A Tampa Bay Buccaneers tailback urges coach Todd Bowles to relinquish defensive coordinator duties, citing recent struggles and the need for focus.
Barring something crazy, Todd Bowles will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach in 2026, and the plan is for him also to continue as the team's defensive coordinator.
Not everybody thinks this is a good idea. One such person played for Bowles and the Bucs this season, but is now a free agent.
Tampa Bay collapsed this season, the Bowles' defense is partially to blame.
In 2024, the Bucs finished 16th in the league in scoring defense, and this season they slid to 20th.
Bowles has proven a capable defensive strategist. After all, he helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl as defensive coordinator in the 2020 season, and it was his work as DC that led to him becoming the head coach.
Just as recently as 2023, Tampa Bay had a top-10 defense, so Bowles has shown that he can handle both responsibilities.
But an NFL head coach and an NFL defensive coordinator are two full-time jobs, to say the least.
For starting running back Rachaad White, who appeared to say his good-byes to the Bucs in a Jan. 4 post on Instagram, Bowles would make it easier on himself and the rest of the organization if he focused on being the head coach and handed the defense to someone else.
"He'd probably be better off by doing that, so he can just focus on really just the head coaching job, and just trust that he has the right defensive staff," White said on Tuesday's Loose Cannons podcast. "I do think it would make his life more easier."
Should Bowles give up DC duties, the Bucs would have to launch a defensive coordinator search.
White spoke in the same interview of the Buccaneers' struggles on offense this season.
Tampa Bay is already looking for a new offensive coordinator after firing Josh Grizzard and a new special teams coordinator after firing Thomas McGaughey.
It’s fair to wonder if looking for yet another coordinator is the best thing for the Bucs this offseason. But it’s also fair to wonder why Bowles is the only coordinator that isn’t going anywhere when the defense was clearly a problem in 2025.
The best example of the defense letting Tampa Bay down took place in December against the Atlanta Falcons.
Hosting a losing team on Thursday night, the Bucs had a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter.
Then the defense allowed the Falcons to trim the deficit to 2 points. (To be fair, Baker Mayfield's pick also contributed.)
Then, on a do-or-die possession, Atlanta faced a 3rd-and-28 from its own 29. At that point, Tampa’s win probability sat at 87.3 percent.
Two plays later, Atlanta had a first down, and soon after, the Falcons kicked a game-winning field goal.
Bowles went on a profanity-laced tirade after the loss, and weeks later, he made it clear that things need to change defensively.
It’s fair for White and others to wonder why the current defensive coordinator isn't one of those changes.
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