Bowles Now Flirting With Eagles
January 12th, 2021
Bucs DC Todd Bowles.
It is starting to come across to Joe that Todd Bowles really wants out of Tampa Bay.
Per Sal Paolantonio of BSPN, by way of Adam Schefter, the Eagles plan to interview the Bucs’ defensive coordinator for their newly opened head coaching gig.
And Sal Pal says the Eagles are requesting permission to interview Bucs’ DC Todd Bowles as well, which would bring him back to the city in which he played college football at Temple from 1982-’85. https://t.co/C6MsJWJB9q
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2021
This is on the heels of Bowles interviewing with the Dixie Chicks and the Lions.
In Joe’s eyes, this is really bad timing for Bowles. His defense nearly crapped the bed for the Bucs in Washington, getting embarrassed by an XFL backup so badly that even Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians called out the defense in his post-game remarks Saturday night.
Three interviews within a matter of days doesn’t come across like a guy who enjoys his job here, or maybe he doesn’t like the Tampa Bay area.
Or does Bowles see key parts of his defense leaving in the offseason and he wants to get out while the getting is good? You know, leave a burning building before it collapses, so it won’t Pearl Harbor any future shot of another head coaching gig?
Now if Bowles really wants to improve his chances of getting a head coaching gig soon, how about devising a defense that keeps Drew Brees and the Saints under 20 points.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:40 am
I don’t think any of that Joe. It has to be most coaches dream to go and be a head coach somewhere. You’re captain of the ship when you’re the head coach. Also, I’d imagine the pay is a little better as well. Now, if he was leaving to be a Defensive Coordinator somewhere else then sure I’d believe all of those things but I think the guy just wants to be a head coach again.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:43 am
Or teams are just trying to please the Rooney rule and have no intention of hiring him after last week’s defensive performance.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:45 am
Its hard to determined with the [Seriously??? It’s 2021 man. — Joe] coaches with Rooney rule. More than likely Bowles is not getting job
January 12th, 2021 at 11:46 am
Todd Bowles knows he needs to get a head coaching job soon before he ends up a coordinator for another 6 or 7 years. just asked Raheem morris after he got fired from Tampa in 2012
January 12th, 2021 at 11:47 am
3 things.
1 People do not interview for practice. He is open to leaving.
2 He is not in the succession plan
3 He is looking to cash in on the teams success this year, which you can’t blame him for……but I don’t know how much credit should be thrown his way short of great blitz packages. His game plans have been questionable.
So yeah, he’s gone if he gets an offer, which I have no problem with. You can’t say he did not have a positive impact, but I would not mind him being an opponent either the way he game plans.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:47 am
These are minority interviews, nobody is going to hire Bowles as a head coach. Our Defense is terrible against the pass.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:47 am
I just don’t want him coaching in our division, unless it’s for the Bucs!
January 12th, 2021 at 11:47 am
“ how about devised a defense that keeps Drew Brees and the Saints under 20 points.”
You mean deploy man coverage which is the strength of their corners to jam routes and throw off timing routes? Bowles is not that smart and after Sunday he will have plenty of time to interview because he continues to play zone against a hall of fame quarterback who carves it up. Funny thing is if you watch the first game they played a lot of man and were. Lose to winning. Leftwich can’t score, Bowles can’t defend and I expect nothing to change. If they could beat the Saints which are the toughest out let no one else could stop them from reaching the super bowl
January 12th, 2021 at 11:48 am
So if three sports sites ask if *you* are interested in joining them, does that mean *you* want out of JBF?
Interviews are good practice for when you are ready to move.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:48 am
These are minority interviews, nobody is going to hire Bowles as a head coach. Our Defense is terrible against the pass.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:49 am
Taking these interviews makes him a marked man at OBP. He will not be here next year.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:54 am
@Joe … “Three interviews within a matter of days doesn’t come across to Joe as a guy who enjoys his job here, or maybe doesn’t like the Tampa Bay area.”
Todd Bowles has NEVER given any indication in his 2 years here that EITHER of those 2 issues exist. Three interviews in a short time tells me that other teams recognize his talent, to even give him an opportunity to interview for the HC gig.
The timing sucks obviously, but that’s on the NFL, not on Bowles. He doesn’t get to pick-and-choose when those opportunities arise. And as far as I’m concerned, even bringing up the Rooney Rule is ludicrous, not to mention disrespectful.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:59 am
I am terrified about the defense matching up with the Saints. I think the offense will put up points but the defense is going to get torched.
This will be a shootout…
January 12th, 2021 at 11:59 am
There are two things at play here…..
Bowles wants a HC job…..& Rooney Rule…….
January 12th, 2021 at 12:00 pm
I think Bowles gets another job, but not if the saints score 40. This week is important for everyones future.
All these Rooney Rule comments are really dumb! So the Falcons interviewed 3 men of color and decide they give Bowles a fake interview and make it 4 bc cause you know are current coach is Rah Morris. The Eagles are interviewing 49er DC and decided , hey lets waste everyones time and talk to Bowles even though he’s busy with his current job
January 12th, 2021 at 12:02 pm
better coordinator than head coach imho
January 12th, 2021 at 12:03 pm
The Rooney rule in itself, is the most racist act the NFL has ever done. I understand the intent, but it only creates token coaching candidates. I firmly believe that now that Hugh Culverhouse is dead, there is no owner that considers race when choosing a coach and if there is a racist owner, does anyone truly believe that being forced to interview a black coach will suddenly change the owners mind? BS. It would only waste that candidates time. If they want to be proactive, force a few teams to sell the franchise to a black owner. You won’t see that. No, jump through hoops and act like you care, but business as usual. Stop the charade.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
His interview should be after he stops the Saints. The NFL is crazy for letting playoff coaches interview while they are still in the hunt. To be honest, I think the Bucs can do better.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:05 pm
There is a path to victory here.
1. In passing situations, bring Devin White early and often up the middle;
2. I would use Winfield and Lavonte interchangeably on Kamara and Cook. Take them away at all costs;
3. Play man under with a safety high and take away everything underneath. This will force Brees to step up in the pocket (See Devin White) and throw deep which he absolutely struggles at lately. If he beats you deep, then he beat you deep and you tip your cap to him;
4. When Taysom Hill is at QB, HE’S GOING TO RUN THE FREAKIN’ BALL 80%-90% of the time.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:10 pm
Maybe he’s just hedging his bets. Getting out before he’s thrown out. Although, I can’t really see Arians doing the latter. I have very little patience for this game of footsie.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:10 pm
“Todd Bowles really wants out of Tampa Bay”
What an outstanding coincidence – I also really want him out of Tampa Bay. He and his BS soft coverage schemes can head on out the door.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:21 pm
This is just insulting to us fans.
Concentrate on the damn game this weekend!
I expect our defense to look flat again, because the guy who is in charge of whipping them into shape is too busy looking his next job.
Hope the offense can put up 40+
January 12th, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Two things: The Bucs need to be proactive and hire a new, better DC.
Lincoln Riley from the Oklahoma Sooner will be the next HC of the Eagles. Bowles is way down the list of likely candidates for any HC job.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:30 pm
Last time the Bucs were in a shootout against the Saints Fitzpatrick was quarterback and dirk koetter was coach. The Saints have shut Bruce Arians down since he became head coach. Bucs coaches are old for this league and leftwich is inexperienced, they don’t know how to beat Sean Payton and old dogs can’t learn new tricks. I’d welcome a young Bowles like defensive coordinator, Bowles can go
January 12th, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Pewter Power … Watching the Bama-Ohio State game last night, I saw what I HOPE is our strategy against the Saints this weekend: score a whole bunch of points & hope your defense can stop them ENOUGH. I wouldn’t have predicted a 52-24 final score for a National Championship game, but since I’m a huge Bama fan, I’ll take it. I’d take the same score also for the Bucs-Saints game, as long as we’re the ones who score the 52 points.
As an aside, Bama’s Mac Jones reminds me so much of Tom Brady. He dutifully sat behind Tua & Hurst (actually Jones was the scout QB) but I think is by far the best of the three. His deep ball accuracy is a thing of beauty IMO, and his short passing accuracy is fantastic. I have my doubts that any NFL team will spend a 1st Rnd pick on him, but whoever gets him will be getting a true franchise QB, although he won’t be the type to carry a weak team IMO. I’d love to see the Bucs draft him, but I doubt they will.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:45 pm
I like Todd Bowles, and think the Bucs could do much worse for a DC than him (do you remember Jim Bates, Bill Sheridan, and the Smith brothers, Lovie & Mike?). I guess I don’t know if the cornerbacks look bad because of the defense, or the defense looks bad because of the cornerbacks. If the Bucs are able to pick up a good corner and young edge rusher in the offseason we’d probably see a good defense in 2021.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Let him go.
His defense is not good defending the pass in a passing league. Most of the time they aren’t even close to the receiver!!!
January 12th, 2021 at 12:52 pm
HERE ARE THE POSITIVES
1. Everyone in the world knows the Bucs Defense was “terrible” last game … including the teams he’s interviewing with. Everyone knows the Saints destroyed the Bucs defense the last time they played. All eyes are on Bowles, who should be motivated to put a better product on the field this weekend.
2. The Bucs will have a good defense next year and a better offense. If Bowles gets a HC job, the Bucs DC position will be extremely attractive. We could get A+ talent.
3. Doesn’t this signal BL is in line for the HC job. I’m actually okay with that after the last 4-5 games.
January 12th, 2021 at 12:57 pm
Are these just 1 hr zoom meeting or FaceTime interviews? Or is he flying out of state? Most coaches still in a playoff run push interviews back until the run is complete or the team is eliminated. I have seen Todd Bowles be GREAT and then Ive seen him almost or actually blow it. Ive seen Leftwich and Arians playcalling drastically improve and adapt to what they do best, and Todd Bowles has just been all over the place and really no improvement.
The only way the Bucs win this game is if they keep Drew Brees off of the field with long sustained drives. Short plays, moving the chains, first downs. I know our DB’s will be playing 12 yards back off the line of scrimmage giving away free completions all day.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:08 pm
No specifics have been released.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:15 pm
Wow- 12-5 including a playoff win and Buc fans are so unhappy…
January 12th, 2021 at 1:35 pm
Like I said when we first found out we are facing the saints for the third time. We will have to score 50 plus points. This defense is not going to stop anyone. No matter what happens next year we need to find better defensive players for CB and we could use some edge rushers.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Bowled season likely to be over at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday anyhow
January 12th, 2021 at 1:39 pm
Bowles is a bit of a mystery to me. Yes, we have a statistically decent defense, but its wildly unpredictable. They can go from dominating an opponent to being dominated from quarter to quarter.
In defense of Bowles, I think the loss of Vita Vea dramatically impacted the schematics of this defense, as we lost our big interior push, which cascades downhill through the rest of the defense.
Conversely, Bowles has come up with some really ineffective gameplans. Our zone defense is just as poor as the ones trotted out by Mike Smith and Lovie Smith, which is very damning. He also came up with the brilliant idea of putting Carlton Davis one on one with Tyreek Hill… SMH
January 12th, 2021 at 1:58 pm
Cannon: All good points.
January 12th, 2021 at 2:23 pm
He needs to flirt with the secondary.
January 12th, 2021 at 2:40 pm
Bowles has had 2 years out of the Head Coaching spotlight. If you wait too long for your next gig, you become a career coordinator, and there’s no guarantee 2021 will exceed or even match the playoff season he’s partially credited with achieving. The Eagles fans are crap but the organization is among the most stable and successful in the league…i’d run from gigs like the Jags, Chargers, or Lions who have never figured out how to stay competitive, but the Eagles are an opportunity to pursue
January 12th, 2021 at 3:21 pm
Cannon … Agree with what you said, although I’m of the belief that Bowles has done an overall good job (with a few hiccups) given the level of talent AND experience his defense has been stocked with. My bottom line is always the same: POINTS ALLOWED. All the rest of it is the ‘nice to have’ stuff. And this year’s defense ranked #8 in terms of Points Allowed, a huge improvement of almost 100 points FEWER than it gave up last year (#29 ranking) with essentially the same cast of characters, minus Vita Vea & Nassib but plus Winfield.
And in the process, this year’s defense generated close to the same number of takeaways (25 this year vs 28 last year), and gave up fewer yards (5234 this year for a #6 ranking vs 5503 last year for a #15 ranking), fewer 1st downs (319 this year vs 331 last year), as well as duplicating being the #1 ranked run defense team. They even gave up significantly fewer passing yards (3945 this year vs 4322 last year). And despite losing Vea, our key performance parameters were essentially the same this year as last year: (1) Sacks: 48 in 2020 vs 47 in 2019; (2) QB Hits: 116 in 2020 vs 117 in 2019; (3) TFLs: 91 in 2020 vs 87 in 2019.
All that during a year when our team’s time-of-possession DROPPED from 30:54 last year to 29:02 this year … almost 2 mins less TOP, which translates into 2 mins MORE that the defense had to spend on the field average in each game.
What blows my mind is that instead of appreciating what Todd Bowles has accomplished, so many JBFers, including at least 1 of the Joe’s, bitch & moan about how poorly this defense performs game after game. If this Bucs’ defense had even half the talent & experience that our offense had, I’d be expecting a lot more out of it too. But only after you go through this defensive roster & realize how incredibly thin it is, do you start to appreciate what Todd Bowles has accomplished with it this year. Vast majority will never take the time though, but rather will keep heaping accolades on an offense that’s stocked with Who’s-Who talent. Such is life in Bucsville I guess.
Hmmm, wonder if that’s finally dawned on Todd Bowles, and maybe that’s why he’s interviewing elsewhere. Without a major infusion of talent to this defense, I doubt that it’ll perform even close to this year’s level next year.
January 12th, 2021 at 3:35 pm
you have got to be kidding me if during this week of supposed preparation for the saints, bowles is on at least 6 flights to other cities to apply for jobs…
that’s a lot of travel, a lot of jet lag…
and a whole lot of dazed and confused…
someone has to get mr. bowles head screwed on straight…
he’s prolly sitting in detroit’s best outback steak house right now having a bloomin’ onion and a brewski
January 12th, 2021 at 3:44 pm
That’s PERFECT! Go to a team that only too 50 frickn yrs to win a superbowl haha. Trust me my friends, we are in the playoffs IN SPITE of him
January 12th, 2021 at 5:24 pm
Please hurry, someone, anyone! Just take this guy, please! I want Rahiam Morris back!
January 12th, 2021 at 6:54 pm
D.R.
Interesting comments. I agree totally about Bowles including the Rooney rule insults.
Not sure I agree about the Bucs not taking Jones. It almost seems like a no brainer. As you correctly point out he is physically a Brady clone in terms of touch, brains and WINNING.
If he falls to us I think we take him for sure. I’m not sure we’d spend draft capital to move up. But I’d love to see him here. Brady could tutor a clone and he would give Brady the flexibility to play two more years because he would quickly become a competent backup. I can see a Favre/Rodgers kind of deal where Jones has to pay his dues. As you point out he’s used to it playing at Bama.
Ace…..”The Rooney rule in itself, is the most racist act the NFL has ever done. I understand the intent, but it only creates token coaching candidates.”
THE MOST RACIST ACT….REALLY?
“The 2020 NFL season began with only three Black head coaches in a league where the players are roughly 70% Black. As fans celebrate the return of the NFL, Black coaches are hoping their biggest victory will come after the season is over.”
BTW for those among us who are math challenged…that’s 70% players slightly less than 10% HC’s. How do we explain that?
IMHO it’s not a conscious plot at this point…but we still have folks gratuitously calling black coaching interviews as token. I know you didn’t mean that as racist ACE so I’m not criticizing you. But it IS racist even if it is unconscious.
Again I do not believe ACE is a racist…it’s just a conditioned response. Much like some GM’s might have.
January 12th, 2021 at 7:18 pm
After his defense made a 3rd string QB look like an ALL PRO.
I cannot see Bowles being that high on the list for any NFL looking for a head coach.
Now, if the Bucs defense manages to shut Drew Brees down in his own home field. Then I will think some of these interviews are more than affirmative action compliance.
January 12th, 2021 at 7:40 pm
He probably just wants to be a head coach again
January 12th, 2021 at 8:06 pm
Bye.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:08 pm
Everyone’s got to check their Rooney Rule boxes and who knows, maybe he’ll get a gig. All these interviews shouldn’t interfere with our consistency during the playoffs as long as he’s leaving instructions like, “make sure to cover soft” and “don’t worry about getting to the QB”, and “please don’t adjust to anything you see on happening on the field.”
January 12th, 2021 at 8:32 pm
No assistant turns down an NFL head coaching job.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:00 pm
Some of you scoff but don’t even understand the true meaning of the fact that the Rooney rule is there because it was necessary. All men being created equal in this country has been fought tooth and nail and for many years qualified men were ignored or over looked for the status quo retreads. It’s a shame every coach like Bowels has to have in their minds that there’s the chance that that’s the only reason why they’re being interviewed, but yet still have to go. I ask you all how would you like walking into every interview you walk into. Do you think you could walk a mile in those shoes?
January 12th, 2021 at 10:08 pm
I don’t read any of it like that. I read it simply as him trying to take advantage of some opportunities, even though he could be being used in the interview process to fill a quota.
Regardless, I think it’s absolute BS how this plays out every year. Teams should not be able to interview anyone that is in the playoffs until the playoffs are over. It’s absolute crap
January 12th, 2021 at 10:14 pm
bowles big words of the week are:
“i’m off to philly but i an’t decide if i’m gonna get a cheesesteak at geno’s or pats”
sounds to me like mr. bowles has some really tough decisions to make…
with or without whiz mr. bowles?
January 12th, 2021 at 10:15 pm
bowles is going to philly
January 13th, 2021 at 4:36 am
It doesn’t hurt to see what they are offering. He wants to be a head coach again. Eric Bienemey has been interviewing for 2 years now. He seems fine where he is, he’s waiting for the right opportunity and maybe Bowles is doing the same thing. I don’t think the Eagles job is a desired job though. But if the money is right and the players fit hit defense and he has draft control then why not?
January 13th, 2021 at 10:19 am
Again, since I am not a racist, I can’t imagine anyone choosing a coach or player based on race, especially if my goal is to turn a profit. So if a team has its eye on let’s say Urban Meyer, they interview him, it goes well, terms are discussed, everybody’s happy, your dream coach is available. Can you agree to a contract and sign him? Not unless you want to be fined or lose draft picks. Now the team is forced to waste the time of a minority candidate they have no intention of signing. That is the racist act I am referring to, making the rule in itself racist.
January 14th, 2021 at 11:23 am
To whip the Saints jam their WRs and throw off QB timing and sack him often and hard.