Buccaneers complete first interview for special teams coordinator opening

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a wave of staff changes at the end of the 2025 season, with head coach Todd Bowles seeing five coaches fired and two retired after a disastrous skid brought the Bucs to 8-9.

One of those coaches was special teams coach Thomas McGaughey, which makes sense — McGaughey fielded one of the worst special teams units in the NFL, with his unit having five kicks blocked over the year and placing 30th in kick return yardage allowed. Now, the Buccaneers are looking for a new special teams coordinator to take his place, and they've officially completed the first interview in that regard.

The Bucs have completed their first interview for special teams coordinator, interviewing Lions assistant special teams coach Jett Modkins.

We've completed an interview with Detroit Lions Assistant Special Teams Coach Jett Modkins for our special teams coordinator position.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 10, 2026

Buccaneers request interview with Lions' Jett Modkins

Detroit assistance special teams coach Jett Modkins signals players before a play against Los Angeles Rams | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Modkins worked under Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp in 2025. The Lions had an up-and-down special teams unit last year, which makes the interview interesting.

The Lions were excellent in net punt yards per game (41.5), coming in fourth in the NFL, per SumerSports. They were 10th in average kickoff return yards (26.2), and they were also 11th in the league in special teams EPA/play, coming in at 0.134. They struggled in punt return yards, however, placing 22nd in average punt return yards (8.3), and their field goal unit wasn't excellent, coming in 25th in the league in field goal percentage at 79.4% (27/34)

Modkins, if hired, would help a unit that desperately needs it. Head coach Todd Bowles identified special teams as a big negative during the 2025 season during his end-of-year press conference.

“You can say that there’s a myriad of things right there,” Bowles said. “You can say it was the kickoff coverage, you can say we got a couple of kicks blocked, you can say guys didn’t make plays, you can say we can coach it better. There’s a whole bunch of things that went wrong this year where we weren’t on the plus side of things on special teams. Those are part of the things we’ll unwrap, as well.”

The Bucs are sitting at home during the playoffs, but they'll work diligently to fill the holes in their staff that have opened up this offseason.

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