There should be little left to the imagination if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find out there is an opportunity to somehow replace head coach Todd Bowles with recently fired Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
You do the deal, and maybe change the fortunes of your franchise. Especially after Bowles and the Buccaneers grossly underachieved this season, starting the season 6-2 before finishing with an 8-9 record and out of the postseason for the first time since 2019.
Don’t expect to wait long for an answer, either.
“Bucs coach Todd Bowles has met with ownership and is having meetings with his coaches individually today,” Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote on X on Wednesday, January 7. “Things seem to be progressing as normal but at minimum, there will be staff changes. Perhaps significant ones. But there’s developments every day in the league, so everything is fluid.”
Familiarity on Both Sides Could Help
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and Harbaugh worked together on the Philadelphia Eagles from 2003 to 2007 under former head coach Andy Reid — a time when Licht moved up from assistant director of player personnel to vice president and Harbaugh went from special teams coordinator to becoming head coach for the Ravens in 2008.
“What if … hear me out … Bucs GM Jason Licht hears John Harbaugh would bring to Tampa Todd Monken as OC and perhaps Jim Schwartz as DC?” NFL Draft Bites’ Chad Forbes wrote on his official X account. “And perhaps most importantly… Chris Horton as Special Teams Coordinator. Harbaugh has always been exceptional assembling a Staff.”
Harbaugh or Bowles, Defense Needs to Change
One thing that wouldn’t change whether Harbaugh takes over or not is an almost complete overhaul to the defense — both in personnel and salary structure.
The Buccaneers’ defense produced exactly one Pro Bowler in 2025 with nose tackle Vita Vea, and you can only really make an argument Tampa Bay has 2 elite players on that side of the ball in Vea and linebacker Lavonte David, who might retire this offseason.
The biggest problem is the secondary, where safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and cornerback Zyon McCollum are playing on approximately $132 million in combined contracts, yet neither ranks in the Top 15 at their respective positions, according to Pro Football Focus. McCollum is not even in the Top 50.
The Buccaneers finished the season 19th in the NFL in team defense — down one from last season but still up from 23rd in 2023. Under Bowles, a former defensive coordinator, Tampa Bay’s defense has just one Top 10 finish, when they were ninth in his first season as head coach in 2022.
What Harbaugh Might Do With Quarterback Position
This is where it start to get fun. If Harbaugh were smart, he would go all in on Baker Mayfield in 2026 with an eye to the 2027 NFL draft, which will be chock-full of quarterbacks from front to back.
Let’s not all forget the last time Harbaugh took a quarterback in the first round, it was future 2-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
Buccaneers Urged to Dump Todd Bowles for Recently Fired AFC Head Coach