Peete begins his fourth season as running backs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026.
The Buccaneers utilized a committee approach to the run game in 2025 due to injuries, with three different running backs tallying 300-or-more rush yards and four-plus touchdowns from scrimmage on the season. The Buccaneers are 1-of-3 teams over the past decade (2016-25) to have three different running backs reach 300 rushing yards and four touchdowns from scrimmage each in the same season, joining only the 2025 New York Giants and the 2019 Arizona Cardinals.
Over his first two NFL seasons, with Peete as his position coach (2024-25), Bucky Irving is 1-of-4 running backs with 1,500+ rushing yards, 600+ receiving yards and 12+ scrimmage touchdowns while averaging 4.5+ yards per rush attempt, alongside only De'Von Achane, Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson.
In 2024, under Peete's guidance, the Buccaneers rush offense improved from a league-worst 3.4 yards per rush to a third-best 5.3 yards per rush, setting franchise records in both yards per attempt as well as total rushing yards (2,536). Tampa Bay's offense rushed for 100+ yards in 14-of-17 (82.4%) of games in 2024, after doing so in 9-of-34 (26.5%) games over the previous two seasons, averaging 149.2 yards per game – the fourth-highest mark in the NFL. Rookie running back Bucky Irving led the NFL rookie class in scrimmage yards (1,514), rushing yards (1,122) and rushing touchdowns (eight), on his way to a 2024 PFWA All-Rookie Team selection. Irving led the league in missed tackle percentage (37.1%) and finished fifth with 76 missed tackles, according to NextGen Stats. With Peete as his position coach, Irving recorded 5.4 yards per rush, which is a franchise record and the third-highest mark in NFL history among rookies with 200+ rush attempts in a single season, trailing only Adrian Peterson (5.6 in 2007) and Clinton Portis (5.5 in 2002). Irving became 1-of-7 running backs to record 1,500-or-more scrimmage yards, 1,000-or-more rushing yards, 5.0-or-more yards per rush and 8-or-more rushing touchdowns in their rookie season.
The Buccaneers running back room of Irving, Rachaad White and Sean Tucker, combined to finish in the top five among all teams in yards after catch (first – 1,149), catch percentage (first – 88.4%), scrimmage yards (second – 2,937), receiving touchdowns (second – 7), receiving yards (second – 894), receptions (second – 107), yards per touch (second – 5.8), first downs (third – 144), touches (third – 508), receiving first downs (third – 40), yards per rush (third – 5.1), rushing yards (2,043) and scrimmage touchdowns (fifth – 20). White put forth his second consecutive season with 1,000+ yards from scrimmage, making Irving and White 1-of-2 duos in the league in 2024 with 1,000 yards from scrimmage each, alongside Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery of the Detroit Lions. Tucker earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 6, following his breakout game at New Orleans, where he recorded 192 scrimmage yards, 136 rushing yards on 14 carries, 56 receiving yards on three receptions and two touchdowns.
In his first year with the Buccaneers in 2023, Peete coached second-year running back Rachaad White to a breakout season in which he recorded the fourth-most scrimmage yards among running backs (1,539) and tied for the seventh-most among all players, contributing 990 yards rushing and 549 yards receiving. White was 1-of-6 players to finish the season with 1,500+ scrimmage yards and nine-or-more touchdowns, joining Breece Hall, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Among all running backs, White not only finished fourth in scrimmage yards, but also ranked first in catch percentage (91.4%), second in yards after catch (611), third in receiving yards and fourth in receptions (64). He also tied for the fourth-most 100-yard scrimmage games among running backs in 2023.
Prior to arriving in Tampa Bay, Peete spent the previous three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2020-22) as the team's running backs coach, leading a rushing attack that ranked fifth in yards after contact per rush (3.31), ninth in rushing touchdowns (53), 10th in rushing yards (6,205) and 11th in rushing yards per game (124.1).
In the 2022 campaign, the Cowboys ranked second in the NFL in rushing touchdowns (24) and eighth in rushing yards (2,298), while converting 63.9% of the team's third-down rush attempts –the fourth-highest rate in the league. The Cowboys were one of two teams whose running backs did not commit a fumble during the 2022 regular season, despite recording the sixth-most carries in the league.
Prior to joining the Cowboys, Peete served as the running backs coach for the Los Angeles Rams (2016-19), coaching Todd Gurley to two Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro selections and 2017 Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year honors. During his four seasons with Peete as his position coach, Gurley ranked first in the NFL in rushing touchdowns (48) and second in rushing yards (4,298).
In his two seasons as the running backs coach for the Chicago Bears (2013-14), Peete's top back, Matt Forte, led the NFL in scrimmage yards (3,779) and ranked fourth in rushing yards (2,377). Forte also set a record in 2014 for the most receptions by a running back in a single season (102).
Peete broke into the NFL coaching ranks as the running backs coach for the Oakland Raiders (1998-2006) before beginning his first stint in the same position with the Cowboys (2007-12). He also held collegiate positions as the running backs coach at UCLA (1996-97), wide receivers coach at Rutgers University (1995), wide receivers coach at Michigan State University (1993-94), running backs coach at the University of Pittsburgh (1991-92) and wide receivers coach at the University of Pittsburgh (1988-90).
Peete is a native of Phoenix, Arizona. He and his wife, Rebeca, have twins, Gisele and Reeco. He is the son of Willie Peete, who spent three seasons with the Buccaneers as the team's running backs coach (1992-94). His brother, Rodney, played 16 seasons in the NFL at quarterback for the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington, Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers.
