1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season The 1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on an 7 - 9 season . It was the first season for Tony Dungy as the team ' s head coach who had no previous experience as a head coach . Prior to the season it was announced that the team would remain in Tampa Bay and would have a new stadium for the 1998 season . Also prior to the season the team drafted Mike Alstott , who became one of the most popular players in the teams history , and Donnie Abraham . The offense struggled all season and was not helped by an ill - advised holdout from running back Errict Rhett , who next year would barely carry the ball with new running backs added . The 1996 Buccaneers would be remembered as the team that turned it all around for the franchise . While a lot of fans feel it wasn ' t until the 1997 team with its new pewter based uniforms , most knowledgeable fans credit the changes that took place in 1996 for setting the stage for the Buccaneers rise to power . It did not happen all at once . Despite being a 7 - 7 team at one point at the end of 1995 , the 1996 team went 0 - 5 before getting their first win over Tony Dungy ' s former team the Minnesota Vikings . The 24 - 13 win over Minnesota started another streak few noted at the time , and some credit as the first sign of the turn - around , which is four games in a row that the Bucs Defense held opponents to 13 points or less . Despite this , game 10 had the Oakland Raiders coming into Tampa facing a Bucs team that is 1 - 8 . A larger number of turn - around theorists mark this game , a 20 - 17 overtime win as the sign of change for things to come . Others will point out that Raider kicker Ford missed a short 27 yard field goal with regulation about to expire that would have ended the game but instead forced overtime . Week 11 had the Bucs on the west coast , where they never win . Playing at San Diego , a road game , and vs the AFC , the Bucs spotted the Chargers a 14 - 0 lead . Instead of folding , the Dungy led Bucs fought back , and won on the road , on the west coast 25 - 17 . They would win two of the next three , and five of the last seven games including an emotional win over the Chicago Bears 34 - 19 in which the Bucs did everything right , including returning a punt for a touchdown . It was the first time since the end of the 1979 season that Bucs and Bucs fans could not wait for the next year . Rule changes earlier in the decade brought about a salary cap , and a minimum spending cap forced Bucs to spend more on players . With the new ownership , tax disclosures showed the old Culverhouse regime was running a ' for - profit ' business in which players who were getting good were released before their contracts could get big , all the while claiming poor and trying to get some home games played in Orlando , Florida . Many fans took encouragement from the team winning five of the last seven games and the emergence of Warren Sapp who had nine sacks on the season , Derrick Brooks , and Mike Alstott , who along with John Lynch and Hardy Nickerson were forming the core of one of the best defenses of the decade . This also marked the final year the Buccaneers wore the orange and white uniforms .