TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles is returning for the 2026 season, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday that Bowles said in a text to the newspaper he would be returning as coach, which was confirmed by the source.
On Tuesday, Bowles met with the Glazer family, who own the Buccaneers, and he was informed of their desire to continue the relationship. It should be noted that this meeting happened after news broke that the Baltimore Ravens had fired Super Bowl-winning coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons.
The Bucs extended Bowles this past offseason on a three-year deal, after he had led them to three straight NFC South division titles. But the Bucs’ late-season slide in which they lost seven out of eight games and missed out on a playoff appearance for the first time in his tenure created uncertainty.
Tampa Bay finished 8-9, putting Bowles’ record as the team’s coach at 35-33 in four seasons. He is 1-3 in the postseason.
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Bowles’ job security was not guaranteed by his participation in a Monday news conference, as the Glazers have historically operated on their own timeline when it comes to coach firings, including when Jon Gruden was fired 18 days after the 2008 season ended and Lovie Smith was let go four days after the 2015 season concluded.
When Bowles was asked Monday in his season-ending news conference what he’d say to fans who didn’t feel he deserved the opportunity to return, he said, “All I can do is coach and be myself. I’ve earned the chance; I’ve won three straight division titles, so that says a lot as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really have a message for fans other than true fans are true fans and we’re going to try to do our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel how they feel, but that’s not a coach’s problem. The coach’s problem is to make the team better, and that’s all I’m looking forward to.”
He added, “I understand their frustrations. I understand our own frustrations, as well. It’s well-warranted, and it’s well-warranted within the building, as well.”
Bowles did, however, acknowledge that he thought some changes needed to be made.
“We’ll evaluate that in the next coming days, seeing exactly what needs to be changed,” the coach said. “Schematically, I know I need to make some changes depending on the players that we have coming back. Coachingwise, we need to make some changes as a whole as far as what we’re doing on the field and how we’re teaching guys certain things. Certain guys are probably good at certain things that we need to expose more of their good side as opposed to things that they’re struggling with.”
Bowles will be meeting Thursday with members of his staff, and some movement is expected then.
Bucs players had spoken in support of Bowles in recent days.
“I think when you look at a team and you look at losing streaks and you look at the Eagles in 2023 … I know that season ended poorly, and they bounced back in 2024 and under the same [coach],” Tampa Bay center Graham Barton said.
The Eagles dropped five of their final six regular-season games in 2023 then lost to the Bucs in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Philadelphia kept coach Nick Sirianni but did fire offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and defensive coordinators Sean Desai and Matt Patricia before rebounding the following season with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Tampa Bay wide receiver Jalen McMillan lauded Bowles for his consistency.
“He’s a great leader, a great leader, and just somebody that shows up to work every day, and he’s gonna give you the same type of effort every day,” McMillan said. “He’s my guy. I love him to death.”
