Now that Tom Brady has retired, what happens next for Buccaneers?

What happens to the Buccaneers coaching staff?

There’s also the matter of what impact Brady retiring has on the coaching staff. Before he made his announcement, the Bucs were already starting to make changes to Todd Bowles staff but how those roles get replaced has likely changed.

Most immediately affected is the search for a new offensive coordinator. There were rumblings that Kellen Moore would be pursued, but he quickly took a job with the Los Angeles Chargers. Todd Monken has been interviewed for the position, as has Keenan McCardell, Klint Kubiak, and Jim Bob Cooter.

Brady retiring might open the door for Monken to return to Tampa Bay. He knows the most important parts of the offense from his first stint with the team and could get the most out of Kyle Trask if he’s chosen to be the starter in 2023. Monken could be playing with house money, too. If the coaching staff is gutted next offseason, Monken will have spent a season letting other teams watch him cook before auditioning for another job elsewhere in the league. It’s essentially what he did the last time he was in Tampa, helping Jameis Winston throw for what felt like a billion yards per game before parlaying that into two National Championships at Georgia.

That’s the other point as the elephant in the room is the longevity of the current staff, as it’s now tremendously unclear what the future holds for Bowles. He was already on the hot seat after what happened this past season, but he’s now backed into a corner with Brady retiring. The Bucs will look very different in 2023, and it’s a matter of whether ownership wants to build the team back in Bowles’ vision or if he’s scapegoated after a losing season.

This is assuming the team regresses next year, which seems entirely possible. Logic would suggest that if the team looked as dull as it did in Brady’s last year, it’s probably going to be even worse without him and some key players who might not be back as well.

Bowles has proved in the past that he can turn things around — just look at the something he made out of nothing during his time with the New York Jets. He has a long-term deal with the team, but coaching contracts are basically fairy dust to owners, and the pressure will be on for him to prove he’s the right coach to successfully lead the franchise through choppy waters and into an uncertain future.