Gerald McCoy says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the right path with Todd Bowles as head coach.
The Buccaneers have come up a little short in the past three seasons with Bowles as a head coach, losing two Wild Card games and a Divisional Playoff game. However, it’s worth noting that the Buccaneers have been in the playoffs every season with Bowles as head coach and that they’ve now won four straight division titles.
That’s never been done before in franchise history.
The success also happens to be in the immediate aftermath of Tom Brady’s retirement, when many expected the Buccaneers to be among the worst teams in the NFL. Instead, they’ve been one of the better teams in the NFL with journeyman quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has since emerged as one of the top passers in the league as a two-time Pro Bowler over the past couple of years.
”What happens with the Buccaneers is we forget where we were at and all the losing we did, we get spoiled,” McCoy said in an exclusive interview with The Sports Daily. “We won with Tom Brady and we haven’t missed a playoff since. People forget that we were the laughing stock in the NFL. We’ve gotten spoiled to the point where getting in the playoffs is not enough. But I remember there was a time when we couldn’t even make the playoffs — and Todd Bowles has been a huge part of that.”
It’s worth noting that McCoy is one of the best Buccaneers players in recent memory. The former defensive tackle spent nine years (2010-2018) in Tampa Bay as a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection. However, the Buccaneers never made it to the playoffs during his career.
McCoy mentions that as long as Bowles has been in Tampa — he previously served as the defensive coordinator before his promotion as head coach in 2022 — they’ve always been contenders.
”We won the Super Bowl with him as the coordinator, and now we haven’t missed the playoffs with him as the head coach,” says McCoy of Bowles. “We have to have some patience, man. You can’t win it every year. It’s not always gonna be your best year, but we’re getting a chance at the end of the year. The goal is to get in the tournament. Since Todd Bowles has been associated with the Buccaneers, we’ve been in the tournament every year.”
McCoy: Bucs Have To Win Close Games To Secure Another Championship
As far as why the Buccaneers haven’t been able to get over the hump in recent years since winning the Super Bowl at the conclusion of the 2020 season, McCoy points towards the Buccaneers not executing on third downs and in the red zone in the playoffs. Tampa Bay was eliminated in a close game against the Washington Commanders, 23-20, in the playoffs this season.
”Tom Brady has said on TV multiple times that to win in the playoffs, the best teams find ways to win,” says McCoy. “You have to be great on third down, you have to be great in the red zone. Unfortunately, we have to find ways to win these close games.
“We have the talent,” McCoy continues to say. “We have to get pieces here and there better in the secondary, get some edge rushers that can go rush, so we don’t have to blitz so much. We have the pieces and we’re on the up and up, but we’re just a few pieces away. If we find a way to win these close games, we’d be a real headache for people.”
Long story short, the Buccaneers need to find ways to win close games when it counts. Tampa Bay was also eliminated by the Detroit Lions in a one-possession game in the playoffs at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Once the Buccaneers figure out how to win close games, they’ll take that next step into being an elite team.
”We just gotta find ways to win close games,” says McCoy. “We’re winning enough to get in the playoffs, but to go to that next tier and my example is the Kansas City Chiefs. If you look at the Chiefs this year, I don’t think a lot of people say this is the best team they’ve had. But they won more games this year than they’ve won in the Mahomes area. Why is that? Because they’re finding ways to win close games. The best teams know how to operate in the clutch, the best teams know how to resort back to technique, resort back to fundamentals. and they find ways to win games.”
McCoy: Bowles Winning Despite Quarterback, Offensive Coordinator Instability
McCoy continues to defend Bowles, also mentioning how the 61-year-old head coach has had to constantly adjust with a revolving door of offensive coordinators. The Buccaneers had Byron Leftwich as coordinator in 2022, Dave Canales in 2023, Liam Coen in 2024 and Josh Grizzard in 2025.
Despite all of that change, the Buccaneers have remained consistently good.
”Every year he’s having to adjust to somebody leaving and getting a new person, whether it’s a quarterback, whether it’s a coordinator, whatever it is,” says McCoy of Bowles. “Now we have the unknowns — do we know if LaVonte David’s coming back? We don’t know. We had to deal with a lot of injuries to start the year.
”He finds ways to win and he is the coach for the job but collectively, there’s different things why we’re not getting over the hump,” McCoy continues to say. “Todd Bowles is good enough and I believe in Todd Bowles.”
