Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles looks on before a game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Report Suggests Buccaneers Could Have Fired Todd Bowles to Keep Liam Coen

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Buccaneers on SI
By River Wells | Last updated Jan 24, 2025 10:30 AM ET

Many Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans wanted the organization to retain offensive coordinator Liam Coen at all costs — and that included firing Todd Bowles to promote him to head coach. And apparently, that scenario wasn't far from happening in 2024.

Bucs fans are likely upset with Coen now after the way he handled taking the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job, but his innovative offense led to a top-five attack in Tampa Bay and the best season of quarterback Baker Mayfield's career. And according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington, the Bucs did consider potentially getting rid of Bowles in favor of Coen, especially had the team missed the playoffs. Darlington wrote that both teams had to fire someone to retain Coen — Bowles in Tampa Bay and general manager Trent Baalke in Jacksonville — and the Jaguars ended up making the call.

"Had Bowles’ team not made the playoffs, there was a very real world where Coen replaced him," Darlington wrote on Twitter. "In this scenario, the Bucs opted against the sacrifice. The Jaguars sent Balke packing. And the next several seasons will reveal which conviction proves fruitful."

Perhaps the most delicate and complicated component to Liam Coen’s pending departure to Jacksonville, there were many with the Bucs’ organization who internally recognized Coen is ready to be a head coach.

Had Bowles’ team not made the playoffs, there was a very real world…
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 24, 2025

It certainly would have been quite the call to fire Bowles for an offensive coordinator who has never been a head coach, but consistency and continuity with the offense and Baker Mayfield — who hasn't had the same offensive coordinator twice in a row since the 2020-21 seasons — is extremely important. Now, though, the Bucs will have to get another offensive coordinator once again, and they'll try and maintain the explosive offense they had in 2024.