The Buccaneers have enjoyed a run of success under head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht, and the team will have continuity on the sidelines and in the front office moving forward. Both have received extensions, as first reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. 
The move is now official, per a team announcement. Licht has been in place since 2014, and for the past three seasons he and Bowles have worked in their current capacities. The latter took over from Bruce Arians as Tampa Bay’s head coach after a three-year stint as the team’s defensive coordinator. Bowles’ extension is three years in length, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. He is therefore in place through 2028.
“Jason and Todd’s excellent leadership and vision have been critical to our organizational success, and the winning culture they have established has us well positioned into the future,” a statement from owner Jay Glazer reads. “Jason has evolved into one of the top talent evaluators and general managers in the NFL, while Todd has led us to three consecutive division titles and is one of the league’s leading defensive minds. Under their guidance, we will continue building towards another championship.”
The past five seasons have marked the longest sustained run of success in franchise history, and the Buccaneers are the only NFC team to have reached the playoffs each year since 2020. That campaign produced a Super Bowl title and validated Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady acquisition. Questions were raised when the seven-time champion retired (for the second and final time) about how the team would proceed under center. The decision to take a flier on Baker Mayfield has certainly proven to be a fruitful one, though.
The former No. 1 pick’s future as a starter was in doubt coming off his 2022 campaign split between the Panthers and Rams. Mayfield was added on a one-year, $4MM deal and handled QB1 duties through his debut Tampa season. The Bucs won their division and advanced to the second round of the postseason. Mayfield was rewarded with a three-year, $100MM pact just before the start of free agency last March, keeping him in the fold.
The 30-year-old posted career bests in yards (4,500) and touchdowns (41) in 2024, production which helped Liam Coen continue the trend of offensive coordinators turning success with the Bucs into a head coaching gig. As Mayfield prepares to work with yet another OC, Bowles and his staff will aim to win the NFC South for the fifth consecutive season in 2025.
In four years with the Jets, Bowles managed a winning record only once and finished with an overall mark of 24-40. The 61-year-old joined Arians in Tampa Bay in 2019 to oversee the team’s defense. Since Bowles’ arrival, that unit has finished in the top 10 in points allowed on three occasions. Arians initially planned to stay on as head coach for the 2022 season, but Brady’s decision to unretire led to the reins being handed over to Bowles. A number of notable moves – including the dismissal of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich – did not sit well with Arians, but Tampa Bay has managed a run of sustained success since the transition on the sidelines and under center took place.
Mayfield is one of many high-profile Buccaneers whom Licht and Co. have managed to retain in recent offseasons. Wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and linebacker Lavonte David are among the veterans who have elected to avoid joining a new team for the first time in their careers by re-upping in Tampa Bay recently. Licht is also responsible for market-resetting extensions in the case of left tackle Tristan Wirfs as well as safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (whose deal has since been slightly surpassed in annual average value).
With a veteran core in place, expectations for at least another home wild-card game are high in the case of the Buccaneers in 2025. Bowles and Licht were already set to continue in their respective roles for the coming campaign, but their futures beyond this season have now been assured as well.
The older/experienced the head coach is, the better
Pete Carroll will be around later to upvote this.
I’m sure he will
*tries to upvote*
*gum falls out from mouth*
*gums fall out from mouth*
*replaces gum, replaces gums*
“Get your headsets. It’s sideline squatting time, boys.”
I know Bowles gets a lot of crap and some media likes to view him as very replaceable, but I don’t mind him. He does not draw too much attention to himself, he gets the team to the playoffs, he holds players accountable. They finally got him some speed at cb so he should be able to do more on defense.
Licht has done very well, he will be with the Bucs for a long time. He appeals to the players and the fans by just being a regular guy.
Bowles is an extremely good coach, and his teams have taken on multiple successful identities in accordance with their strengths.
Pretty obvious Bowles was in a bad situation with the Jets. TB has front office stability and has given Bowles free reign to shape the team culture and it’s worked out very well. He is an underrated coach now.
Bowles had the Jets sniffing the playoffs in his first year. Not totally his fault that they went back into the muck.
He’s gotten better at the job. It started off rocky the year he replaced Arians, but the pairing with Mayfield and his OC hires have been homeruns. I didn’t think he did a bad job with the Jets either. I don’t know what the problem was with Morton, but people forget they went 10-6 that first year with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB. Also, apparently his staff urged the GM to take Allen but were ignored.
They went from a super bowl winning team to an average team once Bowles took over.
If it wasn’t for taking a chance on Mayfield. He would have been fired already.
He’s 5-1 against the Saints and Panthers and HCs that can dominate in their division usually stay employed.
Yeah, ignore all the roster turnover like that was the same team. The reason they won the Super Bowl was largely due to his defense. Meanwhile, in 2024, I would say they were the one team neither of the top seeds in the playoffs wanted to see, and they all were thankful when Washington knocked them out. They give the Eagles fits. They beat the Lions. They are better than the Rams. All of this will be true again this year, and he’ll have more to work with on the defensive side of the ball, as that side of the roster has undergone a lot of turnover since the Super Bowl contending years.
I didn’t know the Washington Huskies went from NCAA Division I to the NFL
Defense coordinator and head coach are two completely different things.
I’m well aware, but you’re the one telling us this is the same team that won the Super Bowl that he’s had the last three years. It couldn’t be further from the truth as most of the biggest turnover was on his side of the ball he used to coach. When Suh was there, they had the best run defense in football for one. There’s been a lot of personnel parts juggled in the interim aside from who has been playing QB for them. Just saying, he’s done a decent job all things considered, and I was hardly a fan of him in the big chair as I thought he was a dynamite DC but maybe not cut out for that job. He has grown into it though despite having flaws like they all do. Licht has made some bad draft picks on defense that has put the team in a bad spot, and he’s made due despite that.
Never a fan of either. Team appears stuck as a middling playoff contender in a super weak division.
It helps Bowles enormously to coach in a deadbeat division. 2022 division win was with with a losing record. In Bowles favour he successfully negotiated his way through the shoals of cap hell. Mostly without losing fan favourites like Mike Evans. Great find with Baker Mayfield, Bowles stays out of the way of the OC and Mayfield. Many defensive head coaches would wreak havoc on the offense or steal their pocket book to boost the defense. Bowles hasn’t done that.
How tall are they now?