Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles says he's earned the right to return in 2026

TAMPA, Fla. — Todd Bowles isn’t worried about his job security after an epic collapse by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Everything unraveled after a 6-2 start and the Buccaneers (8-9) failed to win their fifth straight NFC South title when Atlanta beat New Orleans on Sunday to give Carolina a three-way tiebreaker advantage.

Bowles had led Tampa Bay to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons after replacing Bruce Arians in 2022. He has three years remaining on his contract and he’s operating as if he’ll return for a fifth season.

“I’ve earned the chance,” Bowles said about coming back. “I’ve won three straight division titles, so that says a lot as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really have a message for fans other than true fans are true fans and we’re going to try to do our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel how they feel, but that’s not a coach’s problem. The coach’s problem is to make the team better and that’s all I’m looking forward to.”

Bowles will meet with the Glazer family on Wednesday for a typical end-of-season conversation with the ownership group.

The Glazers once fired Super Bowl champion coach Jon Gruden with a few years left on his contract and also fired Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy after three straight playoff appearances, including an NFC championship game.

But there’s no indication Bowles’ job is in jeopardy and that could be due to the realization he simply didn’t have enough talent on the roster.

Bowles wouldn’t put the blame on roster construction.

“I feel like we had enough talent to win,” he said. “The mistakes we made weren’t talent-driven, they were more mistake-driven.”

So are the players or coaches responsible for the mistakes?

“It starts with me,” he said. “I’ll take it all. I’m the head coach. It starts with me. I have to take all of that and I have to get that fixed. That’s what my job description is and that’s what I should do. It starts with me, it goes down to the coaches, then it goes down to the players.”

Bowles, who was the defensive coordinator under Arians when Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title five years ago, is 36-36, including 1-3 in the playoffs.

An offense that was plagued by injuries for most of the first three-fourths of the season dropped from No. 3 overall in yards in 2024 under Liam Coen to 21st in Josh Grizzard’s first season as the offensive coordinator. They were top five in rushing, passing and scoring last season when Baker Mayfield had his best season.

This season, the Bucs finished 21st in rushing, 20th in passing and 18th in scoring. Mayfield was bothered by injuries throughout the second half.

On defense, the Buccaneers were 19th in yards. It’s the third straight season they’ve finished 18th or worse.

The Buccaneers simply don’t have a dominant pass rusher or enough playmakers. They signed two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million prove-it deal and he got 2 1/2 sacks in 13 games.

“It’s disappointing we didn’t get in,” Bowles said. “First time in five years, so you kind of get used to it a little bit. But, we did it to ourselves. We’ve got to take a deep evaluation, starting with myself. Once I do that, I’ll evaluate the coaches and players and we’ll go accordingly.”

Free agency

Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and veteran linebacker Lavonte David are two of the franchise’s greatest players and both will be free agents if they choose to keep playing. Evans is still a top receiver and David is a valuable leader on the field.

Neither was ready to make a decision about their future.

“I’ll pray about it, talk to my family about it, just do what I gotta do,” David said about retirement. “I’m always praying about whatever God’s will is for me to let it be done. Whenever that opportunity comes or when that time comes, you know I’ll be able to be straightforward and shoot straight and let you know, but right now I have no idea.”

Evans said missing several weeks with injuries was a “blessing in disguise.”

“I missed the game more than I thought I would. I still got love for the game,” he said. “Who knows what it’ll do for me in the future.”

Cornerback Jamel Dean, tight end Cade Otton, running back Rachaad White, defensive lineman Logan Hall and Reddick also will be key free agents. Defensive lineman Greg Gaines, wideout Sterling Shepard, tight end Ko Kieft, offensive linemen Charlie Heck and Dan Feeney and cornerback Kindle Vildor are among other players who will be unrestricted free agents.

Next steps

Bowles has to figure out which changes he’s going to make on the coaching staff and whether he’s going to relinquish some of the defensive duties. The offense was inconsistent, the defense struggled and special teams were mostly poor.