2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season | |
---|---|
Owner | Malcolm Glazer |
Head coach | Jon Gruden |
Home field | Raymond James Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 9–7 |
Division place | 3rd NFC South |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Pro Bowlers | 4 |
AP All-Pros | KR Clifton Smith (2nd team) |
The 2008 season was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 33rd in the National Football League (NFL), the 11th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the seventh and final under head coach Jon Gruden. Though the team finished with a winning record (9–7), they failed to defend their 2007 NFC South championship and did not qualify for the playoffs after finishing the year on a four-game losing streak. Just weeks after the conclusion of the regular season, head coach Jon Gruden was fired,[1] a move that came as a surprise both to sports writers[2] and Gruden himself.[3] General manager Bruce Allen was also fired. It would also be Gruden's last time coaching until 10 years later, when he returned to coach the Oakland Raiders in 2018, whom he previously coached from 1998 to 2001.
This marked the 24th consecutive year in which the Super Bowl did not include the team in whose region the game was being played, the last team being the 49ers in 1984.