Buccaneers Fire ST Coordinator Thomas McGaughey; Tom Moore Retires
The Buccaneers have already moved on from offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard as well as quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis. More changes are taking place on the team’s staff. 
Tampa Bay has fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, as first reported by Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. This news marks an end to his two-year run with the Buccaneers. Issues on special teams presented a consistent challenge in 2025.
Head coach Todd Bowles elected not to make a change during the campaign, but shortly after the end of the season he has chosen to move forward with a replacement. McGaughey, 52, has been a special teams coach at the NFL level as far back as 2002, and he has served as a ST coordinator with five different teams. He had a six-year run with the Giants prior to joining the Bucs, but this brief Tampa Bay tenure falls more in line with McGaughey’s Jets, 49ers and Panthers stints in terms of length.
Not long after the Grizzard dismissal, ESPN’s Jenna Laine noted that discussions taking place Thursday were likely to result in more staff changes. That has certainly proven true. Several other departures have since become known, including the retirement of senior offensive consultant Tom Moore (h/t Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times). Moore’s NFL career ends at the age of 87 after decades spent on the sidelines.
Moore’s first college coaching gig came in 1961, and he began his NFL tenure in 1977. An offensive coordinator at multiple stops along the way, he held multiple titles such as a position coach and offensive consultant as well. Moore worked closely alongside Bruce Arians in Arizona and followed him to Tampa Bay in 2019. The four-time Super Bowl champion remained there through the end of this past season.
As Stroud notes, the Buccaneers have also fired defensive line coach Charlie Strong along with defensive backs coach Kevin Ross. Tampa Bay ranked 20th in points allowed in 2025, so at least some changes on that side of the ball were always expected. Meanwhile, safeties coach Nick Rapone is joining Moore in retirement at the age of 69. Another former Arians assistant, he had been in place with the Bucs since 2019. Regardless of if other moves wind up being made, a number of new faces will be in place on Bowles’ 2026 staff.
Buccaneers Announce Finalized 2025 Coaching Staff
With former offensive coordinator Liam Coen departing for his first head coaching role in Jacksonville, there was bound to be some changes along the Buccaneers coaching staff. Todd Bowles and company announced all their planned changes for the staff yesterday, and we’ll break them down here. 
We already knew that, with Coen out, Josh Grizzard was promoted to offensive coordinator. Hiring an internal candidate into the role allowed Tampa Bay to retain several assistants, as well. After being interviewed for the offensive coordinator job in Houston that went to Nick Caley, quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis was retained to his position, as were running backs coach Skip Peete, wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon, tight ends coach Justin Peelle, and offensive consultant Tom Moore. We’ve also already reported on the hiring of Kefense Hynson to fill Grizzard’s role as pass game coordinator and the promotion of Brian Picucci from assistant offensive line coach to offensive line coach.
The unreported changes to the staff see Jordan Somerville, who has served as assistant quarterbacks coach for the team, add the role of pass game specialist to his existing responsibilities. Additionally, former offensive quality control coach Jeff Kastl has been promoted to assistant tight ends coach. Lastly on offense, we had reported initially that former offensive line coach Kevin Carberry had added the assistant head coach title to his duties, but the team’s announcement grants him the additional title of run game coordinator instead.
On defense, where Bowles acts as a sort of de facto coordinator, only a few changes were necessary. Cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross, safeties coach Nick Rapone, assistant secondary coach Tim Atkins, and defensive quality control coach Joey Fitzgerald all return to their same roles for 2025, and we’ve already reported on the addition of Charlie Strong as defensive line coach, replacing Kacy Rodgers who departed for the same role in Detroit. We also reported that former pass game coordinator/inside linebackers coach Larry Foote would be retained after interviewing for the Lions defensive coordinator job that went to internal candidate Kelvin Sheppard in Detroit, but today’s announcement tells us that both titles have changed for Foote as he will now serve as run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach.
With Foote taking outside linebacker duties, former outside linebackers coach George Edwards will now serve as pass game coordinator after being mentioned as a defensive coordinator candidate in New Orleans. Taking Foote’s inside linebackers coaching role will be Mike Caldwell, who was hired for the job after not being retained by the Raiders this offseason. Lastly on defense, Rashad Johnson, the former NFL safety who served as defensive assistant last year, has been promoted to serve alongside Atkins as assistant secondary coach.
No changes were required on special teams, where Thomas McGaughey and Keith Tandy return as special teams coordinator and defensive/special teams assistant, respectively.
That will be the 2025 coaching staff for the Buccaneers. Bowles and Grizzard did a good job retaining a decent number of staffers, utilizing a few promotions where necessary, and filled out the holes effectively. They’ll hope to bring back similar success to take them to the postseason for the sixth season in a row.