The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear at a crossroads with who will lead the team on the sidelines.
Despite multiple reports that head coach Todd Bowles’ job is safe, NFL insider Benjamin Allbright reported, via JoeBucsFan, that the Buccaneers contacted former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh’s representatives after his firing on Tuesday. It just didn’t go the way Buccaneers fans have hoped, amid pleas to fire Bowles after a second losing season in four years.
Harbaugh is one of the most successful coaches in the league with a Super Bowl win in 2012 and an 18-year tenure with the Ravens before Tuesday’s dismissal. He immediately became the hottest coach on the open market with six vacancies around the league, and his agent saying that seven teams reached out only heightened the speculation of which squad with an active coach made the call.
“Now, I’ll say this: Tampa called about Harbaugh, and they were told that Harbaugh kind of wants his own GM,” Allbright said as transcribed by JoeBucsFan. “And so, that kind of nixed that, because they’re keeping Jason Licht.”
Licht has enjoyed the most successful general manager run in Buccaneers history, so the Glazers are quite unlikely to ever part with him prematurely. In addition, the call coming to light also means other teams are now all the more aware that Harbaugh has his own ideas for a general manager.
Jason Licht’s Track Record Shuts Door on John Harbaugh For Now
Licht’s drafting and free agent signings built a Super Bowl-contending roster in Tampa during the late 2010s when the team had been mired in losing and no playoff appearances.
He then delivered in 2020 when the team signed former quarterback Tom Brady and won it all that season. Tampa Bay enjoyed sustained success after the Brady years with the transition to quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Besides the quarterback moves, the Buccaneers have been strong on both sides of the ball during the five-year run of playoff appearances and four consecutive NFC South titles. That also happened with two different coaches — Bowles and previously, Bruce Arians.
Whether or not Licht’s and Harbaugh’s visions could have aligned is another question, but the Buccaneers clearly didn’t hedge at Harbaugh’s representatives’ request, per Allbright’s report.
Buccaneers Seem More Inclined to Work With Todd Bowles
After Bowles doubled down on his own job security on Tuesday, he began meeting with his coaches on Wednesday, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
“Bucs coach Todd Bowles has met with ownership and is having meetings with his coaches individually,” Stroud wrote via X.com on Wednesday. “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.”
And fluid may be the key part as the NFL coaching carousel has only begun this offseason. Two playoff teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills — could be making coaching changes if postseason runs end earlier than desired. Mike Tomlin or Sean McDermott may or may not draw the same level of interest as Harbaugh, but it’s clear, based on Allbright’s report, the Buccaneers are willing to make a call.
Buccaneers’ John Harbaugh Decision Says It All: Report