Bucs or retirement for star ILB.

This doesn’t surprise Joe one iota.

Lavonte David hates coaching changes. Can’t stand it. When Team Glazer had enough of lousy Lovie Smith, David, the Bucs’ linebacker great, went off on Twitter in a rare public demonstration of frustration.

In recent years, David has spoken publicly that when the Bucs dismissed Dirk Koetter, he was ready to hang up his cleats. But Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians and then-Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles talked him off the ledge and David didn’t file his retirement paperwork.

David was sad to see Arians go but was happy his defensive coordinator, Bowles, was promoted.

This past season turned sour midway through the regular season as the Bucs dropped seven of their final nine games and missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker. There was speculation if Bowles would survive.

David told Kay Adams today on her show, “Up and Adams,” that had Team Glazer moved on from Bowles, David said he would have already retired.

“Yeah, if Bowles wasn’t coming back, it was no shot [of a return],” David told Adams. “That’s a fact. Me and Bowles just have that relationship. That’s my guy, man. I’ve gotten extremely comfortable with him. Comfortable with his defense.”

David said his relationship with Bowles is what he always wanted when the Bucs drafted him in 2012.

“Seven years I’ve been working with him, it’s been really, really fun,” David said. “It’s a joy just to understand his football knowledge.

“And for me, being in Year 14, they are still things I’m learning about football. Most people are probably like, ‘Oh, I have it all figured out.’ But every year he’s teaching me something new. Every time. …

“It definitely would [have] been a different talk if [Bowles] wasn’t coming back. But you know, that’s my guy. We have constant communication, and he’ll be one of the first people to know what my decision would be.”

And yes, David said, the Bucs have made sure his access card to One Buc Palace is still active and he will have a spot on the roster ready for him if David chooses to play another year in the NFL.

And David also told Adams, it’s the Bucs or it’s no more football for him. He’s not playing anywhere else but Tampa Bay.

David said both the Bucs and Bucs fans have been too loyal to him for him to consider playing for another team at this stage of his career.

Bucs legend Lavonte David is still mulling a return for Year 15. But one thing’s certain:

“If [Todd] Bowles wasn’t coming back, there was no shot.”@LavonteDavid54 | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/x7X2RDQRpl

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) January 29, 2026