King of Smack.

Todd Bowles must be a good poker player.

When he stands in front of mics and cameras, he displays the personality of a scared monk. Quiet, reserved, stoic, a man of very few words.

Get Bowles away from the cameras and the mics and he’s a far different cat.

Joe has heard all sorts of stories how Bowles is a gregarious guy, a fun-loving guy. You’d never expect that from his public demeanor. Joe has spoken with Bowles away from the klieglights of TV and it surprised Joe how open and friendly he is.

When Bucs star linebacker Lavonte David, now the senior citizen of the Bucs until or unless Ndamukong Suh and/or Jason Pierre-Paul return, was asked today at One Buc Palace about Bowles running smack, David’s eyes grew big and he said Bowles is a big-time smack talker.

“Oh, a lot!” David said. “He likes to talk a lot of trash. When you drop interceptions and have missed tackles, a bad drop — he’s fun but he’s serious at the same time. You laugh but you know, ‘Ah, I have to get it right.'”

When asked for what advice he would offer his offensive teammates on dealing with Bowles, David said Bowles is the most open coach he’s ever played for.

To Joe, that’s saying a lot since former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians may have been the most open book of a coach Joe has ever seen (or heard).