An NFL coach is thought to be on the hot seat despite leading his team to the playoffs this season.

NFL football

Todd Bowles, currently the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, deserves praise for getting the best out of the team he has at his disposal and winning the NFC South. However, he is being linked with an exit as JoeBucsFan.com is claiming that the team could part ways with him if they lose to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

The Bucs and Eagles are set to square off in the upcoming Wild Card Round and, despite Philly’s struggles, they are expected to come out on top. According to the aforementioned publication, such a result could spell the end for Bowles.

Of course, it would be very unfair to sack a coach after he takes a team to the playoffs. There’s hardly any shame in losing to the reigning NFC champions, especially when a team wasn’t even expected to make it this far.

However, it’s believed that Tampa Bay might be looking to take advantage of a rich coaching market, with Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Pete Carroll, and Jim Harbaugh all thought to be available for hire.

Per ProFootballTalk:

“It all comes down to whether team ownership believes the organization can upgrade with one of the various available coaches. They likely would be interested in Bill Belichick, if Belichick becomes available and if he were interested in Tampa. Other big names are available to an ownership group with a history of chasing big names, like Mike Vrabel and, as of Wednesday, Pete Carroll and even Nick Saban.”

This is all just speculation at this point. But Bowles would erase all doubt if he gets his team past the Eagles and into the Divisional Round.