National Football League

Bucs to overhaul coaching staff: Names to watch to fill roles

Updated Jan. 19, 2023 7:17 p.m. ET

TAMPA, Fla. — Three days after the Bucs' season ended with a playoff loss to the Cowboys, Todd Bowles announced a major shakeup to his coaching staff, with offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich among six assistants fired and three longtime assistants announcing their retirements.

"We appreciate the hard work and contributions that all of these coaches made to our successes over the past four seasons," Bowles said in a statement. "As a collective group, we did not meet the high standards that had been set for this past year and my focus now is on doing what is needed to ensure a successful 2023 season. These were very difficult decisions but something that I felt was necessary for our football team going forward."

Leftwich, 43, had been the Bucs' offensive coordinator for four years, and they had ranked in the top three in scoring his first three years — including a Super Bowl championship season with Tom Brady in 2020 — but had dropped all the way to 25th this past season, scoring 198 fewer points than the year before.

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Gone with Leftwich are running backs coach Todd McNair and receivers coach Kevin Garver, with quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen and outside linebackers coach Bob Sanders among those retiring.

Bowles took over as head coach March 31 last year when Bruce Arians announced he was retiring from coaching, so Bowles inherited Arians' staff, most of which he'd known and worked with for years if not decades in several cases. Thursday's moves give him a chance to bring in his own staff, and those new coaches will need to find immediate success to avoid Bowles' job being in jeopardy with another disappointing season.

The Bucs moved quickly but are competing with the rest of the league for potential hires — five head coaching jobs are still open, and hires there will quickly take away candidates as those staffs are filled. The NFL now has nine offensive coordinator jobs open, with others potentially coming open as young coaches are courted for the head-coaching vacancies.

Tampa Bay could swing for the fences and go after some of the biggest names available in former NFL head coaches like Bill O'Brien (who worked with Bucs GM Jason Licht in New England) or Frank Reich, but the Bucs' openings might not have the same allure without knowing if Brady is a part of the future.

It's too soon to have interviews set or confirmed mutual interest, but here are a few names of coaches with ties to Bowles or the Bucs who would make sense as logical candidates for Tampa Bay's openings:

Todd Monken, offensive coordinator, Georgia

Monken, 56, was the Bucs' offensive coordinator under Dirk Koetter but left to become the Browns' OC, and he has spent the past three years as a key part of Georgia's back-to-back national championships. If he sought to return to the NFL ranks, he's someone that GM Licht knows well. He has not worked directly with Bowles but was the receivers coach for Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, so he's familiar with their strengths.

Monken is reportedly the highest-paid assistant in college football, making $2 million a year, and jobs don't get much safer than at Georgia, where top recruiting classes continue to come in even as the Bulldogs send their best players to the NFL Draft. With continued success there, he'll be coveted for top college head coaching jobs, so there isn't an urgency to leave for any offer.

"When you have a good job and they pay me a lot of money, you have to be careful," Monken told reporters this week. "The grass isn't always greener, and money isn't everything."

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Kevin Patullo, pass game coordinator, Eagles

Patullo, 41, is a rare candidate with experience with Bowles and local ties. He was Bowles' quarterbacks coach with the Jets in 2015-16 and played as a walk-on in Tampa at USF, where he also began his coaching career as a graduate assistant.

Patullo has learned from sharp offensive minds, including Chan Gailey and Frank Reich, and this season has worked closely with one of the NFL's best offenses and Pro Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts. Patullo interviewed for the Jets' offensive coordinator vacancy last week, so he's already on the radar of other NFL teams.

In Philadelphia, he's working under three levels of offensive-minded coaches in head coach Nick Sirianni, OC Shane Steichen and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. The other assistants are in the mix for promotions elsewhere, so Patullo could also land either a better job with the Eagles or a higher position following one of those assistants to a head-coaching job elsewhere.

Karl Dorrell, former head coach, Colorado

Dorrell, 59, was fired as head coach at Colorado after going 8-15 in three seasons, but he has a wealth of experience working closely with Bowles. They both were assistants with the Dolphins from 2008 to 2011, and when Bowles became the Jets' head coach, Dorrell was his receivers coach for all four seasons there. Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker both topped 1,000 receiving yards in 2015 when New York went 10-6 in Bowles' first season.

If Bowles is looking for a more experienced receivers coach, Dorrell has been coaching the position since 1989 at Central Florida, and on and off at the NFL level since 2000. Dorrell has also worked as a quarterbacks coach in the NFL, with the Dolphins and Texans.

Thaddeus Lewis, assistant receivers coach, Bucs

Lewis, 35, has drawn consistent praise in two years with the Bucs, getting promoted this past year to assistant receivers coach after impressing as an intern and low-level assistant in 2020 and 2021. The Duke graduate and former NFL quarterback bounced around to eight teams in eight years as a journeyman backup, but he got to work under top offensive coaches and learn something from all of them. With Garver gone, the Bucs could promote Lewis to receivers coach or risk losing him to a full positional role with another NFL team.

Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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