Did the Buccaneers make a mistake choosing Todd Bowles over Liam Coen?

Last offseason, drama erupted in Tampa Bay when offensive coordinator Liam Coen, with an offer on the table from the Buccaneers to become the highest-paid offensive coordinator in NFL history, flew to Jacksonville behind the organization's back to accept the Jaguars' head coaching job.

Sure, Coen's short stint with the Buccaneers ended on rocky terms, but there is no arguing that he is one of the most impressive young coaches in the league. Coen led the Bucs to one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history in 2024. The team finished No. 3 in total offense with almost 400 yards per game. Their 29.5 points scored per game ranked fourth in the NFL and was a top three offense in franchise history.

After back-to-back seasons boasting the NFL's worst rushing offense with under 100 yards per game, the rushing offense ballooned to nearly 150 yards per game under Coen, going from dead-last in the NFL to a top five rushing unit.

His impact simply can't be overstated, and Baker Mayfield and the offense surely would've benefitted from some continuity and a second year in Coen's system. But things just didn't go that way, with Coen understandably wanting to jump at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become an NFL head coach.

But should the Buccaneers have given in and offered him the head coaching position in Tampa Bay, rather than letting him leave the organization in favor of another season under Todd Bowles?

It wouldn’t have been unprecedented. The franchise has made a strikingly similar choice before, firing defensive-minded Lovie Smith so they could promote then-offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, fearing he’d leave for another head coaching opportunity. And long before that, they moved on from Tony Dungy, a steady playoff coach, to trade for the young, offensive-minded Jon Gruden.

Even with Dungy delivering consistent regular season success and postseason trips, the team decided he wasn’t the one to get them over the hump, and they moved on and took a massive swing. The parallels now are hard to ignore.

Although the Koetter era ultimately didn't pan out how the team hoped, the Gruden trade helped the team win their first-ever Super Bowl. There is a legitimate argument that the Buccaneers should've dipped into that well again and done whatever it took to keep Coen around for the long-term.

Coen, in his first ever season as an NFL head coach, has the Jaguars at 8-4 -- currently on a three-game winning streak and tied for first place in a competitive AFC South. But the argument for Coen over Bowles is deeper than just the team's records this season and has more to do with the long-term outlook.

Bowles, at 61, is the fourth-oldest head coach in the NFL. Coen, at 39, is tied as the league's second-youngest coach in contrast. Bowles has also made it clear he plans to retire within a few years, while Coen had the potential to lead the franchise for years to come.

Bowles is 34-29 as the head coach in Tampa Bay and is 1-3 in the playoffs. A worrying trend is that in all four seasons that Bowles has been at the helm, the Buccaneers have had a losing streak of at least three games each year. Simply put, the Bucs have been good, but not great, and it's fair to wonder if the team will ever be able to take the next step under Bowles' leadership.

Another argument against Bowles is that despite being billed as a defensive guru, his defenses just haven't been that special in Tampa Bay. The team currently ranks No. 23 allowing 25 points per game and No. 29 in passing defense this season.

The last month has been particularly brutal, with the team allowing an abysmal 1,568 yards and 123 points over the four-game span in which they've gone 1-3.

One thing Bowles deserves a ton of credit for is that he has made good hires at offensive coordinator, but he's had four offensive coordinators in four seasons as a result of Dave Canales and Coen both leaving Tampa for head coaching jobs after just one season.

Canales has had success in his own right, with his Carolina Panthers currently at 7-6 -- just a half game behind the 7-5 Bucs with two head-to-head games against Tampa Bay on the horizon that will decide the NFC South race.

It's hard to justify having to hire a new offensive coordinator every season and watch your former coordinators find success elsewhere in favor of your defensive guru head coach when his defense has been middle of the pack at best.

Overall, it's hard to shake the feeling that the Buccaneers should've taken a risk and let Coen lead them into a new era instead of tying themselves to the mediocrity that has become the standard under Bowles. The team has higher expectations than winning 9 or 10 games before losing in the first round of the playoffs, but Bowles hasn't yet proven he can lead them to their higher aspirations.

Coen's NFL career has only just begun, and the jury is still out, but he is already off to a phenomenal start. Here's hoping the Buccaneers won't be left watching him blossom into a top-tier head coach over the coming years and wondering what could've been.