Even amidst losses, Bruce Arians champions Todd Bowles, citing injuries and player development. The legendary coach and a senior advisor for Tampa Bay believes the Buccaneers can reload under his former offensive coordinator.
Should the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fire Todd Bowles?
That’s what happens when a team loses seven of its last nine games after starting 6-2.
Even though the Bucs had won three consecutive division titles coming into this season, the fact that they didn’t win a fourth in a year where the division champion went 9-8 has people wanting a change.
The last Tampa coach to win a Super Bowl isn’t one of those people.
Bruce Arians hired Todd Bowles in 2019, when he took over as head coach, and it was Arians who strategized his retirement so that Bowles could be the best head coach.
Times are tough now, but Arians feels the Bucs should stick with Bowles.
"Yeah, I think so,” Arians said on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week. “A lot of injuries this year, and some things didn't go right in a couple different spots. Todd's going to right the ship, and (general manager) Jason Licht's going to get another great draft. They'll reload, they won't have to rebuild.
To Arians’ point, part of the reason Tampa collapsed was because of injuries.
Key players such as receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and running back Bucky Irving all missed time due to injuries.
Tampa also lost an abnormally large amount of close games— six by one possession— and although Tampa made plenty of mistakes to lose those games, it’s hard to argue that there isn’t some bad luck involved.
Bowles himself addressed his future in his 2025 requiem press conference Monday afternoon, and he feels he deserves to coach the Bucs for the 2026 season.
"All I can do is coach and be myself. I've earned the chance," Bowles said. "I've won three straight division titles. So, that says a lot as far as I'm concerned."
Perhaps by design, Bowles pointed out that part of the reason not making the playoffs this year hurts so much is because the Bucs have grown so used to making it.
"It's disappointing we didn't get in. It's very disappointing," Bowles said. "First time in five years, so you kind of get used to it a little bit."
Bowles also knows that the main reason the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t make the playoffs is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"We did it to ourselves," Bowles said. "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."