Todd Bowles Has the Defense of His Dreams, and No More Excuses
Most times, when an NFL head coach loses seven of his last eight games and has just a .500 record over four seasons, losing out on a division title and a playoff spot with an epic collapse down the stretch, they end up looking for a new job in January.
But whether he's got a well-prayed guardian angel, or the team's ownership just didn't want to pay the buyout after quietly extending his contract prior to last season, Todd Bowles is back for another year as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Widely regarded as one of the league's better defensive minds, Bowles has struggled to show consistent proficiency in managing the big-picture aspects of the head-coaching job while also scheming and play-calling his preferred side of the ball in Tampa Bay.
Bowles' believers would point out the Bucs winning the NFC South in each of his first three seasons as head coach, but detractors would remind us they barely won the worst division in the league, once with a losing record. The 1-3 playoff record reflects the lack of weight those NFC South banners held in the postseason against better teams from other divisions.
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Over those first three seasons, the Bucs' many shortcomings under Bowles' leadership were masked at the buzzer by another division title and another postseason berth. But after an impressive 6-2 start last season, Tampa Bay fell off the face of the earth, losing to seemingly inferior opponents while falling into a three-way tie at the top of the standings at the end of the year, ending their streak of four straight division titles on a tiebreaker to the Carolina Panthers.
Perhaps most concerning was the fact that Tampa Bay's defense, Bowles' specialty, was to blame for many of the critical failures that contributed heavily to their late-season collapse. Sure, the Bucs deal with a wide range of injuries to key players on both sides of the ball, but the league's best coordinators are the ones who can scheme around their personnel and maximize their talent, even when the stars aren't available. That didn't happen for Tampa Bay last season, as the defense struggled to create a consistent pass rush, couldn't take the ball away often enough, and failed to close out games in advantageous situations.
Bowles mentioned multiple times in recent years that communication issues continued to plague the defense, particularly in some of those clutch moments. That's simply not acceptable from someone who has been coaching the same defense for the same team since 2019. With veteran leaders like Vita Vea (drafted in 2018) and Antoine Winfield Jr. (2020) still on the roster, there's simply no excuse for such fundamental issues at this point in Bowles' tenure leading the Bucs' defense.
Now back for at least one more year, Bowles is out of those excuses.
Lackluster pass rush? Tampa Bay had Miami's Rueben Bain Jr. fall right into their lap at the No. 15 overall pick, landing them the best pure edge rusher in the entire 2026 NFL Draft class. They signed Al-Quadin Muhammad, who bagged double-digit sacks for the Detroit Lions last year. They even stole Bain's college teammate Keionte Scott in the fourth round, a versatile slot defender who tallied five sacks as a blitzer for the Canes in 2025 (all them of them while lined up next to Bain).
Yes, they'll have to fill the massive void left behind by the retirement of Lavonte David, a future Hall of Famer who spend his entire 14-year career in Tampa Bay, and who will be missed as much in the locker room as he will on the field. But they signed Alex Anzalone in free agency, and spent their second-round pick on Missouri's Josiah Trotter, elevating both the floor and ceiling of the linebacker group with David now out of the picture.
Bucs GM Jason Licht has invested significant resources in to the defensive backfield, with big-money extensions in recent years for Winfield and CB Zyon McCollum, as well as early draft picks in CBs Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish. DB Tykee Smith was a third-round pick, and Scott gives them another valuable weapon who can attack from multiple spots.
Vea remains the anchor in the trenches, and finally getting a full season out of Calijah Kancey would be a massive win. Yaya Diaby has been one of the NFL's best at generating pressure, but the sack numbers just haven't followed. Adding Bain should help, and an influx of both young talent and veteran additions (A'Shawn Robinson) should bolster the interior.
The Bucs have loaded up this year's defense with promising young talent, veteran experience, and tons of players who are perfect fits for what Bowles wants to do on defense. Licht has spent the past six years acquiring talent on that side of the ball to fit Bowles' specifications across the board.
Now, it's time for all of that to pay off on the field.
Yes, Baker Mayfield and the offense will need to stay healthy, score points, and take care of the football. Yes, they'll have to rely on the rest of their deep receiver room to mitigate the loss of another future Hall of Famer in Mike Evans. But if the Bucs fail to get back to the top of the division this year, I doubt it will be the offense that deserves the lion's share of the blame.
It will be Bowles, if he can't take the time, money, resources and personnel that's been invested in his defense, and live up to his reputation as one of the NFL's best defensive coordinators. He has everything he needs to make the Bucs a winner in 2026, and he needs to take advantage of an opportunity many head coaches don't get after the way things finished last year.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 4:13 PM.