The Buccaneers joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1976. Former University of Southern California (USC) head coach John McKay was picked to guide the club. Unfortunately Tampa Bay’s first season was a disappointing one. The club became the first team in National Football League (NFL) history to lose all fourteen regular season games, suffering five shutouts and fielding the conference’s worst offense and defense. The Buccaneers’ losing streak grew to a league record twenty six consecutive games as the club lost the first 12 games of its second season. Tampa Bay improved in 1978, winning five games. In 1979, the Buccaneers stunned the league, winning their first five games en route to a first place tie with the Chicago Bears in the Central Division.

Williams had an excellent season, and Bell ran for more than 1,250 yards. The Selmon brothers led a top rated defense, and McKay was named coach of the year. In the playoffs Tampa Bay upset the Philadelphia Eagles before falling to the Los Angeles Rams (now St. Louis Rams) in the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game. After an injury plagued 1980 season, Tampa Bay qualified for the playoffs in 1981 and 1982 behind Williams, who continued to be one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football Conference (NFC). Both years the Buccaneers lost in the first round of the playoffs. Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win-loss record in the strike-shortened 1982 season was followed by a long series of losing seasons through the mid-1990s, as the Buccaneers were perennially ranked as one of the National Football League’s (NFL) worst-performing teams. In 1996 Tony Dungy, a former defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, was hired as the Buccaneers’ head coach. Buy Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tickets.