Buccaneers GM Jason Licht sends strong message about HC Todd Bowles

A report surfaced shortly after Liam Coen's shocking defection from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this winter, suggesting that the Bucs might have fired head coach Todd Bowles and promoted Coen to offensive coordinator if Tampa Bay had missed the playoffs. 

During a recent chat with the JoeBucsFan website, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht offered a strong defense of Bowles.

"Not everything is, 'You can put it on the [head] coach,'" Licht said about criticisms of Bowles often voiced by fans. "And, I mean, you guys [at JoeBucsFan] talk about 'The Lost Decade' all the time. We’ve been going to the playoffs for five straight years now and Todd’s been here the whole time. ...He’s been the head coach for three of those years."

Bowles served as Tampa Bay's defensive coordinator from 2019 until he was promoted to head coach in March 2022. Following the retirement of quarterback Tom Brady in February 2023, Bowles' Buccaneers won five of their final six regular-season games to reach the playoffs. Tampa Bay notched a wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buccaneers then suffered a brutal 31-23 divisional-round defeat at a Detroit Lions side that probably should've played in the Super Bowl. 

More recently, the 2024 Buccaneers went from 4-6 to 10-7 to clinch a playoff berth. One will never know how far Tampa Bay could've advanced in the tournament had its offense not committed a brutal fourth-quarter turnover in what became a wild-card loss to the Washington Commanders.

In December, Bowles oddly became the subject of an out-of-nowhere retirement rumor as some tried to link the Buccaneers with Bill Belichick. Licht seems content with the fact that Bowles is staying in charge for the foreseeable future.  

"I guess there’s expectation to win the Super Bowl every year," Licht added during his comments. "But, I think Todd’s been doing a great job steadying the ship and pulling us out of some ruts [in 2022 and 2023] and keeping the faith and keeping guys positive, and we’ve done some great things. ...You never know what you’re going to get with a head coach and we know what we have with Todd. And we’re going to do whatever we can to help improve the team for him."

Depending on the state of Tampa Bay's roster come September, Licht may expect the Buccaneers to do more than make a playoff appearance in January 2026. With that said, it doesn't seem ahead of spring that Bowles will be coaching for his job next season.