Tampa Bay Buccaneers History

Awarded the National Football League’s 27th franchise in 1974 with the first kickoff schedule for 1976, owner Hugh Culverhouse, a successful Florida tax lawyer and broker, hired John McKay as the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After losing a league-record 26 consecutive games, the Bucks finally won a game, against the New Orleans Saints, on December 11, 1977. Two years later, Tampa Bay shocked the football world when they reached the 1979 NFC championship game in only its fourth season.

The Bucs clinched the NFC central title with a 3-0 win over Kansas City and then defeated Philadelphia 24-17 to advance within one game of the Super Bowl. But in the NFC championship, the Los Angeles Rams prevailed with a hard fought 9-0 win.

One of the trademarks of Tampa Bay’s early success was an excellent defense led by Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, who was the Bucs first draft choice and the number 1 pick of the 1976 draft. In his nine-season career, Selmon was named to the NFC Pro Bowl six times and was selected as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979.

Offensively, the 1979 Bucs were led by quarterback Doug Williams and running back Ricky Bell, who gained 1,263 yards. The Buccaneers reached the playoffs for the second time in 1981.

Although no divisional championships were awarded in the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Bucs qualified for postseason play for the third time in four seasons by winning five of their final six games. A first round playoff loss to Dallas ended Tampa Bay’s season.

McKay retired as coach following the 1984 season after nine years as coach of the Buccaneers. In the nine years after McKay’s departure, the Bucs’ were coached by 5 different coaches, including Leeman Bennett, Ray Perkins, Richard Williams, Sam Wyche, and Tony Dungy.

In 2002, the Bucs hired former Raider coach Jon Gruden. Gruden had a young talented group of players like Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Derrick Brooks, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, fullback Mike Alstott, defensive tackle Warren Sapp and cornerback Ronde Barber.

In 2003, the Bucs had the league’s top ranked defense, led by their MVP Derrick Brooks. That year, the Bucs advanced to the NFC championship game by defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs.

Tampa clinched its first NFC crown by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10. Then the Bucs defeated the Oakland Raiders to win the franchises first championship by a score of 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII.