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Most of the time, you never want special teams to be the story. In an ideal world, kicks are drilled through the uprights, punts are bombed down the field or pinned inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, the coverage unit fights through blocks to force a fair catch, and your kick and punt returner do enough to give your offense good field position.

Sounds simple, right?

Well, in 2025, most of everything I mentioned was a challenge for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It ultimately cost special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey his job, as Tampa Bay’s special teams helped detonate the team’s once promising looking campaign.

Let’s not sugarcoat it; the Bucs didn’t just struggle on special teams last season, they were abysmal. In total, Tampa Bay suffered five combined blocked kicks and punts. Punter Riley Dixon, though he placed inside the top five with 29 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, finished 26th in the NFL with a net yards per punt of 38.9.

Bucs P Riley Dixon – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

And how could we ever forget Nov. 16 at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo. Embarrassing, quite frankly, doesn’t even begin to sum up the Bucs’ special teams performance in a 44-32 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. Tampa Bay gifted Buffalo advantageous field position throughout the contest, wide receiver Mecole Hardman and running back Ray Davis combining for returns of 62, 44, 44, and 41 yards.

Things are supposed to be different in 2026. Now running the show for the Bucs is Danny Smith, one of the more respected coaches and personalities in the entire league. The bubble gum chewing, 72-year-old Smith has solely been a special teams coordinator since 2001. He’s had stints with the Bills, Washington Commanders, and Pittsburgh Steelers, the latter being the place where he earned his reputation as a special teams guru.

Bucs Were Not Buttoned Up On Special Teams In Preseason Opener

One preseason game in, it sure looks like Danny Smith has his work cut out for him. Sure, these games do not count and every team across the league is trying to figure out its personnel, but it’s an easy observation to make that the Bucs didn’t exactly look buttoned-up on special teams in the 24-16 victory over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Friday night.

To be fair, cornerback Josh Hayes and linebacker Christian Rozeboom, two key contributors on the coverage unit, were held out with minor injuries, head coach Todd Bowles revealed on Saturday.

Dixon’s first punt was a 53-yarder which fell into the arms of wideout Jamaal Pritchett at the 12-yard line. However, Pritchett was able to pick up 14 yards on the return. Dixon’s next opportunity saw him punting from his own 28-yard line. He boomed one 62 yards down the field to the New York 10-yard line and the coverage unit only allowed a five-yard gain from Pritchett.

Cornerback Ayden Garnes was flagged for being out of bounds on the kick, though, meaning Dixon would have to try again five yards back. This time, Dixon’s punt was low and short – 44 yards – and Pritchett returned it 19 yards to the Tampa Bay 48-yard line. Four plays later, the Jets were celebrating in the end zone after a 31-yard touchdown run from running back Braelon Allen.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Now, think about that for a second. In a span of a few moments, you go from having a team pinned deep inside its own territory to starting a drive on your side of the field. At that point, in a league which favors offense, good luck making it out of there without giving up at least three points. Furthermore, we saw running back Kadarius Calloway muff one on a kickoff midway through the first quarter.

Those are the little things that become big things over the course of a 17-game season. Simply put, it can’t happen often if the Bucs want to accomplish their goal of wrestling back away the NFC South crown after failing to win the division last season for the first time since 2020.

Does A Path Exist For Bucs To Fix Special Teams Woes In 2026?

Todd Bowles admitted after the game that special teams is very much a work in progress. Understandably, in this moment in time, it’s about finding which players truly want to be a contributor in that area, as well as which ones don’t.

“Lot of work to do,” Bowles said. “Today was all about seeing who can play and who wants to do it and who can do it. We’ll go back and look at the tape. It was a couple of kicks that got out early that kind of settled in a little bit at the end. We gotta get our return game going a little bit, but it was about who can play, who wants to do it, let’s see what guys do under the lights, and we’ll start narrowing it down from there.”

The good news for the Buccaneers is these mistakes came in preseason game No. 1. Additionally, we still haven’t seen what the coverage operation looks like with Miles Killebrew on the field. Killebrew, before suffering a significant knee injury which required surgery in Week 6 for the Steelers last season, was coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl nods as a special teamer, including a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2023.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and S Miles Killebrew – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Buccaneers are banking on Killebrew, 33, being the same impact player he was prior to the injury. They targeted him early in free agency, inking him to a one-year deal and reuniting him with Smith. Killebrew did not practice in the first week of training camp but started working in 11-on-11s last week.

When it comes to kicking, the Bucs feel safe with Chase “Money” McLaughlin, as they should. McLaughlin has been remarkable since signing with the Bucs in 2023, converting 91-of-101 field goal attempts (90.1%) and 119-of-122 extra point attempts (97.5%). Though he stumbled out of the gate in 2025, missing a kick in each of the first three games, he rebounded to make 11-0f-12 field goals beyond 50 yards, including a 65-yard make (tied for fourth longest in NFL history) against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4.

Tampa Bay should be in good hands with McLaughlin. We will see if the rest of the special teams units can pull their weight.