The 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 20th season in the National Football League (NFL).

The season began with the team trying to improve on a 6–10 season in 1994, a season in which the team won 4 straight games at the end of the year, and four of their final five. They did so by one game, finishing 7-9 and recording their most wins since going 9-7 in 1981; it was also the first time that they had not lost ten or more games in a full season since then. However, the improvement was not enough for Sam Wyche, the team's head coach, to keep his job; he was fired at the end of the year after four seasons.

This was the first season that the Buccaneers were under the ownership of the Glazer family; Malcolm Glazer purchased the team in January from the estate of Hugh Culverhouse, the team's founder.

Overview There had been rumors as far back as the end of the 1993 season that ownership would move the team after funding to improve Tampa Stadium was not obtained, but a referendum kept the Bucs in Tampa for 1995. The possibility of moving the Buccaneers to Cleveland, Ohio was an undercurrent throughout the 1995 season once Art Modell’s relocation of the Browns to Baltimore was announced.

The Buccaneers selected two future Hall of Famers in the draft. With their first selection at number twelve, they selected Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp. Then, they traded two second round picks to the Dallas Cowboys for pick number twenty-eight, with which they selected Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks. In addition to this, the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined former Buccaneer Lee Roy Selmon into its ranks.

Bucs’ head coach Sam Wyche gained some notoriety for saying "Five dash Two" to reporters during a press conference after the seventh game of the season, referring to the team's 5–2 record at the time. Tampa Bay had won 9 of its previous 12 games, going back to the end of the 1994 season, and many observers felt they had become a sleeper NFC playoff contender. However, the good luck and victory string soon ran out, and the team would go 2–7 for the remainder of the season.

Following the week seven overtime win over Minnesota, Tampa Bay lost three in a row before beating expansion Jacksonville, only after Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin decided to go for a 2-point conversion when scoring a last-minute touchdown. It failed and the Bucs won 17–16, giving them a sweep of that season's new expansion teams, as they had beaten Carolina 17–10 in week 5. Two more losses followed, and the 6–7 Buccaneers had a prime time ESPN Sunday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers, who were playing without future Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White due to injury. Tampa Bay pulled out an overtime win over the eventual NFC Central champion Packers to make their record 7–7, ensuring that their streak of 10-loss seasons—dating back to the 1983 season—would end. The Buccaneers had remained in playoff contention through fourteen games for the first time in a 16-game season since 1981, when they won their second division championship in three seasons under coach John McKay and quarterback Doug Williams. (the Buccaneers qualified for the expanded playoff tournament during the strike-shortened 1982 season, their last postseason appearance until 1997).

The Bucs, however, lost to the Chicago Bears by 21 points at Soldier Field in the penultimate game of the season, ending their playoff hopes. In the season finale at home against a surging Detroit Lions team who were riding a six-game winning streak, Tampa lost decisively in a nationally televised Saturday game. The game became infamous due to a sideline argument between Wyche and quarterback Trent Dilfer; it was later revealed that Wyche planned to pull Dilfer for young backup quarterback Casey Weldon regardless of how the game was going, triggering Dilfer's furious reaction and also angering teammates of the very respected if inconsistent starter. The Buccaneers' overall passing attack in 1995 was anemic: they passed for the fifth-fewest yards in the league, had the second-worst team passer rating (60.3), and set an NFL record for fewest team touchdown passes (5) in a 16-game season, and didn't have a single passing touchdown for the months of October and November.

Rumors also swirled that Wyche, knowing he would be let go by new owners without a winning record after a 5–2 start, ordered the team to wear orange jerseys and orange pants for the season finale (which at the time, would have been a first to wear the same colored top and bottom other than white), but after several players refused to wear it, the idea was scrapped. New owner Malcolm Glazer decided Wyche's tenure as coach was done, and started the search for the next coach of the Buccaneers, a search that would bring in coach Tony Dungy, who would turn the Buccaneers into a perennial playoff team (a 54–42 record and four playoff appearances in six seasons with the Tampa Bay), and build the foundation for their first Super Bowl win in 2002.

Offseason

NFL draft

Pick Round Player Position School121Warren SappDefensive TackleMiami281Derrick BrooksLinebackerFlorida State432Melvin JohnsonSafetyKentucky1054Jerry WilsonSafetySaginaw Valley State1435Clifton AbrahamCornerbackFlorida State1796Wardell RouseLinebackerClemson2157Steve IngramOffensive TackleMaryland2277Jeff RodgersDefensive EndTexas A&I

Transactions July 27: Tampa Bay signed linebacker Tommy Thigpen

Personnel

Staff 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staffFront office Owner/president – Malcolm Glazer General manager – Rich McKay Director of player personnel – Jerry Angelo Director of college scouting – Tim Ruskell

Head coaches Head coach/director of football operations – Sam Wyche

Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running backs – Kippy Brown Wide receivers – David Culley Tight ends – Mike Mularkey Offensive line – Bob Wylie Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Rusty Tillman Defensive line – Ken Clarke Defensive line – Tom Pratt Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive backs – Johnnie Lynn

Special teams coaches Special teams – George Stewart

Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Brad Roll

Roster

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3 at Philadelphia Eagles W 21–6 1–0 Veterans Stadium 66,266 2 September 10 at Cleveland Browns L 6–22 1–1 Cleveland Stadium 61,083 3 September 17 Chicago Bears L 6–25 1–2 Tampa Stadium 71,507 4 September 24 Washington Redskins W 14–6 2–2 Tampa Stadium 49,234 5 October 1 at Carolina Panthers W 20–13 3–2 Memorial Stadium 50,076 6 October 8 Cincinnati Bengals W 19–16 4–2 Tampa Stadium 41,732 7 October 15 Minnesota Vikings W 20–17 5–2 Tampa Stadium 55,703 8 October 22 Atlanta Falcons L 21–24 5–3 Tampa Stadium 66,135 9 October 29 at Houston Oilers L 7–19 5–4 Astrodome 31,489 10 Bye 11 November 12 at Detroit Lions L 24–27 5–5 Pontiac Silverdome 60,644 12 November 19 Jacksonville Jaguars W 17–16 6–5 Tampa Stadium 71,629 13 November 26 at Green Bay Packers L 13–35 6–6 Lambeau Field 59,218 14 December 3 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–31 6–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 52,879 15 December 10 Green Bay Packers W 13–10 7–7 Tampa Stadium 67,557 16 December 17 at Chicago Bears L 10–31 7–8 Soldier Field 49,475 17 Detroit Lions L 10–37 7–9 Tampa Stadium 50,049 Notes: Division opponents in bold text

Standings

Notes

References

External links Buccaneers on Pro Football Reference