Welcome to the good, the bad, and the brilliant. In this series, we will break down what a good, bad, and brilliant outing would look like for different facets of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ organization. The Tampa Bay Bucs will be heading into the 2025 season as winners of the NFC South for the fourth consecutive year. For their head coach, Todd Bowles, what would constitute a good season? Conversely, what might leave fans shaking their heads? Does Bowles have brilliance tucked up his sleeve and what would that
look like if he did? Would a record fifth year of divisional dominance mark the campaign as a success or is something greater needed? Introducing the good, the bad, and the brilliant: Featuring Todd Bowles.
The Buccaneers’ fanbase has been relatively mixed on Todd Bowles, as a head coach. The organization has left little doubt that they’ve enjoyed Bowles’ production as their head man and that they envision a future with him at the controls. Bowles was inked to a three-year contract extension in January, keeping him with the team through the 2028 season. While questions have flurried about concerning some of the in-game decisions he has put on his resumé as well as the Buccaneers’ diminished defensive capabilities in recent seasons, those hiccups have come along with an array of successes.
Bowles has never coached the Buccaneers anywhere short of an NFC South title. His three consecutive division-winning seasons are three quarters of the most in team history. If Bowles and his Buccaneers are able to complete the task once again, the Tampa Bay would be the only team in division history to ever accomplish the feat. While the Bucs have been far from a glamour NFL franchise, the accomplishments of Todd Bowles put him right near the top of the list for the club’s best. History aside, what would a good season look like for the Bucs’ head coach?
Todd Bowles: The Good
For Tampa Bay a good season must represent a step forward from a year ago— Running in place is certainly not progress. In 2024, the Buccaneers won the division, but lost in round one of the playoffs. This came after putting together a better showing in 2023. A good season demonstrates progress and progress would mean the Buccaneers not only find themselves back in the postseason but spend some time there as well. In theory, Tampa would not need to win the NFC South in order to accomplish this although that would be the team’s easiest path. If the Buccaneers earn a spot in the playoffs and give fans a nice little playoff run to puff their chest out about, Todd Bowles will have had a good season.
Todd Bowles: The Bad
For coaches, success almost always comes down to wins and loses. The Buccaneers have had steady growth in the win column each of the past three seasons— 8 in 2022, 9 in 2023, 10 in 2024. If Tampa takes a step backward this season, Bowles will no longer have a cushy gig. The Buccaneers’ fanbase will be be highly disappointed if a team this talented fails to meet expectations and likely will be unapologetic in their critiques of the team’s head man if he is at the forefront of the failure. Setting the record for consecutive NFC South titles won (A record anyone would almost just assume the New Orleans Saints set during the Drew Brees era) would be a huge accomplishment for Tampa Bay— However, Tampa does not need a division title to make the playoffs, they can enter a wildcard and still have a successful campaign. Afterall, Tampa’s Super Bowl-winning season came following a wildcard berth. The Buccaneers missing the playoffs entirely is where Todd Bowles will start to get himself in some hot water. Tampa is far too talented, as a team, to not register for the postseason. The NFC South may be improved but has been a weak division as of late and even if Tampa’s rivals rise up and claim the South title from them, there are plenty of wild card spots to go around in today’s NFL. For Todd Bowles, missing the playoffs represents a bad season and a catastrophic disappointment considering where the team is positioned to go this year.
Todd Bowles: The Brilliant
The 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in an unorthodox situation. Tampa has one of more talented teams in the league, on paper. Despite the abundance of quality players, very few look at the Buccaneers as legitimate championship contenders— Todd Bowles is certainly part of that skepticism. Tampa’s coach isn’t viewed by many as a championship coach. If Todd Bowles puts the league on notice and rewrites his narrative it will be a brilliant season.
What would it take for Todd Bowles to rewrite his narrative?
In order for the league-wide perspective to alter around Tampa Bay and their head coach, the Buccaneers would at least need an NFC Championship appearance under their belt. All of the NFC title game’s coaching participants, across the last four seasons, are highly regarded coaches and their a quite a few consistent names—Kyle Shanahan (3), Nick Sirianni (2), Dan Campbell, Matt LaFleur, and Sean McVay. Breaking into that group is the first step towards being respected as a member of that group. For Todd Bowles, a season that ends with a floor of a competitive showing in an NFC Championship game would be a brilliant season. This scenario would require the Buccaneers to win at least two playoff games, or have a team-historic regular season where they capture a first-round bye. Either way Buccaneers’ fans would have little gripe with Tampa going on a deep playoff run, making the final four, and putting themselves within 60 minutes of third Super Bowl berth.
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