Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles says he's earned the right to return in 2026

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Todd Bowles isn’t worried about his job security after an epic collapse by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Everything unraveled after a 6-2 start and the Buccaneers (8-9) failed to win their fifth straight NFC South title when Atlanta beat New Orleans on Sunday to give Carolina a three-way tiebreaker advantage.

Bowles had led Tampa Bay to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons after replacing Bruce Arians in 2022. He has three years remaining on his contract and he’s operating as if he’ll return for a fifth season.

“I’ve earned the chance,” Bowles said about coming back. “I’ve won three straight division titles, so that says a lot as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really have a message for fans other than true fans are true fans and we’re going to try to do our best to go out there and win for them. They’re going to feel how they feel, but that’s not a coach’s problem. The coach’s problem is to make the team better and that’s all I’m looking forward to.”

Bowles will meet with the Glazer family on Wednesday for a typical end-of-season conversation with the ownership group.

The Glazers once fired Super Bowl champion coach Jon Gruden with a few years left on his contract and also fired Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy after three straight playoff appearances, including an NFC championship game.

But there’s no indication Bowles’ job is in jeopardy and that could be due to the realization he simply didn’t have enough talent on the roster.

Bowles wouldn’t put the blame on roster construction.

“I feel like we had enough talent to win,” he said. “The mistakes we made weren’t talent-driven, they were more mistake-driven.”

So are the players or coaches responsible for the mistakes?

“It starts with me,” he said. “I’ll take it all. I’m the head coach. It starts with me. I have to take all of that and I have to get that fixed. That’s what my job description is and that’s what I should do. It starts with me, it goes down to the coaches, then it goes down to the players.”

Bowles, who was the defensive coordinator under Arians when Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title five years ago, is 36-36, including 1-3 in the playoffs.

An offense that was plagued by injuries for most of the first three-fourths of the season dropped from No. 3 overall in yards in 2024 under Liam Coen to 21st in Josh Grizzard’s first season as the offensive coordinator. They were top five in rushing, passing and scoring last season when Baker Mayfield had his best season.

This season, the Bucs finished 21st in rushing, 20th in passing and 18th in scoring. Mayfield was bothered by injuries throughout the second half.

On defense, the Buccaneers were 19th in yards. It’s the third straight season they’ve finished 18th or worse.

The Buccaneers simply don’t have a dominant pass rusher or enough playmakers. They signed two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million prove-it deal and he got 2 1/2 sacks in 13 games.

“It’s disappointing we didn’t get in,” Bowles said. “First time in five years, so you kind of get used to it a little bit. But, we did it to ourselves. We’ve got to take a deep evaluation, starting with myself. Once I do that, I’ll evaluate the coaches and players and we’ll go accordingly.”

Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and veteran linebacker Lavonte David are two of the franchise’s greatest players and both will be free agents if they choose to keep playing. Evans is still a top receiver and David is a valuable leader on the field.

Neither was ready to make a decision about their future.

“I’ll pray about it, talk to my family about it, just do what I gotta do,” David said about retirement. “I’m always praying about whatever God’s will is for me to let it be done. Whenever that opportunity comes or when that time comes, you know I’ll be able to be straightforward and shoot straight and let you know, but right now I have no idea.”

Evans said missing several weeks with injuries was a “blessing in disguise.”

“I missed the game more than I thought I would. I still got love for the game,” he said. “Who knows what it’ll do for me in the future.”

Cornerback Jamel Dean, tight end Cade Otton, running back Rachaad White, defensive lineman Logan Hall and Reddick also will be key free agents. Defensive lineman Greg Gaines, wideout Sterling Shepard, tight end Ko Kieft, offensive linemen Charlie Heck and Dan Feeney and cornerback Kindle Vildor are among other players who will be unrestricted free agents.

Bowles has to figure out which changes he’s going to make on the coaching staff and whether he’s going to relinquish some of the defensive duties. The offense was inconsistent, the defense struggled and special teams were mostly poor.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles walks away after an NFL football season-ending news conference Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks to the media during an NFL football season-ending news conference Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks to the media during an NFL football season-ending news conference Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it is scrapping the safety screening for two reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan after the plant's operator was found to have fabricated data about earthquake risks, in a setback to Japan's attempts to accelerate reactor restarts to boost nuclear energy use.

Chubu Electric Power Co. had applied for safety screening to resume operations at the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in 2014 and 2015. Two other reactors at the plant are being decommissioned, and a fifth is idle.

The plant, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Tokyo, is located on a coastal area known for potential risks from so-called Nankai Trough megaquakes.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it started an internal investigation in February after receiving a tip from a whistleblower that the utility had for years provided fabricated data that underestimated potential seismic risks.

The regulator suspended the screening for the reactors after it confirmed the falsification and the utility acknowledged the fabrication in mid-December, said Shinsuke Yamanaka, the watchdog's chair. The NRA is also considering inspecting the utility headquarters.

“Ensuring safety is the first and foremost responsibility for nuclear plant operators and (data fabrication) is an act of betrayal to their task and one that destroys nuclear safety," Yamanaka said.

The scandal surfaced Monday when Chubu Electric President Kingo Hayashi acknowledged that workers at the utility used inappropriate seismic data with an alleged intention to underestimate seismic risks and apologized. He pledged to establish an independent panel for investigation.

The screening, including data that had been approved earlier, would have to start from scratch or possibly be rejected entirely, Yamanaka said.

The move is a setback at a time Japan's government seeks to accelerate reactor restarts to cope with rising energy costs and pressure to reduce carbon emissions.

Public opinion in Japan remains divided due to lingering safety concerns after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns.

Of Japan's 57 commercial reactors, 13 are currently in operation, 20 are offline and 24 others are being decommissioned, according to NRA.

This aerial photo shows Hamaoka nuclear power plant, owned by the Cubu Electric Power Co., in Omaezaki, central Japan, March 26, 2025. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)