Ownership intervened, compelling Todd Bowles to dismiss his assistants. The Glazer family, however, backed their coach, despite the puzzling decision.
Some Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans wanted Todd Bowles to be fired after this season.
That's what happens when a team starts the year 6-2 and proceeds to miss the playoffs despite no other team in the division finishing with a winning record.
Those who wanted Bowles gone probably saw Tampa firing five assistant coaches --including offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard after just one season -- as Bowles placing the blame on everybody else.
Although it had been previously reported by ESPN's Jenna Laine that it was Bowles who decided to oust the assistants, a prominent NFL Insider says that's not the case.
When talking with Tampa's WDAE on Radio Row on Wednesday during Super Bowl week, Fox's Jay Glazer said it was the Glazer family (not related) who forced Bowles to fire his assistants, but liked Bowles enough to keep him.
Jay Glazer said he didn't understand ownership's thinking.
“It made no sense to me -- to keep him but make him fire everybody on the staff,” Glazer said. “That made no sense. Like, that has zero sense. Right? Yeah, I just didn’t get that one.”
Glazer said the Bucs owners love Bowles.
Bowles was a big part of Tampa's second and most recent Super Bowl win, serving as the defensive coordinator in 2020.
Two seasons later, then-coach Bruce Arians retired and Bowles was promoted, and he led Tampa to three straight division titles.
During that stretch of three NFC South title-winning seasons, the Bucs finished 8-9, then 9-8 and, in 2024, 10-7.
Bowles has shown that he can hire quality assistants, with offensive coordinators Dave Canales and Liam Coen each becoming NFL head coaches after one season in Tampa.
If new OC Zac Robinson can repeat that success and help quarterback Baker Mayfield play like a star for an entire season -- as opposed to half of one, it would go a long way toward Tampa becoming formidable. But Mayfield's ability to win will be limited if Tampa's defense isn't better. Of the NFL's 32 teams, only one of them has its head coach doubling as defensive coordinator, and Tampa is that one.
There are instances where the head coach calls defensive plays, such as the Seattle Seahawks, who are playing in this year's Super Bowl. But ownership not forcing Bowles to either give up play-calling because of how this year went or at least hire a promising young defensive mind shows how much trust it has in him.
It's fair to wonder if that trust is hurting the Buccaneers.
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