Todd Bowles Would Like More Glass Eaters On Defense
January 11th, 2026
Wants dudes on defense.
Perhaps as an angry response to the Bucs’ front office’s “I Am That Man” push for good players who are great people, it seems Bucs fans want to add players on defense who are great players and borderline psychopaths.
Joe noticed late in the season fan frustration claiming the Bucs’ defense has too many “boy scouts,” to use one description.
This question was brought up to Todd Bowles in his season wrap-up last week. Do the Bucs need more “ornery” and physica players on defense?
“You want a bunch of ornery types on defense to add,” Bowles said. “We’ve just got to play it better.
“We definitely need those types of guys on defense. We have some, we need some more.”
Bowles might be right. Outside of Lavonte David (who Joe is guessing might retire) and Tykee Smith, name another guy on the Bucs defense that an offense fears will jack them up?
You know, a tone-setter? Vita Vea?
This is why Joe loves the Ohio State linebackers entering the draft: Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles. Reese would be a perfect replacement for David, but may be out of reach for the Bucs to trade up and grab him.
Styles might be there for the taking with Tampa Bay’s No. 15 overall pick.
Ira Kaufman Talks Fan Backlash, Inside The Coaching Decisions, Playcaller Thoughts, And Much More
January 11th, 2026 at 10:06 am
He said the same thing one year ago.
He said he wanted “ballhawks”.
With a couple of exceptions, it didn’t happen this year.
I agree. A couple of Luke Geodeke-types on defense would be great.
I’m just skeptical because he talks about it consistently, but nothing changes.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:07 am
Another QB declared for the draft the other day, which makes 4(?) who will go in the first round? We REALLY need a guy like Styles, can’t spend another season wondering if a reach pick like SVD is gonna pan out. OTOH, we don’t have anything to trade except draft picks. Argh I hope we don’t end up with another pile of low-cost 30 year old FA’s
January 11th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Def need some Ndamukong Suh types on D.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Trade up for Reese, sign Hendrickson, sign Lloyd.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:09 am
Sounds like a Bowels admission the Bucs have been drafting poorly on defense. No duh, huh?
Of course it’s all Licht’s fault, right Todd? You would have developed them into warriors if you had anything to work with.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:10 am
The Bucs need to be more aggressive in the free agent pool. You Can’t develop players????… then buy them. The free agents Bucs signed and did not develop are what got eventually got them to the superbowl…
Brady
Gronk
Brown
Fournette
Jensen
Barrett
Suh
Dispute that!
JPP
January 11th, 2026 at 10:12 am
What we need is a DC capable of turning average players into glass-eaters & tone-setters. THAT’s what this team is missing.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:16 am
Did the players take on the same demeanor as Coach Bowles? Probably. Why should they play hard, when mediocrity is accepted (Bowles keeping his job)?
January 11th, 2026 at 10:18 am
Bowles looks like he’s definitely been doing alot of eating himself but not glass.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:18 am
It’s starts with the attitude & approach from the DC. There’s a reason this D & team plays with so little emotion, and it’s todd (with a small t). Coen infused the ’24 offense with his energy & enthusiam & it rubbed on his players, just like he’s doing in Jax, but it’s the whole team now. You saw it on the field in ’25 & you can see it now up north.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:21 am
Our draft has failed on top defensive picks.
Hall, JTS, Braswell , Kancey & Morrison (injured) all first & 2nd round picks
And, failed FA….Reddick
Totally failed.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:21 am
Yeah – 3 years ago. Will never again accept anything this man says.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:27 am
Agani, who put together the unacceptable, complacent glass tiger team? The same man who now wants glass eaters? Need a HC change, not talk, to get the desired outcome.
He was given EVERYTHING, in the easiest division in football, and look at the results. He earned nothing, he was fortunate to land when and where he did, and has been living off that for 4 years now.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:30 am
“I am that man” is corny as hell. Draft some dawgs instead.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:34 am
Brady
Gronk
Brown
Fournette
Jensen
Barrett
Suh
Dispute that!
JPP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“
THE OTHER 46 PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER!
Stop over reacting, Drama Queen.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:35 am
The fact that Bowles meds the media to remind him that his defense was only successful when he had a JPP and Suh up front is even more embarrassing. Only the Bucs could lol go away from what’s working in a weekly basis and with the entire roster. Nah Licht go ahead keep bringing back mediocre players like Greg Gaines why try putting in effort to upgrade now
January 11th, 2026 at 10:36 am
I’m confused! Isn’t he part of the draft process? I’m pretty sure he plays a huge part along with Licht!
January 11th, 2026 at 10:40 am
A new Defensive Coordinator would be the best addition
January 11th, 2026 at 10:40 am
We need Psychology Majors. To understand Bowzos game plans.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:41 am
I feel like our defense did much better in terms of turnovers this year than in 2024? Maybe I’m wrong but I thought we doubled it plus some.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:41 am
He needs to eat a mirror… he’s the one who directed walk thrus
January 11th, 2026 at 10:42 am
@Joe, how much influence does Bowles have in the players that are brought in either via the draft, un-drafted FAs or Free agency? Especially on the defensive side of the ball. I’m sure y’all don’t know the exact amount of influence he has on Lichts decision but that question is the million dollar question.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:42 am
Nothing is “Out of Reach” Joe unless you have a GM that is afraid.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:44 am
Bowles sits right next to Licht in the draft room and they all cheer together after the pick is made. I’d say there is a lot of influence! I’d say though the hardest part would be separating the check cashers from the ballers. We have way too many check cashers on this team.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:52 am
I’m still baffled we kept this guy. Lost the locker room and put a team on the field that played with zero heart and yet he has the audacity to say to the press that the team played with effort. We have eyes! Only explanation is we’re tanking next year which totally sucks.
January 11th, 2026 at 10:54 am
Jett Modkins interviewed for special teams coordinator. I could live with that!
January 11th, 2026 at 10:56 am
We have players who could be glass eaters, but they would need to wake the DC from his perpetual coma and have him show some fire, grit, or even emotion. Right now, the players just follow their coaches example.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:01 am
Dig deep~ the Glazers every other HC hire, they get a somewhat wild crazy Glass Eater themselves. Sam Wyche Tony Dungy Jon Gruden Raheem Morris,skip the few bozo’s before they got BA & then this old dog, who won’t change nothing. The Bucs will suck until he’s gone. But the Glazer-coaster in Tampa has quietly been built by Malcom’s rich kids. Maybe if we had Glass Eating owners! Otherwise we as BUCFANS, we have to ride this Glazercoaster yet again.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:01 am
I hold out hope that one of the playoff coordinators will be hired to replace Blows when their season ends. I see absolutely no way Blows inspires a team to greatness. ‘26 tank job coming unless major changes are made (new HC or new DC and experienced OC).
January 11th, 2026 at 11:02 am
I get it, things didn’t go great this season, maybe they should replace Bowles, but for the love of the Football Gods will someone actually throw out some names of people available to take these coaching jobs that you all want replaced. It would probably need to be an up and coming assistant. I have no clue but all you fantasy GM’s please be specific (for the sake of conversation) rather than being Drama Queens.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:07 am
Can we please stop giving any attention to what this guy says? Unless its announcing he’s hired an aggressive DC or announcing his retirement, its not worth listening to.
“We have to play it better”
“We’ve had communication issues”
4 years of the same lines, the same excuses. Who wouldn’t tune this clown out?
January 11th, 2026 at 11:07 am
I am that man is supposed to mean a hard worker but I’ve seen hints of people not working out in the off-season. You can be sure the players of other teams are lifting heavy and often so you need to do *more*, not less.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:11 am
How about Toad Bowels coach his players to be glass eaters!
The team plays like he act!
Can’t believe we kept him!
January 11th, 2026 at 11:11 am
@joe It’s kind of odd that we are seeing stories about interviewing OC’s but nothing about talking to DCs? So they were allowed to fire Grizz but aren’t going to do anything about the worst part of this team? I don’t care if they bring in other position coaches, as long as he is still calling defensive plays nothing will change. What an epic fail and pathetic attempt at improving and progressing this team.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:13 am
We definitely need an upgrade over Sircantmakeaplay Denis.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:15 am
Styles got run over by Miami’s RB. No thanks pass.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Says the uninspiring Pillsbury Doughboy.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:38 am
Glass eaters that will attend camp cupcake, then walk through practice 90% of the time..
Then he’ll be puzzled by 100 Hamstring Injuries and an inability to hit or tackle anyone.
Glass eaters my azz.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:44 am
Defense starts inside. If you want toughness, go get Jeffrey Simmons—he won’t fix everything alone, but he’ll change the tone of the entire unit.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:47 am
To be lead by the “spectacular glass eating personality” of todd…lol, what a joke!
January 11th, 2026 at 11:48 am
what up Luv….know you dont like me at the moment, but still sup.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:49 am
Every time IBS speaks he makes the Bucs look MORE stupid for retaining him…..
2026 Bucs season ALREADY decided: IT’S TRASH!
January 11th, 2026 at 11:51 am
@MadMax
All good, Bredren—no beef here. Disagreeing doesn’t mean disrespect.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:52 am
Fans would like more of a glass-eater as DC.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:53 am
They definitely have one chocolate chip cookie eating head coach, and it shows.
January 11th, 2026 at 11:53 am
Your thoughts on Kenyatta Jackson?
January 11th, 2026 at 12:06 pm
I wonder if JL is a roadblock?
January 11th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
One-year wonder—with elite measurables
January 11th, 2026 at 12:16 pm
F Todd Bowles, no matter what he does he is nothing more than mediocre but with that said it is about time they get rid of the boyscout mantra and go after the best players
January 11th, 2026 at 12:16 pm
Need a D back that lays the wood. Somebody QBs and WRs know a pass over the middle won’t be tolerated. To many nice guys schemed with cush coverage. A tackling clinic needs to be installed on defense and special teams. Nobody is scared of this defense. Opponents look forward to playing Bucs so they can have career numbers.
January 11th, 2026 at 12:24 pm
Weebs10 Says:
January 11th, 2026 at 10:52 am
I’m still baffled we kept this guy. Lost the locker room and put a team on the field that played with zero heart
+++++++++++++++++
And yet, the first six games were different.
Something happenned after that, and that mystery has yet to be solved. I think somehow Bucky is involed in that, but we may never really know. But the team lost its way after that. Some players and coaches know, but they aren’t talking.
Richard Sherman knows, but he isn’t talking either. People here have their own narratives to adhere to, but in the end what happened doomed the 2025 Bucs year.
January 11th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
that’s garbage. The team had lousy coaches. It doesn’t have to be any more than that.
Emeka Egbuka fits “that Buccaneer man”. He had plenty of fire in the first half of the year.
JPP didn’t help. LVD, Mayfield, and Bowles throwing fits didn’t help either.
You can’t polish a turd of bad coaching.
January 11th, 2026 at 12:33 pm
Annnddddd that’s enough.
Welcome to Tampa, Matt Lafleur!!!
January 11th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
R. Mason Thomas high motor and would help this defense.
January 11th, 2026 at 12:44 pm
This guy will never take accountability. Blame shift is his name of the game
January 11th, 2026 at 12:46 pm
Man, Taaaaaaaampaaaaaa sounds way better than Duuuuuuvaaaallllll!
January 11th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
Reuben Baine eats glass for sure.
January 11th, 2026 at 1:03 pm
Keldric Faulk
January 11th, 2026 at 1:11 pm
I still can’t believe, we are going into next season, with baker??? We will never win anything with him…… oh that’s right he’s hurt again….what BS!!!! Can we at least look at Cousins???? or Willis????
January 11th, 2026 at 1:14 pm
[Once again, please diversify. Bowles isn’t going anywhere for a year now matter if you double your spam to 60 one-sentence comments a day. Joe’s quickly running out of patience with this daily spam attack. — Joe]
January 11th, 2026 at 1:29 pm
too many duds…not enough dudes…
houston we have a problem
January 11th, 2026 at 1:30 pm
in fact, pluck a dude from houston if possible
January 11th, 2026 at 1:31 pm
stop hacking up loogies aquaman ! 🙂
January 11th, 2026 at 1:31 pm
I’m going to state something a little controversial for Bucs fans & likely the FO as well…
Licht should go target ILB Devin White in FA…I know, I know…But the guy has been humbled (in PHI) and turned his career around in 2025 in LV… 174 tackles in 2025 in Vegas this year speaks for itself. He’s still young enough to invest in & is not going to break the bank ($4M-5M/yr with additional performance incentives)… He’s not going to be the top end coin guy he thought he was when he left Tampa, unless he performs on the field & replicates his 2025 efforts!
If I was running this FO, I would 100% focus efforts on Quay Walker (GB), Azeez Ojulari (PHI) & Nakobe Dean (PHI) as the primary OLB/ILB FA’s to get this Linebacking crew back to what is expected in Tampa. (Walker – 4yrs/$40M….Ojulari & Dean will both in the 3yrs/$10-12M range)
That fixes the weakest positional group instantly & sets up to keep LB room continuity for next 3yrs. While looking for best ILB fit in the draft, as a guy that doesn’t need to start Day1 but plays & adds to the overall group Day1 – Harold Perkins late Day 2/early Day 3…(If Bowles is going to be here, this DEF needs a good LB group to make his system work.)
OLB: Walker, YaYa, Braswell, Ojulari, Nelson + Kamara/Watts on PS
ILB: White, Dean, Dennis + Draft ILB (Perkins) + Nick Jackson on PS.
I just can’t see Licht signing a $30M pass rush specials in FA…So, No Trey Henderson signing…Nor can I see Licht swinging for fences & trading for Maxx Crosby for draft capital (though, if LV would take Vea & picks to make a Crosby deal…I’d do that in a minute!), and there’s a big hell no to bringing back Hasson “Flop” Reddick after his 2.5 sack season in 2025 – They should have kept JTS. He was actually better & would not have cost $14M to resign.
the above would allow the scouting department to focus on best available player on Day 1 – be it a Mike Evans WR replacement (Denzel Boston – UofWashington) or CB or OG/OT to OG conversion candidate or other top DEF positions at #15, if there’s no option to trade back and get better value later on Day1 while stocking more draft capital for Day 2 & early Day 3….Take the best available & let the chips fall where they may in camp.
Bucs can find serviceable 5t-DT, RB2 & TE’s in FA for less coin than signing their UFA’s – if they don’t want to re-up Hall, Otton and Kieft or R.White for 2nd contract prices. (>$7M/yr each for Hall, Otton & White & maybe $2M/yr for Kieft)
They can find a cheap WR4-5 type if they don’t go WR in the draft, if they don’t feel Godwin, EE, McMillian, Tez, Kam &/or Shepard are suited to be the primary WR room.
(IMO, Evans needs to retire. He’s washed & not the player he was even a year ago & hella not worth resigning for another yr at top market coin! Needs to walk away or let some one else pay if he wants to give it another go.)
There will be reasonable dollar FA’s for depth filler at S, CB, Swing OT & BU-C & DT positions….& the Bucs will have the coin to do all the above without breaking the Cap….Putting the roster back in position to field a team that can take back the NFC South from Carolina & improved ATL/NOLA teams.
January 11th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Wow he had an ephinay. No duh. It’s been the same stale D for years.
January 11th, 2026 at 1:38 pm
MadMax Says:
January 11th, 2026 at 11:53 am
Your thoughts on Kenyatta Jackson?
My wife is a Buckeye, so I have to watch them.. I like him, but I like Curry a little better. Curry has some nasty and plays the run well.
Downs is a player, heart, hustle, speed, solid tackles. Way cheaper than AWJ ridiculous contract.
January 11th, 2026 at 1:55 pm
Can they “eat glass” while standing around in zone, 30 yards down the field, on a 3rd and 6.
January 11th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
The players said the scheme is too cerebral – they spend too much time thinking and not enough reacting. Defense is about physicality and instinct more than thinking.
January 11th, 2026 at 2:34 pm
There’s a doughnut eater in the defensive coordinator’s office
January 11th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Hey man, this isn’t just blind rage directed at Bowles. Every single solitary metric of Bowles ‘ defense the last 3 yrs screams fire me! How in the name of everything holy can the Glazers justify retaining him? Answer: This upper mngmnt has become a good ole boys club where Bowles, Licht and the Glazers are good buddies. To show our good faith Todd here’s a completely undeserved premature extension last off-season. I dont want to hear about this so called great culture here I Tampa. It’s a lie. Players have come out on and off the record questioning Bowles’ walk thru practices during the great collapse of 2025. The culture sucks. The head coach and DC suck and the owners suck. The gaslighting coming out of Bowles big mouth is insulting. He said he has no message to all the disgruntled fans. The arrogance is breathtaking.
January 11th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Bowles is soft as Charmin. How about not taking the entire bye week off. How about actually practicing once in a while. How about actually holding players and coaches accountable, and not just whine about them to the media. Bowles is who he is.
January 11th, 2026 at 3:48 pm
Imagine Bowles having the audacity to proclaim “I earned another year as HC/DC”. He an I have a very different view of the meaning of the word. He’s the #1 major liability and he’s the one they keep. The Glazers are an embarrassment to this city. This ain’t going away. The gaslighting isn’t going to fly this time. The anger is just gonna build over the weeks and months ahead. Im looking forward to keeping the heat on this fraud and his upper mngmnt buddies.
January 11th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
when the head coach is like warm margarine…….. It makes it hard.
January 11th, 2026 at 4:22 pm
FlBoy84 … ‘What we need is a DC capable of turning average players into glass-eaters & tone-setters.’
We all know that’s NOT who Todd Bowles is. Hard to be a tone-setter when you start by playing 15 yards off.