Jason Licht Says “Hunger” Separates 2026 Bucs
April 8th, 2026
So Bucs head coach Todd Bowles flatly rejected the notion Joe posed to him last week — that Bucs opponents last season played hungrier than Tampa Bay down the stretch.
“I don’t think teams were more hungry to play; they beat us,” Bowles said. “That doesn’t mean we weren’t hungry to play. We made physical mistakes, but effort-wise, our effort was outstanding. We didn’t play smart at times. We didn’t coach smart at times. But as far as from a ‘hungry’ standpoint, I would not use that word.”
Bowles’ comment is extra interesting considering what Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht told Kevin Clark of BSPN that same afternoon. (Keep in mind Joe was on-scene in Phoenix and saw Licht sit down for the Clark video that popped today.)
Clark asked Licht to state the biggest difference between the 2026 Bucs and the 2025 Bucs.
“Hunger,” Licht replied.
“I feel like we got a lot to prove. I feel like we let a lot of fans down last year. A lot of self-reflecting and I feel like we were better than that. So, I think that sentiment is shared by everybody in the organization.”
Joe is confused. Bowles thinks the Bucs played hungry, but Licht says “hunger” will be key to what separates the 2026 Bucs from last year’s edition.
Licht added that many free agents he signed this offseason were hungry to play for the Bucs and view the team as a good club that’s a lot better than the 8-9 team that walked off the field in January.
April 8th, 2026 at 10:57 am
Our GM should be in current politics. Can you believe anything he says?
April 8th, 2026 at 10:58 am
We had 2 players that made a bunch of mental errors- Dean and McCollum. We also had 2 ILB’ers whose physical limitations (LVD- injury, SVD-speed) caused a lot of big plays losing races to the sidelines and around the corner up the field. Those limitations are why the defense had lots of troubles. Bowles benched McCollum and Dean because they kept not playing within the structure of their zone defense. Im betting they weren’t really injured. And the defense played better without them since mental errors were killing us. It wasn’t lack of hunger but brain-dead mistakes that hurt us a lot.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:02 am
That’s one of Bowles’ biggest problems. He doesn’t have the ability to step back and self evaluate this team.
Anyone that watched games last year could see that, in a lot of games the effort wasn’t there.
Now you can call that hunger or intensity or whatever you want. It doesn’t matter how you define what we saw last year. Some of our guys gave half hearted (at best) effort last year.
That shouldn’t happen on an NFL team full of guys that supposedly live and respect the head coach.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:05 am
Ring of Toilet Bowl GM Bud Licht is [Be nice. Why are you the guy Joe often has to edit or modify comments? May want to take this as a hint. — Joe].
The only thing hungry on this team is its HC.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:08 am
He says that every year. He’s a gaslighter
April 8th, 2026 at 11:09 am
Show me
April 8th, 2026 at 11:20 am
his hunger for winghouse
April 8th, 2026 at 11:25 am
Starting to feel like the word ‘hungry’ is being over-used & is very subjective. If a great, very talented player makes a great play, is it because he was ‘hungry’ or because he’s very talented? I’ll go with talented.
Fact of the matter IMO is that the 2025 team that we put on the field … in all 3 phases … lacked talent in some key areas. DEPTH was a major problem. Opponents figure out pretty quickly where your weak spots are and relentlessly attack them. Duh … we do the same thing to them.
All of us HOPE that our 2026 team is more talented than our 2025 team was. We’ve made some changes this off-season that needed to be made for quite awhile. LOTS to do between now and the start of the season, but I think most of us are at least becoming ‘cautiously optimistic’. Still have to play the games though.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:30 am
“Starting to feel like the word ‘hungry’ is being over-used & is very subjective. If a great, very talented player makes a great play, is it because he was ‘hungry’ or because he’s very talented? I’ll go with talented.”
It’s literally “who wants it more” in shorter form.
Sounds good if that’s what your looking to hear, but there’s nothing tangible in terms of playing the game to gleam from being “hungry”.
Bucs could’ve had no problem being hungry last season, they could easily be hungrier after the season, but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean anything.
Can you perform?
Can you perform at a high level?
Can you preform at a high level on a consistent basis?
Can you limit/overcome your own mistakes?
Much more concerned about these things.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:34 am
Right now we’re 0-0
As every NFL team, 2025 is behind us
2026 is where we’re at, 2027 is where we’re going
I’m looking forward to a great season of football
April 8th, 2026 at 11:36 am
Give me a break, more double talk and gaslighting. After the draft the Licht hype machine will startup again. Yeah, with the guys Licht drafted it will push the Bucs over the top. SB fo sure. lol.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:42 am
“Hungry”, “Top Flight Team”, “Tweaks”….all vague BS. No one saying anything specific because the problems are still in the building. Licht, Bowles and Baker are the trio haunting this franchise. With their decision making and talent the Bucs always find a way to lose and have gotten worse every season since 2023. There was so much leadership on this team last year they hired JPP off his couch to bring the juice. But now, with a few mid-tier FAs, a few discarded coordinators from losing teams and some rookies, this team is ready for a deep playoff run. The jokes write themselves around here.
April 8th, 2026 at 11:52 am
I remember the 2025 Bucs saying how hungry they were, how the end of 2024 left a bad taste in their mouths and they came out of the gate looking like it. Seems to me that the loss of a good handful of those veterans zapped the hunger out of the team, with so many rookies and 2nd year players pressed into service.
I have no doubt they will come out super determined in 2027. How long that hunger lasts remains to be seen.
April 8th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Teams largely rise and fall on the play of the quarterback. When you have a young up and coming QB teams have hope for the future and everyone seems to pull together. Brady was ‘young’ with the Bucs in 2020, played well and carried us along. In 22 he played older. Quite a bit of that was the OC situation.
In 23, Baker was new, played well and the team was better. Last year, Baker got hurt, played very ordinary and even bad at times. The team could see the OC just wasn’t ready and there was no real hope. Ergo the second half swoon.
Even though we are all retired GMs and coaches, the guys on the team can see these things way before we can. What can fix that is someone, usually a young guy, getting hot and carrying the team both on the field and emotionally. We needed someone to rally around but we did not get that.
Anyway, that’s my take on playing, or not playing, “hungry”.
April 8th, 2026 at 12:08 pm
Going to lunch now, this thread made me hungry. I will celebrate the Buc’s hunger at the winghouse. Wonder if I will see Todd and Jason there? lol.
April 8th, 2026 at 12:08 pm
Pretty obvious the left hand doesnt know what the right is doing lol
will the difference this year be URGENCY or EXCUSES
GO BUCS!!!!!
April 8th, 2026 at 12:08 pm
No coach is going to admit the team wasn’t playing hard in public or probably even privately. Talk about the kiss of death.
The fact that these two disagree on the matter is what some might consider conversation and news worthy.
We know why Todd’s denying it. Why is Jason saying it in public?
Glad this was pointed out.
April 8th, 2026 at 12:58 pm
You need to rephrase the question for Bowles. Mention hunger and he’s thinking about gyros.
April 8th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
I personally am trying to be cautiously optimistic! Obviously none of us would want another lost decade and I hold out the hope Zack can be on the level of Cannales and C
April 8th, 2026 at 1:05 pm
I personally am trying to be cautiously optimistic! Obviously none of us would want another lost decade and I hold out the hope that Zack can be on the level of Cannales and Cohen and get the offense out playing Todd’s turtle mode defense enough to get the team actually feeling they can compete. The issues we had last season with the injuries and Todd clearly sticking his nose in on offense deflated the hope for not only the fans but the players on the field.
hopefully he has learned to let the offensive mind run the offense so we can have a good year!
April 8th, 2026 at 1:14 pm
Hmmm, it’s hard to tell. Is that dog chasing his tail? Or, is the tail chasing the dog? Happy to see JL has built a culture of strong communication. Not on the same page with his coach, Evans, player evaluation (see Braswell), team needs b4 trade deadline…. Out of touch. But hey, we like him, really like him, or adore him vs hate him or he disgusts us….. I don’t wanna be a dik….I’ll just say “like him.”
April 8th, 2026 at 1:16 pm
The 2026 Bucs are positioned better than many teams in this league to get to 10+ wins – which gives the chance to make a Super Bowl run….
Licht’s drafting the past few years has been excellent – and I believe all that young 2nd, 3rd and 4th year talent is about to bust out. Talking about Kancey, Mauch, Diaby, Barton, Tykee, JMac, Bucky, Egbuka, Parrish, Tez, Morrison and Walker…. Plus whatever additional talent gets added through this year’s impending draft which seems like a promising one considering the team’s ‘needs’.
I remain positive about this team’s direction and expect a winning season in 2026.
April 8th, 2026 at 1:20 pm
Are they young enough to be youngry?
April 8th, 2026 at 1:25 pm
You realize ‘youngry’ was 15-years ago.
WTH.
April 8th, 2026 at 1:35 pm
The players who joined the Bucs in the off season expressed a hunger to play for Tampa. They would not have signed if they saw a team that the lost it’s hunger to play complimentary football.
If anything Todd Bowles coaches failed in their coaching responsibilities, especially on the defensive side. Gizzard was the wrong choice as OC He’s inexperience reared it’s ugly face as the 2025 progressed and was apparent after the bye week.
We’ll see how the new defensive coaching hires pan out. If they don’t they’re be gone along with Todd Bowles.
No point in panicking. We’ll know if it does happens. And speculation why Evans jumped ship won’t be known for several years. It’s behind us so just enjoy watching the Bucs.
April 8th, 2026 at 1:59 pm
Is Licht hungry? Not – he’s full of !?@ and doing the same thing every year. No impactful free agents or trades again.
April 8th, 2026 at 2:03 pm
We just got to coach it hungrier
April 8th, 2026 at 2:27 pm
Put hungry right up there with big chip on his shoulder as over used sports terms.
April 8th, 2026 at 3:13 pm
DR Says: “Fact of the matter IMO is that the 2025 team that we put on the field … in all 3 phases … lacked talent in some key areas. DEPTH was a major problem. Opponents figure out pretty quickly where your weak spots are and relentlessly attack them.”
Ding-Ding-Ding. Yep. Talent and Depth was number one. The rest of the team NOT ‘buying in’ was the rest of it. It caused the “effort” not to be there when we needed it most. Poor coaching across the board, and poor QB play. No one was buying it!
April 8th, 2026 at 5:01 pm
You can be all the hungry you want, but, if you play stupid and don’t get yanked off the field, you won’t win many games. Bowles does not hold anyone accountable for the constant errors and penalties. For example, what was Goedeke thinking when he single-handedly lost one of the games with his 6 penalties? Did Bowles sit his butt on the bench? Was he hungry that game or taking a bribe? What do the other players think when you allow that level of mental incompetence? Where was the BA accountability board for just two mental errors that game? Bowles is so used to coddling his players none even care anymore. There is no discipline for not following assignments or stupid penalties. How many times do you see them lose the edge or allow long 3rd down conversions. 3rd and 10 is an easy pick up. Granted we lack some players and depth but we lack coaching and accountability more. Bring back the accountability board and the a$$-chewings. We were hungry – pffft.
April 8th, 2026 at 5:18 pm
Licht, just shut the F up and get ready for the draft! Your constant gaslighting is really offensive to real fans!
April 8th, 2026 at 5:39 pm
Draft better bro
April 8th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Joe
Once in a while you edit my comments. Still
Not sure why, when you do.
Truth is truth.
April 8th, 2026 at 6:14 pm
Digging deep Joe, I love it! Just like munch and a good dr Seuss book.
April 8th, 2026 at 6:25 pm
When the coach is in denial, there will be no changes in effort. The GM put his finger on the genesis or first domino. The coach…well…
April 8th, 2026 at 7:19 pm
Just because you change out the coach and/or GM does not mean you get a lost decade in return.
April 8th, 2026 at 7:22 pm
ChiBuc makes a terrific point about JL and not seemingly being on the same page as several parties.
I might give him the BOTD on the Evans thing. If he truly was told by Evans why he left there’s no way he would publicly disclose it.
April 8th, 2026 at 7:23 pm
Just more spin. Licht should be on block.
April 8th, 2026 at 7:27 pm
Bowles isn’t quick to accept accountability openly that’s gotta be it,
Surely he isn’t so nonchalant he doesn’t realize that D looked anything but hungry post bye week
April 8th, 2026 at 8:55 pm
Truth be told, this defense gave up on Bowles, damn it was obvious last few games of the year. Licht and Bowles know it, we know it, players know it. Guys got fed up playing in the stupid cushion defense, Winfield was far from full effort. Hungry then or now is a joke. Bowles is clown.
April 8th, 2026 at 10:40 pm
I’m an obvious late-to-the-party Bucs fan. Licht and Bowles have two vastly-different roles. It’s not surprising to see the two of them contradict themselves.
Jason doesn’t spend his time working with the players from day-to-day. Todd does. Jason seeks feedback from the players. Todd works with them directly before, during, and after games.
As such, both seemingly-opposing perspectives are accurate given the expected context of both.
In my opinion, both are on the hotseat and both are working to their fullest to assure Buccaneers success in 2026. I’m feeling good about that and looking forward to September!
April 8th, 2026 at 11:17 pm
I haven’t read all the comments in advance yet, though I usually do. I feel this “hunger” thing is a matter of personal perception and impossible to actually measure. What is “hunger?”. Can anybody really measure it? I am proficient with micrometers, but I prefer to measure with what printers call a line gauge. That’s basically a steel ruler with a little stop tab at the end. Kinda like a solid tape measure. Spoiler alert: you cannot measure desire with anything you can possibly hold in your hand. Now I have been hard on Bowlzo for my own reasons. I am hardly the only BUCS fan to do so. Hardly. But Licht I have maintained faith in. However…truly and obviously idiotic statements like this make me doubt his organizational leadership. Now there exists the possibility JL actually feels this way, but I think he is polishing Glazer knob. We need a great leader who can also lead his bosses. Yeah, they want to win. They just do not know how. That’s where Jason can shine if
April 8th, 2026 at 11:22 pm
Joe…your comment board software rivals your football knowledge in its randomness
Maybe we should draft another Joe
April 9th, 2026 at 12:01 am
Hungry is tough to gauge. Literally it means someone wants more food. Metaphorically it means you want something very badly. This Bucs regime has shown evidence of plenty of the literal, and little (and declining) on the metaphorical.
April 9th, 2026 at 10:24 am
Bowles is clueless! He is not even tuned in to the team
April 9th, 2026 at 10:04 pm
Neither are some of the players too.