FOX: Todd Bowles Not On Hottest Seat
February 12th, 2026
How hot?
This may come as a bit of a shock to some Bucs fans, but when looking at the NFL landscape, entering the 2026 season, Bucs coach Todd Bowles isn’t on the hottest seat.
That’s the way long-time NFL scribe Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports sees it.
When studying which NFL coach has no room for error this falls, Vacchiano looks in his own front yard and sees Jets coach Aaron Glenn’s seat ablaze.
Then Vacchiano looks down I-95 and sees Eagles coach Nick Sirianni in Philadelphia who Vacchiano picked as having the second-hottest season.
At No. 3, no, Vacchiano did not overlook Bucs coach Todd Bowles. Vacchiano sees Bowles at No. 3 on his hot seat list. And Vacchiano wonders if Team Glazer will run out of patience with Bowles this fall?
3. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The fact that a team loaded with talent couldn’t emerge from the worst division in football doesn’t speak well of Bowles’ ability as a head coach. Neither does his 35-33 record in four years in Tampa despite three playoff berths. Yes, injuries hurt the Bucs last season, but that’s not the only reason they lost seven of their last nine games. Even when they were relatively healthy, Bowles couldn’t shake them out of their funk.
If history holds, he’ll coach well enough that the Bucs will be mediocre again, but he’s got the quarterback and enough players to do better than that. It’s hard to imagine the Glazer family will be OK if the Bucs don’t break out of the pack in their awful division again.
Some would suggest it was hard to see Team Glazer bringing Bowles back after blowing one of the better records in the league by losing seven of their final nine games. But that is exactly what happened.
Just when you think you have Team Glazer figured out, they throw you a curveball.
What surprised Joe about Vacchiano’s list is that he has Dave Canales right behind Bowles. Joe isn’t sure about that. Canales took over a dumpster fire in Carolina and he got them to the playoffs last year.