Loyalty, Todd Bowles & The Bucs’ Bad Special Teams
April 5th, 2022
“I’m not standing for this anymore, Jason.”
Despite Todd Bowles’ horrid record, sinking (quitting?) defense and ugly offense when he was head coach of the Jets, his special teams in New York evolved into a top-ranked unit.
In Bowles’ final season there (2018), the Jets’ special teams ranked No. 1 in the NFL per Rick Gosselin’s highly respected annual evaluation that covers 22 categories of special teams play.
Under Bowles, Jets special teams rose slowly from a bottom-tier unit to the top of the league. So Bowles certainly knows what good special teams looks like, which also means he knows how poor Bucs special teams were last season.
They were sad under Bucco Bruce Arians (ranked 29th last season, tied for 22nd in 2020 and dead last for 2019), but Arians was never going to point a finger of blame at his special teams coordinator and long-time friend Keith Armstrong.
Much of the Jets’ success in special teams was attributed to coach Brant Boyer, who Bowles hired in New York. Boyer was a stud special teams player and Bowles was coaching for the Browns when Boyer played there.
The point is that Bowles has overseen great special teams, and Joe is very curious to see how Bowles adjusts in Tampa to improve a struggling Bucs unit.
Joe acknowledges that all the stars on the Bucs roster translates to a lot of guys who don’t play special teams. And the Bucs are an old team, relatively speaking. So that’s a bad combination when it comes to the talent pool on fourth down.
Joe doesn’t believe Bowles is shopping to replace Armstrong, but hopefully that’s on the table next year, if there is no radical improvement. Sometimes, extreme loyalty will get you beat and undermine a franchise. Just ask Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
This would be a welcome change. If he was looking for a focus that needs more attention, it’s definitely special teams.
I’d love to see the team become more oriented towards defense and special teams than it has been. Also, on offense, improve time of possession and get the running game cranked up. If we were more balanced in these ways, this team would be set to dominate.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Time to “promote” Armstrong. Give him something important to do that doesn’t involve coaching.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:19 pm
The special teams were a huge liability last year, and made life harder for the offense and defense. Harden was awful and we routinely started off with bad field position. Pinion sucked and our d had to constantly defend a short field. Pinion had two kickoffs out of bounds in the Rams’ game. That’s just as egregious as the blitz call. How is he still on the team? And our kicker can’t make any kicks over 45 yards. I’ve never seen Bruce hold Armstrong accountable. Hopefully, Bowles will get this group buttoned up.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:21 pm
The stats are the facts…. NFL …. stands for Not For Long…. if you dont do your job
April 5th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Pinion sucked, Succup regressed. But at least Darden was useless.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Special team play can be the difference in one or two games in a season. Our special teams were horrible last year. It’s obvious that BA is all about loyalty and to a degree that’s noble. But in the NFL loyalty to anyone who does pull their weight is a death sentence to the entire organization. Fire the ST coach now! get someone with fire in their belly who can turn around the ST performance. With our schedule and inevitable injuries, we need that extra win because of ST play.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:31 pm
Doesn’t
April 5th, 2022 at 12:31 pm
I agree with goatfarmer. We must improve at special teams.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:32 pm
There is a great deal of focus (rightfully so) on the KR/PR…..but from my observation our punt & kick blocking was horrid…..it seems like defenders were all over our returners immediately…..no matter who they were.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Hate seeing starters on special teams especially when one gets hurt because it’s always a cornerback injured
April 5th, 2022 at 12:48 pm
Fix it then!!
April 5th, 2022 at 1:05 pm
Joe–a great coach doesn’t preside over special teams going from 29th to 32nd over a three year period.
April 5th, 2022 at 2:14 pm
Goatfarmer Says:
April 5th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Pinion sucked, Succup regressed. But at least Darden was useless.
^^^^^^^
Darden was good at falling down without contact, so there’s that.
April 5th, 2022 at 2:45 pm
Special teams is a lot like defense in the NBA, it’s about effort. That effort starts with coaching. If it’s a priority for the coach, it should show itself in results. Belichick, who started out on special teams, always made it a priority. He’d even go so far as to pay guys for specific special teams roles. The most glaring example is matt slater, the best gunner in the history of the league. If the bowles belichick comparison shows itself, it should mean improvement for the unit. Nobody should expect the bucs to be top ten in special teams this year, mainly because of the top heavy roster Joe alluded to. I’d expect the later rounds of the draft to focus on guys who can improve the unit. The GM should realize this as well, as it’s his job to pick players that reflect what the HC wants to do. UDFAs can also be a well spring for fringe roster guys, that contribute to special teams.
April 5th, 2022 at 4:46 pm
Darden was also quite good at running the wrong way to get the most yards.
April 5th, 2022 at 7:48 pm
Field position is everything
April 5th, 2022 at 8:15 pm
Great insightful GOB.
April 5th, 2022 at 9:16 pm
You have to address special teams as part of the draft evaluation.
It’s the returner who sucks, plain and simple.
That is one freaking player.
Makes picking Dotson over Burks the way to go, if they are graded equally for you.
April 6th, 2022 at 5:37 am
I have no idea why the Glazers and Licht didn’t just fire Mike Smith. If a coach doesn’t want to do it, make the executive decision and bring in someone else