Rachaad White suggests Bucs should have made this Todd Bowles decision after missing the playoffs

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers elected to run it back with head coach Todd Bowles for another season after the club failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished the campaign with a record of 8-9. 

That said, the Buccaneers parted ways with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross and defensive line coach Charlie Strong. Meanwhile, senior offensive assistant Tom Moore and safeties coach Nick Rapone retired. 

Current Tampa Bay running back Rachaad White is set to reach free agency when the new league year opens in March. White seemed to share a hint about his future via what he said when asked during a recent edition of the "Loose Cannons" podcast if he was surprised Tampa Bay retained Bowles. 

Rachaad White didn't give Todd Bowles a vote of confidence

"Obviously, I'm not an executive on none of this," White responded, per Grant Gordon of the NFL's website. "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 new everything. But I do understand where they're (Buccaneers ownership) coming from and where he (Bowles) coming from in the aspect of probably like, 'Yeah, another year. Won't be bad. Won't be a bad (I guess) chance to just see.'"

Bowles' Buccaneers tenure has been a roller-coaster ride that has featured the club claiming three straight division titles and enduring multiple in-season swoons. Most recently, Tampa Bay entered its Week 9 bye this past October at 6-2. Coming off that break, the Bucs lost seven of eight games before they earned a Week 18 win over the Carolina Panthers. 

While the Buccaneers announced in June 2025 that Bowles and general manager Jason Licht had signed multiyear contract extensions, recent reports claimed somebody within the organization "definitely" reached out to former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Harbaugh is expected to become the next head coach of the New York Giants. 

"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," White added. "But, get a new staff, so hopefully he can hire the right guy, 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."

Rachaad White gives Todd Bowles some advice

The Buccaneers promoted Bowles from his role as defensive coordinator shortly after Bruce Arians stepped down as the club's head coach in March 2022. White thinks Bowles would benefit from relinquishing defensive play-calling duties moving forward.

"I do think he should let somebody else call defense, and he just be a head coach," White said about Bowles. "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."