Is his seat really hot?
So, if the Bucs have a repeat of last year and do a faceplant in the second half of the season, who takes the fall?
Will it be Baker Mayfield, whose contract will be up after the Super Bowl? Or will it be KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles?
Or, maybe both?
Joe keeps reading that the Bucs are the default winner of the NFC South landfill this fall because, all together now, the Bucs have the most talent/have the best quarterback.
So if you agree, (Joe thinks so) would failing to win a trash division put heat on Bowles? Frank Schwab of Yahoo! thinks it [absolutely should](https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/which-coaches-are-on-the-hot-seat-heading-into-the-nfl-season-aaron-glenn-of-the-jets-leads-the-list-162034964.html).
> … The Buccaneers have arguably the most talented roster in the division, and if they can’t win the division this season then there would be conversations over whether Bowles is the right coach for Tampa Bay going forward. He has a 35-33 record over four seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach.
Joe will once again repeat that since Team Glazer took over the team 30-plus years ago, only one coach has survived back-to-back losing seasons. And that man’s name is Chucky, and he got Team Glazer the franchise’s first Super Bowl. So Chucky had significant street cred.
Bowles isn’t in that class (though Bowles’ gameplan to shut down the Chiefs in the Super Bowl should and probably will go down in NFL history as one of the greatest defensive feats).
The thing that muddies this up is potentially winning the NFC South landfull and securing a home playoff game with a losing record. It happened to Bowles and the Bucs in 2022.
Most fans, rightly so, think of a wild card game as little more than a stepping stone to bigger and better things. But when a coach makes an ownership group extra millions with a home playoff game, that tends to put a smile on owners’ faces and could buy a coach a modicum of job security.