Times Have Changed For Todd Bowles
March 31st, 2026
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
There he was, posing for a picture Monday among his NFL coaching fraternity.
Todd Bowles stood in the middle of the back row, next to Detroit’s Dan Campbell, as a photographer snapped a group photo taken at the annual owners meetings in a plush Phoenix resort.
Will Bowles be around for the next shoot in the spring of 2027?
A confident Todd Bowles on Monday morning at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.
His future with the Bucs depends on which way the arrow points at the end of the season. That arrow looked bent last year as Tampa Bay crumbled after a 6-2 getaway.
The 8-9 finish was the second for Bowles in his four years at the helm. Overall, he is 35-33 since replacing Bruce Arians in 2022. He’ll enter the season clearly on the griddle, determined to repay the Glazers for the trust they showed by keeping him, despite a 2-7 collapse following the bye.
There are 10 new coaches in the league and more than a few Buc fans are incensed ownership brought Bowles back for a fifth season. A fifth consecutive division title that appeared locked up in October was won instead by a Carolina club that started 1-3 and finished 27th in the NFL in both points and yards.
If Bowles is aware of the extent of fan disillusionment, he doesn’t show it. He says he’s got a job to do — and that job became more difficult without franchise icons Mike Evans and Lavonte David.
It’s hard to believe, but only six current NFL coaches have been on the sidelines longer than Bowles, who went 2-1 with the 2011 Dolphins as interim head coach and 24-40 with the Jets before joining the Bucs in 2019 as defensive coordinator under Arians.
After Andy Reid, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, Bowles is the next name on the list as he approaches his ninth season as a head coach.
Raheem Morris used to say the NFL is about a race to 10, meaning 10 wins historically lands you in the playoffs. For Bowles, his personal race to 10 hinges on a successful season. Even a 9-8 record may not be good enough to keep his job.
Surely, anything less than nine wins should result in a coaching change. Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden were both dismissed following 9-win seasons, and they had built up far more equity than Bowles at this point.
Bowles knows what he’s up against.
The NFC South won’t be a garbage dump forever and there’s a rather large leadership void that must be filled at One Buc Place. The oddsmakers have pegged Tampa Bay’s over-under win total at 8.5. That’s still better than the rest of the division, but 8 or 9 wins shouldn’t cut it with the Glazers.
They’re supposed to be hunting championships — not accepting mediocrity.
A year ago, Bowles was coming off a 10-7 record with no reason to wonder about his job security. Times have changed.
Now he’s standing at the coaching crossroads, hoping to find a path toward the next photo shoot.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:18 pm
12 wins with a playoff win or Bowles & Baker can both hit it…
GO BUCS!!!!
March 31st, 2026 at 1:31 pm
Still waiting for the Glazers to explain their inexplicable decision to keep him. Their explanation should including reconciling that decision with the Glazers we saw on the Amazon Prime documentary who talked about the importance of winning.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:40 pm
Bucs will go 7-10 but have some injuries along the way. Bowles will keep his job since the Bucs may end up having a player injured this year.
Bowles will say that is five straight years of finishing first or second in the division, so I deserve to stay the head coach.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:40 pm
The Glazers appear to be happy with mediocrity nowadays.
Taking a Super Bowl roster to a 35-33 record over three years? Everyone else has seen enough.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:43 pm
Guys, I just got back from the future and you will never believe how this season plays out!
Bucs jump out to decent start are 4-2.
Then they have a bye week and with that extra week of prep… they lose the game.
The Bucs go 1-4 over next 5.
They are 5-7 with some winnable games down the stretch but they finish 8-9 again and miss the playoffs.
Bowles says they needed to play it better and coach it better but he did all he could do.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:49 pm
Hmmmm you mentioned Tony dungy and Jon gruden both available Mike Tomlin and Herm edwards also available I wonder if 2027 we get back to greatness? We all know as soon as they kept jl and tb the 2026 season was already over so go bucs!
March 31st, 2026 at 1:50 pm
Great post Sage. Of the 7 coaches you mentioned, Bowles and Shanahan are the only 2 without a Super Bowl as a head coach. I don’t want to get excited too early here, but you’ve got to admit that would be a good game for the NFC Championship.
March 31st, 2026 at 1:56 pm
If I were Todd Bowles I wouldn’t have a worry in the world.
The Glazers have provided him with Teflon job security.
Most NFL owners would have fired the HC\DC instantly after a collapse like 2025.
6-2 at the bye to 2-7 down the stretch to finish 8-9 and no playoffs?
It gets no cushier than that as a HC in the NFL. Results no longer are a factor in Tampa.
March 31st, 2026 at 2:03 pm
If neither Bowles or Baker could uplift this “TEAM” enough to have won JUST two more of those final games last season with THAT SCHEDULE, then neither one of them are “HIM” (The Guy). Players weren’t bought in. Period. None of them were Buying-It. Mike BOLTED, and Lavonte could NOT find the “motivation” to return for more. That should tell you ALL you need to know. Cause, there is no-way in HAIL, Lavonte walks away from a Contender. Same goes for Mike. No way possible. It is a HUGE Indictment. 💯
March 31st, 2026 at 2:07 pm
Standing at the crossroads, huh? Many think Todd’s stubbornness is what’s gonna doom him. But if he is at the crossroads, I hope he goes straight ahead. Go straight ahead with the horse that brung you. His defense, to the untrained eye, was shockingly bad. But if our offense had any umph at all Todd and that defense would have won 12 games. Noone could have foreseen Tristan, and Bucky, and Kieft, and Goedecke, and Mauch, and Bredeson, and Evans, and Godwin, and JMac, all missing games and alot of them. That is 9!!! starters from our offense on the bench. Defense wasn’t any good but it was better than a dozen teams in the league’s defense. That’s without Kancey and Walker. Go straight at the crossroads, coach. That’s the path to the next photo shoot.
March 31st, 2026 at 2:21 pm
Oh the built in excuses. Evans left. David retiree. Hall left. I’m sure there will be a few injuries.
The fact that this team was so flat last year, and they fired assistant coaches but not the mediocre sub-.500 HC that Arians manipulated the Bucs into hiring just shows the complacency of the owners … unless
This is all a ploy to bring in Mike Tomlinson next year.
Honestly, he had a great run at Pitt, but so did Lovie in Chicago.
This team is heading back to its historical embarrassing bottom dwelling.
March 31st, 2026 at 2:33 pm
Its pretty easy to make the case that he has a path to 8 wins:
Division: 3-3
6 non division home games: 3-3
5 non division road games: 2-3
Given the opponents next year you can def find 2 road wins and three home wins in those non divisionals.
Now take into account which way the bounces and health go. If those two variables even out, ask yourself: do I think this coach will flip 1 or 2 games to wins or losses.
I know which way I would bet $$.
March 31st, 2026 at 2:40 pm
Vomitous.
March 31st, 2026 at 2:40 pm
If it’s a ploy to bring in Mike Tomlin, I’m all for it.
March 31st, 2026 at 3:11 pm
Like most Bucs fans, I was hoping for a new head coach. If Bowles doesn’t do much better than he has with the Bucs next season. I see season ticket holders deserting in droves, if Bowles is brought back yet again.
If Licht helped drive bringing Bowles back, he should be fired along with Bowles, if it doesn’t work out. I believe he’s done a good job overall, a championship, but enough already. Firing everyone but Bowles isn’t the answer.
If Licht wants to tie himself to the SS Bowles, Glazers should let him go down with the ship.
The least enthusiastic I’ve been since the post-Gruden, pre-Arians years.
March 31st, 2026 at 3:20 pm
I hear you Ira. My question to you and Joe with this current roster do you see more than 8 wins?, I don’t . I don’t know how he can go into a season with the current starting corners we have , with no depth behind them. And bad as the LB and edge situation is , the corners could be worse or maybe even. So I don’t know how Licht and Bowles think they can contend, unless they have one heck of a draft. Maybe just maybe if they take the TE everyone is talking about and he proves to be really good, maybe they can out score their opponents. However I will stick to 7 to 8 wins at best. They simply need to much talent at this point.
So I don’t see how Bowles survives.
March 31st, 2026 at 3:21 pm
Definitely don’t want Tomlin.
Boooooooooring.
Let’s get lucky with no major injuries and take home the Lombardi *this* year.
March 31st, 2026 at 3:22 pm
8-9 will save him again or even 7-10. This is the curse of the Glazers/
March 31st, 2026 at 3:28 pm
No more Rooney rule after this Year!!!
March 31st, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Saskbucs … ‘Guys, I just got back from the future and you will never believe how this season plays out!’
I’ve been looking for someone with answers Saskbucs, because no one here seems to have them. Just a couple questions since you’ve seen the future & none of the rest of us have …
1 – Who did we end up drafting?
2 – Did we add any more free agents before the season started to improve our depth on offense or defense?
3 – Which opponents did we play to start off 4-2? And oh ya, then which opponents beat the daylights out of us for us to then go 1-4 in the next 5 games?
4 – Oh almost forgot, did Baker get injured again this season or did he make it through unscathed? I’m worried about him.
Appreciate the advance info. I enjoy betting so much more when I know the outcome beforehand.