Bucs went hard after McDaniels but Chargers made way more sense.
Better coach
You could've just stopped there.
The reality is that the open question was never really about OC or ST (answered today). It's always really been about Bowles. Its whether he can cobble together a defense that competes after 3 years now of backsliding?
The question about OC was more about a buffer to a poor Bowles defense. But, the 2025 Bucs almost made the playoffs with a rookie OC and a heavily injured offense and a totally shit ST coach and a defense that collapsed at the end. In 2026, the Bucs should have a better special teams unit and an offense that should be the same to much better, depending on health as much as the OC. But, will the defense improve?
And what of the rest of the division? It looks to be more competitive, so in that regard the Bucs are even further behind now then the end of the 2025 season.
Can Bucs get the defense to 10-15 in scoring defense? If you accept that both the ST and offense should be better, it would take at least that for the Bucs to be a playoff contender, right?
The Bucs were in a difficult spot as Todd Bowles said, "he won 3 division titles."
Sean McDermott had won his division five out of the last six years, with an average record of 12.2-4.5. He was just fired in Buffalo - with no clear replacement.
Sometimes, owners have to make hard decisions. The Glazers fucked it up.
There is a clear replacement. Bills will hire Brian Daboll.
Nailed it.