCKY that NO ONE ELSE already established, was taking THAT job with THAT owner. And, Coen was SPECIAL. Anyone could see THAT. They both SAVED Bowles JOB and got jobs for THEMSELVES, in spite of Bowles. McDaniel doesn’t NEED Bowles, so get outta here with that complete NONSENSE.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:46 am
Exactly, Joe. It is THE dumbest and weakest thing I’ve EVER HEARD BEFORE, for a NFL Franchise. YES, promise a guy the future HC position, BEFORE he even coaches in his FIRST-GAME. Just what a BRILLIANT MOVE. Lmao. Real Smart. And, it would be pretty PATHETIC to already be willing to throw in the towel, and giving up entirely, on landing a (better) ‘top-tier’ level Head Coach. Yeah, sign ME UP for that LoL.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:51 am
I mean, that sounds just like something fricken KENTUCKY would do. GTFO
January 20th, 2026 at 2:59 am
And, if THAT is what you gotta do in order to land a halfway decent OC, then you need to either SELL THE TEAM, or go out and find a BRAND NEW GM. Period. End of Story. If you are THAT freaking WEAK. Embarrassing.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:20 am
I hope this story is true🤙🏾 for many different reason. It’s not happening but it sounds good to me. As long the Doesn’t F it up.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:21 am
The General manager whatever his name is😆😉
January 20th, 2026 at 4:32 am
A promise to be a HC? Will the Bucs put that in writing? If this happens then that means they think and hope Bowles will fail and they kept him employed anyway.
This makes absolutely no sense for the Bucs or McDaniel.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:44 am
I sure hope this is how it all plays out. So much competition right now for OC and HC positions.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:44 am
McDaniel will likely be OC for the Titans as Saleh finalizes his deal to be HC in Nashville.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:48 am
With 9 coaches fired at the end of the season n two with playoffs n or Super Bowl winning record, Harbaugh n McDermott, being that Bowles record isn’t remotely close to the two aforementioned coaches, rest assure if he starts the season or end the season losing, he’s fired, pronto. Did anyone see Raise the Flags Buccaneers 50 years? Glazers aren’t favorites of a defensmediocreive minded coach as head coach. Only reason Bowles is head coach because of BA, period! He has a fixed mindset n is cancer to no risk it no biscuit. He is outta his league. The game has passed him. He doesn’t know talent n is fixated on retaining certain players who under performs, fails to produce, injury prone, n or continues to make same mistakes. The following players are average or below average, potential don’t win championships.
JTS-last season 2024
Logan Hall
Payne Durham
Chris Braswell
Trey Palmer-last season 2024
Josh Hayes
Sirvoncea Dennis
Jamel Dean
January 20th, 2026 at 5:06 am
“if he does a good job, he could be set up to be Todd Bowles’s eventual successor.“
It literally says “IF” and “COULD”, never says “GUARANTEED”. I would say that means he would have to “earn his keep” in order to succeed Bowles, but I would say Bowles has not earned his keep and yet he’s still the HC. So who actually knows with the poor leadership we have at the head of the franchise.
January 20th, 2026 at 6:18 am
Can you read, Joe? It says ‘if’ he does a good job as OC then he could be promoted to head coach…
January 20th, 2026 at 6:33 am
By keeping Todd Bowles this franchise just cut their own throats. Morons.
January 20th, 2026 at 7:05 am
Nonsense. You do not promise an NFL HC job to someone if your present HC gets fired later. The Curse of Bowzo has caused mass insanity in Tampa.
January 20th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Nobody is running to join this dumpster fire.
January 20th, 2026 at 8:05 am
I like McDaniel and what he did the first few years at Miami. But one thing I didnt like was Miami seemed “soft”… Dont get me wrong, I loved their speed on offense, which was unmatched in NFL with Achane, Waddle and T Hill (drastically different then our offense)… but again, seemed soft. Never thought Bucs had much of a chance with this guy because of the uncertainty of next season… I mean if Glazers really wanted McDaniel THAT BAD, why didn’t they just fire Bowles now? Seriously?
January 20th, 2026 at 8:07 am
Not sure why you’d offer this he’s a solid OC one of the best available right now but that’s it. He was just fired and Miami is also a mess. Definitely would think there will be better HC next year
January 20th, 2026 at 8:28 am
Bucs fans in a weird position to praise a coach brought in by the HC they want to fail so he can be ousted and replaced by the OC that failed with him(?). That’s a lot
Nobody outside of the box to question, “well how’s this all work out if we win?” Yet we’ve got win projections before the senior bowl lol
January 20th, 2026 at 8:35 am
Who would come to play for weasels that offered a deal like that.
Bowels has not said anything about retiring after next year or any other year.
January 20th, 2026 at 8:36 am
One Buc Place
Is now
Dysfunction Junction
January 20th, 2026 at 8:50 am
It literally says “if” and “could be”, these are conditions that would be set IF the offense excels. If the offense sucks they’re not going to just gift the job to him. Actually read the quote and understand what it says.
January 20th, 2026 at 9:03 am
Joe says: “ What if the Bucs’ offense stinks under McDaniel and the Bucs have a losing record in 2026, and Team Glazer wants to move on from Bowles? Why would you then want to promote someone who hasn’t earned it?“
Wouldn’t the operative phrase in Breers’ statement be:
“if he does a good job, he could be set up to be Todd Bowles’s eventual successor”.
January 20th, 2026 at 9:31 am
Just about any guy selected to run a mega-billion dollar NFL franchise could do well IF (1) he has great assistant coaches working for him; (2) has a talented franchise QB; and (3) has great players on his team, with plenty of depth.
Todd Bowles hasn’t had that in his 4 years here. He’s had a musical chairs thing going on with his OCs, and his DC & S/Ts coaches should’ve been fired years ago. He’s had adequate starting QBs, but not world-beaters. Most of his starting roster positions have been reasonably talented, but the DEPTH really sucked & bit us in the arse when the injury bug hit. Result? Yearly middle-of-the-pack performances (check our draft picks: 2022-#33 … 2023-#19 … 2024-26 … 2025-#19).
We’re stuck in mediocrity. I get the feeling that the Glazers are looking at this year as a rebuilding year to try to break out of that, BUT … they’re keeping Bowles & Licht to oversee the rebuilding. We’ve got MAJOR changes coming to our coordinator positions & coaching staff. We’ll have MAJOR changes in our roster in the next 6 months. I’m HOPEFUL that we can survive this without catastrophic results that reinvigorate the Den of Depression, but like Joe says … ‘Hope isn’t a strategy’. Kinda like playing the lottery as your retirement plan.
January 20th, 2026 at 9:36 am
Half measure.
If you want to give this guy a chance to be your HC just make him the head coach.
This reeks of understanding that you made a mistake with Coen, Bowles and the extension and not wanting to pay the money to make Todd go away.
I’m not sure why they think that sort of arrangement is a great idea in the first place.
January 20th, 2026 at 9:54 am
BA, Bowles and Licht are our brain trust.
We’re F’d
January 20th, 2026 at 10:00 am
Mcdaniels to the Titans because his buddy got hired is a bit too simplistic. IF McDaniels has any desire to be a HC again, then he’s going to go to a roster where the offense has the most upside. The Bucs offer waaaay more potential than the Titans and if we do well, McDaniels will be inline for another HC opportunity either in Tampa or elsewhere. The Titans have a QB to develop and very few weapons on offense, much bigger risk for McDaniels going there than the Bucs. Bucs throw the most cash at McDaniels and I think we get him. Thinking McDaniels is glued to his buddy’s hip simply because they both coached in San Francisco is a great headline but doesn’t seem realistic. Did McDaniels hire Saleh when he got canned by the Jets? I don’t think McDaniels wants hit hitch his career to Cam Ward, he’s a complete unknown commodity.
January 20th, 2026 at 10:10 am
Who in there right mind would choose the Titans OC job over th Bucs OC job an the Bucs job has a line to the HC job for Bucs as well just because there friends I don’t see that happening but it could I’m.sirenhenwill reach out but there has been Alot of MM to Bucs talk in the media by several different reporters where there’s smoke there is fire I’m.praying an holding out with hope he comes to Tampa
January 20th, 2026 at 10:22 am
DR
Theres no way around it sir. A losing season was always in the cards for the Bucs after Brady but they kept shuffling the deck. This team has been rebuilding for YEARS but many won’t admit it. Not a lot of money spent in FA and they rewarded the HC and QB with extensions after losing a home playoff game in the first round.
The owners never expected much from the Bucs. If they did we would’ve seen drastic changes LAST SEASON.
So buckle up and enjoy the upcoming tank. Its not all doom and gloom imo, I’m excited because in a year or so the Bucs will have a new HC and a new QB.
January 20th, 2026 at 10:40 am
Hi Bee, you may be right, but they could have hit the reset button this year. Maybe they waited because th le candidate pool is weak, but I’d take Sean McDermott and his entire staff in a second over the rag tag staff the Bucs will have next season
January 20th, 2026 at 10:45 am
We need to get this deal done…this way McDaniel can get a Great QB in here and someone He can groom, even let Him chose what QB he wants from the Draft or FA, or even by Trade! We need McDaniel now!!! Let’s Go Bucs! & We have to bring M1K3 back as Well!!!!!!
January 20th, 2026 at 11:01 am
McDaniels—>TN
Plan B-?
January 20th, 2026 at 11:01 am
It’s more like a rotten apple than a sweet carrot.
Todd Bowles is the fly in the punch bowl.
It’s the exact definition of failing upwards.
If he were fired today, not one team would hire him as a HC.
They would interview him to satisfy the rules.
But no one outside of Tampa is impressed with his resume.
Just the Glazer kids.
January 20th, 2026 at 11:15 am
@Dr
I agree that they could’ve reset by now. Maybe they are waiting for “their” candidate. Who knows but it’s fun to speculate. Sean would be a major upgrade, but as with any coach they have to want to be with the Bucs. We’ll see who else they interview.
I will say this, if Bowles is fired then the new HC hire will probably happen immediately after. I’m sure they’d want to have the guy they want locked in first before letting Bowles go.
January 20th, 2026 at 11:47 am
I also think it’s silly. If you think he’s HC material and already plan on Bowles being gone next year then just make the change now. Makes no sense to wait except saving a few mil I guess
January 20th, 2026 at 11:58 am
Absolutely don’t agree here Joe.
In this scenario, if the Bucs offense implodes under McDaniel, I doubt they’d give him the job just to keep their promise. Too much at stake. And I don’t think that’s the way billionaires think.
I think it’s a great succession plan. Its rarely discussed, but long term calculating and planning in the NFL tends to work if properly executed.
I think, if that’s the arrangement, McDaniel can take his year or two as an OC to step back, learn and reflect on his time in Miami. And then, when he’s ready, you give him the keys. You’d have an offense with experience playing under him and a young, energetic, bright, offensive minded coach that came up organically and in a well planned way, securing continuity.
I think the succession plan with McDaniels could be the single best thing the Bucs do. And if he sucks, fire him.
January 20th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
I would have said he would gone Salah but not sure Tenn is that place ,,,
January 20th, 2026 at 1:31 pm
I got lost when they gave him an extension 😕
January 20th, 2026 at 1:32 pm
In an earlier post I had intimated exactly this scenario. Bring McDaniel in as OC with a path to HC if he performs well and turns the offense into a perennial contender. Bowles was gifted the job when Arians suddenly decided to “retire”. Bowles did not earn this position. McDaniels has a proven track record with SF and is considered an offensive savant. Miami has huge issues beyond just a limited QB in Tagoviola. Miami has the curse of the Marino on them.
Tampa can offer McDaniels a chance to redeem himself and prove that he is capable of turning around a franchise. Bowles certainly is incapable of doing so. I am all for bringing McDaniel in with the Carrot and Stick approach of offering him the top job if he performs well or show him the exit if he stinks up the offense. I think McDaniels can fix Baker and elevate his play.
Team Glazers and Lichtenstein, let’s get it done. They kept Bowles ofr 2026, but I did not see them offer him long-term job security, which he certainly does not deserve, Go Bucs, Go Canes, GB and Cheers in 2026:)
January 20th, 2026 at 1:33 pm
Bring McDaniels in and promise him the top job if he performs well.
January 20th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
Too many if/then’s in a proposition like that. Glazers would never commit to something so iffy. Makes no sense. If you’re looking to the future, hire MM now. If the Bucs do well in 26 they won’t bum’s rush Bowles out the door. What do you tell MM then? Ridiculous speculation.
January 20th, 2026 at 2:38 pm
I like the idea, I think the Bucs will have to sweeten the pot with something to even get a upper level guy at OC. Plus when are the DC interviewsgpnnadtart or is Bowels illustrated shootoling the breeze about that & gonna run his prevent nothing outdated Defense again. Hope we canget a IC that can & has called.plays before but as long as our lame duck HC we will have to promise the.job to the next guy.
January 20th, 2026 at 4:37 pm
I would think Glazers would want McDaniel to succeed only if he side of the ball was a success. I would HIGHLY doubt Glazers would straight up promise something to McDaniel..