The Buccaneers are preparing for their wild-card matchup on Monday night, but the weekend has already produced a significant (if unsurprising) development for the team. Tampa Bay is expected to retain head coach Todd Bowles in 2023 barring an “unforeseen change of heart,” reports Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
Stroud notes that the outcome of the Bucs’ upcoming contest against the Cowboys will not affect the front office’s view of Bowles, who guided the team to an up-and-down performance throughout the season and was reported in December to be likely to be retained. Tampa ended up with an 8-9 record, which was still good enough to win the NFC South and set the team up with a home playoff game.
The 59-year-old took over as head coach from his defensive coordinator role in the wake of Bruce Arians‘ retirement. However, Bowles retained play-calling duties on that side of the ball during the campaign, assigning the title of co-DCs to Kacy Rodgers and Larry Foote. Stroud notes that it remains Bowles’ intention to remove himself from the role of play-caller down the road, which would likely lead to one of Rodgers or Foote taking on those responsibilities.
Bowles inherited plenty of expectations given the Bucs’ success under Arians and with Tom Brady under center. However, the team never managed a winning streak longer than two games during the season, struggling to find consistency on offense in particular. Set back considerably by injuries up front, Tampa ranked just 25th in the league in scoring with an average of 18.4 points per game. That has fueled speculation regarding Brady’s future with either Tampa Bay or a number of other interested clubs, and led to calls for offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to be replaced.
On defense, Bowles led his unit to a better statistical performance. Tampa Bay surrendered the ninth-fewest yards per game in the league, and tied for 13th in scoring defense (allowing 21.1 points per contest). Still, the Buccaneers found themselves involved in several high-scoring affairs in 2022, along with more than one lopsided defeat, illustrating their inability to consistently produce on both sides of the ball on any given day.
Tampa Bay heads into Monday’s game as slight underdogs, and their hot-and-cold season leaves plenty of room for doubt regarding their ability to pull off the upset. Even if the team’s season comes to an end at that point, however, they will have continuity on the sidelines heading into next year.
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