Leonard Fournette isn’t hiding where he stands on Todd Bowles.
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stumble out to an 0-2 start, the former Buccaneers running back said on the latest episode of his 4th And South podcast that it may be time for the team to make a change at head coach.
“The Bucs are 0-2 and 2-9 in their last 11 games under Todd Bowles… Man listen, the standard has been set there. In the short three years I played there, the standard was to win.
To me, I just feel like maybe the time is up. Maybe it’s time for Coach Bowles to wrap it up.
Now if they go 0-3, ring the alarm.”
That’s not just outside noise. Fournette spent three seasons in Tampa Bay, and he knows the expectations inside that building. He also has a direct line of sight on what the organization has looked like under Bowles, with some of his former teammates still on the roster.
The frustration around Bowles has been building for a while, and it’s not hard to see why. Tampa Bay is 35-35 in the regular season and 1-3 in the postseason under his watch, and the team still hasn’t put together a deep playoff run with him leading the way.
This season is already digging up the same old concerns. The Buccaneers have opened 0-2, and that includes a loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns that stands out as a rough one. Last season’s collapse only adds to the pressure, with Tampa Bay going from 6-2 to 8-9.
If the slide continues and the Buccaneers miss the playoffs for a second straight year, it will be tough for the organization to justify bringing Bowles back for another season.
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