The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2024 season didn’t quite go according to plan. Yes, the season can be seen as a success because the team improved its regular season record from a year ago and still managed to make the playoffs, but not getting through the Wild Card leaves a bitter taste for the Bucs.
The Bucs battled all season after copious amounts of injuries on both sides of the ball tried to derail the season. A tough midseason slump didn’t help things either, but the Buccaneers found a way to persevere and reach the playoffs even with so much against them.
The 2024 iteration of the Buccaneers saw the offense become the team’s most reliable weapon, becoming one of the top offenses in the entire league under first-year play-caller Liam Coen. Meanwhile, the defense was middling throughout the season despite being the usual strength of the team when led by head coach Todd Bowles.Bowles’ ability as a head coach has consistently come under scrutiny from fans, media, and pundits alike. Still, he has proven that he is a good coach in many facets despite some of his shortcomings in other areas. With Bowles’s name consistently being floated as a name to watch on the hot seat and the power shift from defense to offense this season, the Buccaneers have had the pressure of what to do moving forward with Bowles and their young, gifted offensive coordinator in Coen.
While some have pushed for the organization to move on from Bowles and hire the up-and-coming Coen as the team’s next head coach, others have remained steadfast in the team keeping Bowles to see if he can get his defense back on track while doing everything in their power to retain Coen as the OC; at least for another season.
And when digging into the words of those in the Buccaneers’ front office, they seemingly are proud of the job that Bowles has done like this comment from general manager Jason Licht made from before the team faced off against the Commanders in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
“It’s just kind of the cycle that we’re in with this team,” general manager Jason Licht said, per John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times. ” 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 he [Todd Bowles] has done with what we have, I think, has been remarkable.”
The remarks made by Licht seem to back up the large consensus that Bowles will indeed remain Tampa Bay’s head coach into the 2025 season as they hope to keep Coen in the fold as well.
Bowles’ track record isn’t that awe-inspiring, but he has helped the Buccaneers in several ways. He has owned the league’s best defense at a time and has helped Tampa Bay get through the post-Tom Brady years where he had to do the most with what he had due to the limitations the team had due to going all-in during that time.
Love him or hate him, Bowles has done plenty for the Buccaneers’ organization and is more than deserving of getting at least another year now that the team is out of the so-called “rebuild” era following their Super Bowl run with Brady.
