The tenure of Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Head Coach Todd Bowles is once again a major talking point, especially among frustrated fans. This season, the debate has been sharply intensified following a disastrous late-game collapse against the Atlanta Falcons with a score of 29-28. The Buccaneers squandered a significant fourth-quarter lead, leading to a loss that puts their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy and reignites the call for a coaching change as the season winds down.

As speculation mounts over Bowles’ potential firing, a rumor has started circulating on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter): the possibility of Bowles returning to the New York Jets as a Defensive Coordinator (DC). A post by Optimistic Jets states,

“If Todd Bowles is fired in Tampa Bay, a return to the #Jets as DC would be amazing.”

This idea is notable because Bowles was previously the head coach for the Jets for four seasons (2015–2018). His tenure there began with great promise; the team surprised many in 2015 with a 10-6 record and featured a top-10 unit on both offense and defense, though they narrowly missed the playoffs. However, the team’s performance steadily declined after that successful first year, dropping to records of 5-11, 5-11, and finally 4-12 in his final season of 2018.

Bowles was ultimately fired by the Jets in December 2018, having compiled a 24-40 record over four seasons—a stretch considered one of the worst in the franchise’s history. At the time, the team’s ownership placed the blame on Bowles, whose final 27 games included 21 losses. The 4-12 finish in 2018 marked the team’s eighth straight year without a playoff appearance. 

Following his departure, the Jets prioritized finding an offensively minded coach to help develop the team’s prospects. Fast forward to today’s situation, and the Jets organization has made no official statement about wanting Bowles back in any capacity. 

The social media buzz was put to a vote within the JetNation Community. The poll revealed divided feelings among the fanbase: 32% voted “yes,” while the other 32% voted for “no” on wanting him back as DC. However, the largest single group, accounting for 36%, voted that the former head coach would never return to the team he once led.

That being said, let’s see what transpired for the Bucs fans to demand a coaching change.

Todd Bowles finally responds to the head coach rumors 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season has taken a catastrophic turn, reaching a fever pitch. Just two months ago, after improving to 5-1 on October 12th, the Bucs looked like the clear favorites to dominate the NFC South. Since then, they’ve been nothing short of a disaster, dropping five of their last seven games. Currently, the team stands at a record of 7 wins and 7 losses.

Their last game against the Atlanta Falcons seemed like it would yield a different result. The team actually made things very hard for themselves all night long. They kept getting penalized again and again. The team got 19 penalties for a total of 125 yards. They slowly cut into the other team’s lead, and they relied on their quarterback, Kirk Cousins, to keep them calm and focused when the game was close. 

Tampa Bay, on the other hand, seemed poised to right the ship against a struggling Falcons team. They held a commanding 28-14 lead late in the fourth quarter with less than 10 minutes remaining. What happened next was the stuff of nightmares for the Bucs.

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The Falcons cut a 14-point deficit with Bijan Robinson’s 6-yard TD run, raising their score to 28-20. Atlanta then drove 67 yards for a touchdown, missing the 2-point conversion to make it 28-26. By now, the Bucs could still make the most of the remaining time. But the win for the Falcons was finally secured by kicker Zane Gonzalez, who made a 43-yard field goal to complete a surprising comeback victory, leading with a final score of 29-28.

As soon as the scores went official, fans on social media pointed out the reason for the Bucs’ coach to be Todd Bowles and demanded that the team fire their coach. Addressing the issue, the coach assessed his own faults along with the team’s, as he said,

“You can do it all right in practice all week. You can do it in the game right four out of five times, and on the fifth time, we don’t play it right, and that’s frustrating. That’s very frustrating as a coach – very frustrating as a player, I’m sure – but we’re all in this together. So, it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job. They’ve got to do a better job, and we have to somehow scratch and claw and find a way to make this thing work.”

We don’t know if the coach-change talk is up inside the boardroom yet. What we do know for sure is the Bucs still have some miles to go. There are still three games on the schedule. The Bucs can still emerge on top of their division, but only if they put on their best performance in their upcoming games.