While the Bucs have been busy as of late adding re-signing players and adding new ones to their team, they’ve also added another person to their front office. According to Greg Auman of Fox Sports, Tampa Bay has hired Zach Beistline to be their director of football research.
Beistline had spent the last 12 years with the Jacksonville Jaguars with his highest title being director of game management. Presumably, Beistline could help in a similar area for Todd Bowles and the Bucs, which certainly could use an upgrade.
Bucs have hired Zach Beistline as their new director of football research. Beistline spent the last 12 years with the Jaguars, working as an analyst and most recently as director of game management.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 25, 2025
There’s been an entire offseason with the saga of the Bucs and Jaguars going back and forth with personnel hire attempts. Liam Coen went from Tampa to Jacksonville as did John Van Dam. Meanwhile, the Bucs denied the Jaguars the opportunity to interview offensive line coach Kevin Carberry and assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci.
Assistant general manager Mike Greenberg elected not to interview for the Jaguars general manager vacancy, and as far as players go, important backup Robert Hainsey reunited with Coen in Jacksonville.
With Beistline going from Jacksonville to Tampa Bay, it’s the first time this offseason that the Bucs are taking someone from their organization.
Bucs’ Todd Bowles Needs Improvement With In-Game Management
Zach Beistlline, who went to school at North Carolina, should provide an immediate impact with some in-game decisions for head coach Todd Bowles. During his coaching tenure, Bowles has been credited with his ability to keep the team together and having a cohesive group, but has been criticized at times for his in-game management, such as questionable timeout usage and making critical decisions.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR
Bowles has some kind of affinity for never calling timeouts in the first half with the thought of having them at the end of the second quarter if the offense needs a late drive. It’s understandable, but sometimes there have been situations where the defense doesn’t have the right look on a certain play or the offense is close to the end of the play clock and needs to rush to snap the ball instead of just calling a timeout and talking it over.
There were a couple of timeout issues last season that came about. During a Monday night game against the Chiefs, the Bucs got down to the 1-yard line looking to the tie the game up with 33 seconds to go. With the clock still running, Bowles elected to call a timeout and have a first-and-goal situation with the clock stopped instead of letting it wind down. The Bucs scored and tied it up, but gave the Chiefs 27 seconds to try and regain the lead. Knowing Kansas City’s propensity for those big moments, it didn’t make sense to give Patrick Mahomes and Co. any chance.
Another big snafu in clock management that Tampa Bay had came late in the season on a Sunday night game against the Cowboys. Bowles and the Bucs mishandled their last drive in the second quarter, scoring with 54 seconds to go and cutting their deficit to 20-14. The problem was that a timeout was called by Tampa Bay after the team had gotten inside the 10-yard line and once again scored on the next play, instead of letting the clock go down even further.
Because of the extra time and the struggles of the defense, Dallas drove down the field in enough time to kick a 58-yard field goal, making it 23-14 at halftime. It was no longer a one-possession game and Tampa Bay wound up losing to a team with a losing record and starting a backup quarterback.
Decisions That Backfired And Hurt The Bucs
Some of the issues go beyond just the timeouts.
We’ll see what type of role Zach Beistline will have specifically, but maybe he can lend his opinion to Todd Bowles in some crucial moments.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Going back to that Monday night game against the Chiefs, Bowles elected to go for the tie instead of two points and the lead near the end of regulation against an undefeated team. He played for overtime and his team never got the ball as the Bucs allowed an opening drive touchdown, thus losing the game.
Some decisions on when to pull players also reared it’s ugly head last season. With the game wrapped up late in Week 1, All-Pro safety Antione Winfield Jr. was injured potentially the last play of the game. He then missed the next four games.
Then of course there was the Chris Godwin injury late in the game against the Ravens where the starters should have been pulled. It was garbage time with the team trailing by 10 points with just over one minute left and Godwin dislocated his ankle after getting tackled and was out for the rest of the season.
There’s still plenty of things to like about Todd Bowles as a head coach, including three straight division titles. But there have been certain moments that could have been avoided that really hurt the team last season. The hiring of Beistline might just be what helps improve Bowles’ game management.
