It’s been a rough year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but specifically for head coach Todd Bowles.
After starting out 3-1, the Bucs are 1-6 since their bye week and nothing seems to be going right. The offense is sputtering and even the defense is starting to take its foot off the gas. The latter part of that is the slot alarming since it’s Bowles’ side of the ball but the collective failure of the team to do much more than eek out a 4-7 record is an indictment of the coaching staff.
That all begins and ends with Bowles.
Despite coaching changes made this offseason, the Bucs continue to make boneheaded mistakes that should have been coached out by now. The decisions the team makes boggles the mind, poor play doesn’t improve, and overall the Bucs are tending in the wrong direction.
All of this has placed Bowles squarely on the hot seat and the recent performance of the team has fans routinely calling for his head.
Buccaneers insider Rick Stroud dropped news that fans probably won’t like. Bowles might be on the hot seat but he’s not excepted to be fired during the season.
“According to Bucs’ officials, Bowles’ job appears safe for at least the remaining six games, including four against the underwhelming NFC South,” Stroud wrote. “ Barring something unforeseen, the Glazers prefer to evaluate everything at the end of the season and weigh all factors, including injuries.”
This probably won’t pulse Bucs fans who want to see Bowles go after what has transpired, but it makes sense as far as decisions the Glazers have made in the past. Coaches like Greg Schiano and Raheem Morris have survived to the end of the season only to be fired, so the math adds up in terms of not firing Bowles during the season.
The takeaway here is that the idea of firing Bowles is starting to gain traction. It’s not by any means a certainty but his seat is as hot as it’s ever been and his job is squarely in jeopardy.
A loss on Sunday to a 1-10 team would seemingly be a prime opportunity to fire Bowles, but it doesn’t sound like it will happen. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen once the season is over, though, as these final weeks will be critical to what happens next for the Bucs