When Todd Bowles Is Good And When He’s Not So Good
June 16th, 2026
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
Joe already typed about how in a head coach draft hatched by The Ringer, KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles was selected No. 27. Then, host Sheil Kapadia of The Ringer and Patrick Daugherty of NBC Sports tried to make cases why Bowles is a better coach than that.
Joe pointed out yesterday, if the two really felt that way about Bowles, then why didn’t they select him higher?
“He’s got a .452 winning percentage for his career,” Kapadia said. “Four of those seasons were with the New York Jets, where literally nobody has won. So I can’t count that really against him.
“He’s had three playoff appearances in four seasons with the Tampa Bay Bucs. Now only one playoff win in eight seasons as a head coach, so that’s not great. I do feel like he can fluster a certain level of quarterback and offensive coordinator, like, we’ve seen that [against] Philadelphia.”
Kapadia also noted that while Bowles can fluster some offensive coordinators, when he runs up against elite offensive minds like Sean McVay or Ben Johnson (when Johnson called the Lions offense), Bowles’ defenses too often are not up to the task.
“I feel like Bowles gets exposed a little bit when he goes up against that level of offense, sometimes, whether it’s in the playoffs or the regular season,” Kapadia said.
Kapadia believes Bowles’ saving grace was his first two hires as Bucs offensive coordinator. However, Kapadia is not a huge fan of Zac Robinson and fears that could do in Bowles.
“I don’t know about you, I didn’t watch that Falcons offense last year and was like, ‘Oh, who’s this gaming this bad boy out? Go get me that guy!’ So I’m a little concerned. I don’t think the arrow is pointing up for Todd Bowles. He’s 62-years old.”
While Robinson may not be another Liam Coen, if Robinson gets the run game going, the Bucs’ passing game will take care of itself, Joe believes. Mayfield and Godwin are savvy veterans. Emeka Egbuka is smart. They’ll figure things out.
If Robinson gets the run game going, the Bucs, at least on offense, should be OK.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:24 am
I’m trying to find the good part.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:26 am
I am in wait and see mode on Zac Robinson. ATL had good offensive talent at WR, RB and TE, of course not so much at QB. And I thought ATL’s offense was meh.
Ironically, the thing that gives me hope about Robinson is that Todd hired him. Todd seems to be a good judge of hiring O-coordinators as evidenced by Liam Coen and Canales. Yeah, Grizz sucked. But I don’t expect Todd to make that mistake twice in a row.
Todd knows his job is in jeopardy and that the OC position could sink him.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Bowles has way too many “bad” in-game decisions. He needs much more “good”!
June 16th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Is this a Bowles issue or a defensive personnel issue? It’s been the latter as far as I’m concerned. When Bowles had great defensive players, his defense was great. When they left/retired his defense went way down. Give him lots of high draft picks and high quality defensive players and I’m quite sure our defense rocks again. We have to win 1 on 1 matchups in the pass rush to apply more pressure and get sacks! That comes from quality of players. If you aren’t getting pressure and opposing QB’s have all day back there eventually someone will get open.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:50 am
Cmon Man, we all know he sucks as a coach, we don’t need a bunch of stats, we all have eyeballs. Anytime we win against a team w/ a winning record something fluky happens, ie Seattle or Detroit last yr.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:51 am
He won a Super Bowl for us with great defense. It’s personnel, not scheme.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:52 am
I believe that providing our Oline is healthy that almost all OC’s could get the running game going with Gainwell and Buck , so getting the running game going is the easiest part of the job given a healthy Oline.
Teaching Baker to get on the ground when he should will be Bowles biggest challenge and Todd said as much ad nauseum in a recent interview. Bowles and Mayfield need to get on the same page right now.
At the end of the day you are what your record says you are so Todd is a mediocre HC and if the Glazers as owners are willing to accept mediocrity then Bucs fans are doomed to near misses for perpetuity.
June 16th, 2026 at 7:55 am
Yep! Amen, Joe!
Establish the run. Sustain drives using the run 2 to 1 on all four downs. And, as the game goes on, passing success will be there.
But, intoxication with passing success cannot be allowed to distract from commitment to using the run on all four downs, or the passing success will evaporate.
And, the run cannot be abandoned just because the other team has a lead – that kind of desperation leads to blow outs and throws away the opportunity to pull out a win after a full 60 minute battle.
Without the run, it all falls apart.
June 16th, 2026 at 8:00 am
@ Tony
“I’m trying to find the good part.”
The good – Todd Bowles is good enough to beat bad QBs and OCs.
The bad – TB gets exposed against good QBs and OCs.
The ugly – 3rd and 28.
June 16th, 2026 at 8:33 am
Where it has fallen apart for Bowles’ defense in recent years has been early drive failure.
The first set of downs, Bowles should go all out for a three and out to keep drives short, rest his defense, and give the offense more chances to beat up on the other team rushing the ball.
There has been little chance of getting three and outs the last two years.
In 2025, both of the ILBs faced five coverage snaps for every three rush snaps they played. And, neither Bucs ILB ranked even close to being a starter in pass coverage last year. And, while David ranked as a lower tier starter defending against the rush and rushing the passer, Dennis only ranked as a starter when rushing the passer.
With such a deficit at ILB, the Bucs were giving away first downs and long drives and guaranteeing that the defense would be gassed. Coupled with an offense that would run successfully when it ran, but mostly would not run, and the Bucs defense was weak at the end of games.
After the 2024 debacle at ILB, failing to obtain top tier free agent ILBs or to draft top ILBs in 2025 is on Licht and Bowles.
The moves they have made this offseason should remediate much of the problems although choosing Trotter with his ability to smash into blocking sleds over the bigger, faster, younger Anthony Hill, Jr.s’ ability to cover receivers and produce turnovers seems like a twisted version of the thinking that gave us KJ Britt and Dennis as starters.
June 16th, 2026 at 8:40 am
32nd ranked red zone defense in 2025.
That alone should get a defensive guru run out of town.
But Todd continues to fail upwards.
There must be a Golden Horseshoe planted in his bung hole.
Can’t wait for the excuses and follies he dials up in 2026.
June 16th, 2026 at 8:45 am
Stpetematt Says:
June 16th, 2026 at 7:51 am
He won a Super Bowl for us with great defense. It’s personnel, not scheme.
Hahahaha…..thanks for the belly laugh this morning…..smfh
June 16th, 2026 at 8:56 am
The Glaziers wanted to do avoid firing him because of the release/optics associated with the Raise the Flags Series.
This is almost silly. –Joe
June 16th, 2026 at 8:57 am
3-28 is now unfortunately part of Bucs history forever and Bowles is stuck with that title
June 16th, 2026 at 9:03 am
Football is 80% Blocking and Tackling
The Bucs were Not Good at either after the Bye last year.
That would explain the coaching and personnel changes this year and injuries were another factor.
If the Bucs can stay healthy this year, the results will be a reflection of the coaching and QB play.
June 16th, 2026 at 9:15 am
Give him all the players back he had on the Super Bowl winning defense back in their primes and we’d barely ever lose a game.
June 16th, 2026 at 9:16 am
He needs to be HC or DC. I think both us too much for him. Doesn’t make him a bad DC. Just needs to be one or the other. Too late now. I know this
June 16th, 2026 at 9:24 am
You are what your record says you are.
Expecting something different from this man is absurd.
June 16th, 2026 at 9:39 am
St. pete he also lost a super bowl with the exact same personnel, I will never forget zero blitz against the Rams! Great call against an uber aggressive head coach like McVay.
June 16th, 2026 at 9:39 am
Floormutt is here to be comic relief.
“ He won a Super Bowl for us with great defense. It’s personnel, not scheme. “
😂🤣🙄
FYI, BA was the head coach then, more than half a decade ago. So BA won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady at QB and an offense that averaged 30ppg. With a defensive coordinator that did what his boss told him.
June 16th, 2026 at 9:49 am
His record says he has already won a Super Bowl for us with his defense. And if you go back and watch the film of all the differences in scheme we threw at Mahomes in that Super Bowl, it proves Bowles is both flexible and very intelligent. The scheme was exactly the opposite of what mahomes expected. Lots of max coverage and 3 safety looks. Something I think we will see quite a bit of this year if we start getting pressure with 4 again.
June 16th, 2026 at 10:30 am
100% agree with Stpetematt
June 16th, 2026 at 10:43 am
Bowles got exposed the last 2 years. If you have:
Dennis trying to cover Bijan out of the backfield
Anthony Nelson trying to cover James Cook downfield
Diaby trying to cover whoever he was trying to cover
:You’ve been exposed.
When your scheme is so bad that the defensive players (some, anyway) quit because they know it’s not going to work, you shouldn’t be coach anymore.
June 16th, 2026 at 10:47 am
I 100% disagree with STpetematt.
June 16th, 2026 at 11:39 am
The ppl that are expecting Coen like results from Robinson are going to be disappointed I fear.
Coen seems to be one of the dynamic young coaches in the league. If you look at how he adjusted his running scheme mid season to fit his personnel in ‘24 and how he completely changed everything in Jacksonville overnight it speaks to elite management abilities. It’s not common to see that in a first year OC then in a first year HC.
Hopefully the line can stay healthy and gel early and we can run the ball effectively and produce a unit that’s close to top 10.
June 16th, 2026 at 12:37 pm
New team , new season, same basic flaw…HC and DC!
June 16th, 2026 at 12:44 pm
Stpetematt is the Grand Wizard of the Pom Pom squad.
I’ve never seen derangement on this level.
If the Bucs go 4-13 in 2026 these same Polly positive fans will just double down with their delusions.
Probably will demand another extension for Bowles.
At least they make great comic fodder.