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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles.

Whatever it is that NFL head coaches do to inspire fanbases, players, and the football world in general, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles seems to do the opposite.

Headed into his 5th season as Tampa Bay’s head coach, Bowles finds himself firmly on the hot seat after going 8-9 overall in 2025 as his team played uninspired, uneven football almost the entire way through.

You will find few Bowles fans at this point, and the vote of confidence he got from ownership following the 2025 season was a shock to many who believed he should be on the chopping block the moment the season ended.

“Todd Bowles does enter the 2026 season on the hot seat after last year’s 2-7 collapse down the stretch that led to Tampa Bay finishing 8-9 and missing the playoffs,” Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds wrote on Wednesday. “Another losing season this year and the Bucs have to make a change, especially after all of the defensive additions this offseason. The biggest problem with Bowles’ defense over the last couple of seasons has been the lack of a consistent and effective pass rush. Tampa Bay’s pass rush should be much better this year due to a lot of different factors.”

Strange Process of Bringing Todd Bowles Back

Bringing Bowles back for 2026 strange move in a lot of ways — including that it was Bowles who confirmed the news to The Tampa Bay Times and not the Glazer family or general manager Jason Licht that confirmed the nees.

Bowles also did the thing NFL head coaches do when they’re on the hot seat by firing offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who proved to be a convenient scapegoat. Bowles can’t fire the defensive coordinator because that’s also his job.

If the Buccaneers go in the tank in 2026, as many expect, there’s a head coach out there who could be the answer in 2027 — former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down following the 2025 season.

One Important Clue Could Bring Tomlin to Bucs

In 19 seasons with the Steelers, Tomlin never had a losing record, made the playoffs 13 times and won 8 AFC North titles. He won a Super Bowl following his second season and made it to another Super Bowl, following the 2010 season, where he lost to the Green Bay Packers and current Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

There is one clue the Buccaneers might seize on in terms of Tomlin’s future and what might lead him to Tampa Bay.

Here’s a hint: It’s the same thing that brings almost everyone to Florida.

“League sources also have told me, ‘Mike Tomlin has told people that he would prefer to coach in a warm-weather environment, if it fits,’ ” NFL insider Josina Anderson wrote on her official X account on January 13.

There’s also a bonus to bringing Tomlin in for 2027, in that the Buccaneers won’t have to give up any compensation for him. He was under contract with the Steelers for the 2026 season, so any team that would have wanted him to coach this season would have had to arrange a trade. It would have had to be similar to what the Denver Broncos did in January 2023, when they traded their 2023 1st-round pick and 2024 2nd-round pick to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for head coach Sean Payton and a 2024 3rd-round pick.