Bucs Player Suggests Todd Bowles Should Stop Calling Plays

Was it those coaches’ fault that the defensive has struggled so much? No doubt they played a part, but ultimately it falls on Bowles, who is calling the plays and has seen the same mistakes – busted coverages and not enough pass rush – year after year. It’s gotten so bad that a player who was on the team this season believes it might be time for Bowles to relinquish play-calling duties and be a stand-around coach.

Rachaad White Discusses Todd Bowles And The Bucs’ Down Season

Appearing on the Loose Cannons Podcast, former Bucs running back Rachaad White talked openly about Todd Bowles, the only coach he’s had while in the NFL. White is pending free agent this offseason for the first time in his career, and all signs point to him searching for greener pastures and finding a spot with a new team where he can be compete to be a starter.

This allowed White to speak freely on about Bowles and some of the problems that sunk the Bucs’ ship in this past season. White was polite about it, but it was obvious that he thought Bowles needs to make more changes than just firing a couple of assistants.

“You can clip this or whatever, but it is what it is. I’m just being real,” White began. “I do feel like Coach Bowles, I do think it would be easier on him. I do think he should let somebody else call defense and he just be a head coach. I feel like he’d probably be better off by doing that so he can just focus on really just the head coaching job, and just trust that he has the right defensive staff and things like that.”

Like many others, White also questioned why Bowles fired so many assistants, especially on defense, but not go all the way with it? Why did the Bucs wind up keeping Bowles after such a coaching overhaul?

“Obviously I’m not an executive on none of this,” White said. “I just think you get rid of a lot of the staff, you kind of should just go ahead … and I’m not wishing for nobody’s job to get taken, but just get a new everything. But I do understand where they’re (the Glazers) and where he’s (Bowles’) coming from in the aspect of ‘Yeah, another year. Won’t be bad. We won’t be a bad (I guess) chance to just see.’ Obviously we know what it is and everybody knows what it is with this year and what’s going on with him and go from there.

“Get a new staff so hopefully he can hire the right guys, which is tough. But you try to do the best you can and just see if you can go from there. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

If White was able to see the writing on the wall, one was to wonder what Tampa Bay’s defensive players think. White has his own plans this offseason to think about as he looks for a team in free agency. His comments about Bowles are certainly eye-opening to the struggles that the team faced in 2025.

Check out the entire episode of the Loose Cannons Podcast with White on as a guest by clicking this link.