As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shift into offseason mode following last Sunday's loss in the Wild Card round, one major question lingering over everything is what will happen with the coaching staff.
It's a two-pronged question, as the future of Liam Coen is in flux with so much head coaching hype around him, which has, in turn, riled up a portion of the fanbase with a desire to replace Todd Bowles. At almost every turn this year, the reaction to the job Bowles was doing got ugly, with a growing number of fans calling for his job over things like the four-game losing streak, keeping Chris Godwin in the Ravens game when he got injured, and his time management.
Some of Bowles' flaws are indefensible, specifically his bizarre struggles with the clock. Back-to-back seasons ended with time management blunders by Bowles, which has done him absolutely no favors in winning anyone over to his side who isn't already there. That being said, it's also back-to-back seasons where the Buccaneers have been division champions after navigating brutal midseason losing streaks, which is a testament to the job Bowles has done creating the right culture.
All of this is to say there seems, at least from the fans perspective, to be a big decision looming for the Bucs to make this offseason. To the man who would have to make that decision, there seems to be no debate at all.
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht gives Todd Bowles his endorsement as head coach
General manager Jason Licht spoke with John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times about the job Bowles did this past season and, in doing so, seemed to tip his hand about what the future holds. He praised the job Bowles did, pointing out that the deck was sort of stacked against him with all that happened, yet he still managed to lead the Bucs to a 10-win season.
"It's just kind of the cycle that we're in with this team," Licht said. " Two years ago when we had the — I don't want to say rebuild — but we knew it was going to take some time to fill every spot on the defense. Is there some spots that we could add to? Of course. But it takes time. And what [Todd Bowles] has done with what we have, I think, has been remarkable."
He's not wrong, and a lot of the good stuff that Bowles did got overlooked in the blind rage that most fans were in. Injuries piled up in a big way on the Bucs this year and severely depleted a defense that Bowles still coached into being one of the top units in the league during the second half of the season. Tampa Bay gave up just 26 second-half points between its bye week and the end of the year despite missing Antoine Winfield Jr for most of that stretch.
We've also seen teams buckle and break under the weight of losing streaks Tampa Bay endured, but the Bucs played against type and lived to tell the tale. That's the sign of a healthy locker room, which is another forgotten element of the equation.
Lavonte David defended Bowles against criticism this wee,k and that's a good glimpse into how he's viewed by the locker room. Firing Bowles and replacing him with Coen is an easy call for someone to make from behind a screen, but the ramifications of that are bigger than simply making a switch.
Bowles has his flaws, but he's more often than not shown he's capable of leading the team in the right direction. All signs already pointed toward him coming back for a make-or-break season in 2025 and Licht's comments seem to confirm that.
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