“They All Think He’s A Great Players’ Coach”
April 15th, 2022
Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen speaks.
The more Joe listens to Buccaneers’ offensive players, the more Joe realizes how they’re rather unfamiliar with new head coach Todd Bowles.
Yes, Bowles addressed the entire Bucs team weekly, but he didn’t really build relationships on the offensive side of the ball.
Ryan Jensen reinforced that yesterday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. He said he really doesn’t know Bowles but said endorsements of Bowles from defensive players are loud and impactful. “They all think he’s a great players’ coach,” Jensen said.
As Joe wrote this week, Bowles has an open-door approach and spends a lot of time counseling players, per general manager Jason Licht. Now he’ll have more players to deal with and many more responsibilities as head coach.
Joe’s very intrigued by how the relationship between Bowles and Tom Brady might evolve. Bill Belicheat wasn’t exactly players’ coach, and some claim Brady wants a coach more in the Belicheat mold.
Former MVP quarterback Rich Gannon was on the air after Jensen talking about what a terrific job Bowles will do and their connection going back to college and being teammates in Washington.
Joe is often asked about where the bar is set for Bowles when it comes to wins. Joe likes to put it this way. Brady is riding a streak of 12 consecutive seasons with 11 or more regular season wins. So stick the bar right there: 11 wins, minimum.
April 15th, 2022 at 9:22 am
If Brady wanted a Belichick mode he should have stayed in New England.
April 15th, 2022 at 9:22 am
Anything less than a 20-0 season will be unacceptable for Bowles…..
He was handed a SB winning team wit all starters having rings…..AB nutcase gone….BA kicked upstairs.
What more could he ask for?
April 15th, 2022 at 9:23 am
^^^^^^^ Wanted a coach
April 15th, 2022 at 9:26 am
He might ask for Gronk.
April 15th, 2022 at 9:47 am
I think 12 wins because there are more games now and then winning the Super Bowl. Anything less would be a huge disappointment.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:02 am
When the Super Bowl is a realistic possibility, nothing short of that ends without disappointment. I’m not just a lifetime fan of the Bucs, I’m a franchise long fan, from the jump in 1976 when I was 7 years old and lived in Brandon…and I can attest that even after many 2 win seasons, when the next would eventually show itself to not finally be the team that would take the next step from 1979, it was disappointing.
I don’t believe it has been done because I don’t remember reading it…but someone should do a deep dive into those first 4 Buc seasons. The incredible leap from 0-14 to the cusp of the Super Bowl in the 70s was a setup. Great expectations entering the 80s and two decades of failure later, we (Buc fans) were well beaten down but still disappointed every season that didn’t take that next step.
So, if Bowles doesn’t want a disappointed fan base, he best with the whole thing.
BTW – I know many articles have been written about the Bucs first 4 seasons…but if it has somehow escaped me, it deserves a book. A real deep dive into what at that point was the model, modern NFL franchise. Please direct me to any publication I might not be aware has already chronicled those years deeply.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:04 am
Just how in the blue blazes of hell does spellchecker change win to with?
April 15th, 2022 at 10:25 am
Sometimes a “players coach” isn’t the most effective coach……
April 15th, 2022 at 10:29 am
With such a huge staff it would have been a chore for an offensive player to contact a defensive coach. I don’t think this will amount to much more than squat.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:33 am
Ya I’m spoiled, but anything less than a superbowl will be a disappointment and this year looks like our best/last year to get one with Brady before the rebuild.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:34 am
Joe … ‘Now he’ll have more players to deal with and many more responsibilities as head coach.’
And that’s the primary reason I don’t like seeing a HC dual-hatted as the DC or OC. There are only so many hours in a week, and when leaders take on too many responsibilities something gets short-changed.
My ‘suspicion’ at this point is that Defensive Coaches Rodgers & Foote will actually be doing most of the game-planning, and probably have a huge hand in play-calling too. It’s interesting to me that on the Bucs’ website they call Kacy Rodgers the ‘Run Game Coordinator’ and Larry Foote the ‘Passing Game Coordinator’. Heck you’d think from those titles that they were offensive assistant coaches instead of defensive.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:40 am
Tom Brady doesn’t want a “player’s coach”, he wants to BE the Bucs’ Player-Coach or, at least, Co-Coach with Bowles and BL. This has been his goal since Peyton Manning took him aside and re-directed his frustrations with BB and McDaniels. Reportedly, Brady was blown away after hearing Peyton describe the degree of autonomy he demanded and received nearly his entire career.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:57 am
Radio Morris was a “player’s coach.” That worked out well.
April 15th, 2022 at 11:24 am
@Anonymous. Do you have a source regarding that whole Manning and Brady deal?
April 15th, 2022 at 11:32 am
I think Todd “Major Payne” Bowles is gonna be just fine as a HC this 2nd time around. Shoot, the fact he even lasted w/ the Jets and all that coinciding jazz that comes along w/ a Franchise like the Jets is impressive.
I don’t worry about Players playing for him or turning on him or anything like that. The worries for me is, what does he do and who takes the reigns at QB & OC, IF/WHEN Leftwich gets a HC job and/or Brady retires or goes to another Team after this season. That’s very important positions to him as a defensive minded HC and where most of his time will be invested. Remember we are deep in the process of kicking the proverbial salary cap can down the road (and the sand akways falls out of the bottom somehow eventually). So when you compile that eventual financial hit/wall mixed w/ that all coinciding w/ a possible Brady/Leftwich departure….that could be very troubling and a huge hurdle to cross down the road sooner or later.
I don’t worry about Bowles this much this year as I do the future due to QB and salary cap situations. Because I think he’s deserving and would like to see him be a HC for a long time here. That’s usually a good sign.
LFG Todd “Major Payne” Bowies
April 15th, 2022 at 11:45 am
Instead of player’s coach, let’s put a hyphen in there and call it player-coach Tom Brady.
April 15th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Bucsfan13, he heard from Mike Florio.
April 15th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Brady wanted to stay in NE, don’t forget that. It was Bill and Bill alone that drove him out. Kraft could’ve overruled his coach, but Bill would’ve left NE. Remember it was Kraft who decided Jimmy G would be traded, not Bill. Belichick would not have stood for Kraft overriding him again. All Brady wanted was the Brees deal, fifty million for two years, guaranteed.
As for the win total, it’s not important. Brady has won the superbowl without home field multiple times. It’s about how the bucs finish. If bowles is like belichick, as has been suggested, a slow start is quite possible. Belichick always used the first month of the season, as an extension of the preseason. He’d mess with personnel groups, formation and different defensive concepts. By the end of the year the team usually found an identity, and most often peaked at the right time. Bucs fans, don’t be surprised if this years version of the team gets off to a slow start.
April 15th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
Anonymous has mad sources.
April 15th, 2022 at 12:52 pm
win the division and get the number 1 seed
April 15th, 2022 at 1:12 pm
@GOB
You’re right Brady never disliked Belichick the head coach. He just couldn’t stomach Belichick the PERSON anymore at 42 yo going on 43.
April 15th, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Sparrow, it’s amazing it lasted twenty years. What’s the saying? Winning is like deodorant. I do think Brady still likes to be coached hard. He just wants the respect he’s due.
April 15th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
One of the biggest myth is that Brady is some snowflake that doesn’t like to be coached hard. Josh McDaniels says otherwise, and in Brady’s Man in the Arena doc, Bill O’Brien said you won’t even have a chance with Brady if you don’t coach him hard. And when they say” coach hard”, it’s not just screaming and yelling. It’s about being prepared and challenging him with the X’s and O’s You better damn well know what you’re talking about. AQ Shipley recently did an interview on the Pat Mcafee show and went more in depth in this. The cognitive dissonance from what fans and talking heads think about Brady, and what his coaches and teammates say about him is amazing.
April 15th, 2022 at 3:44 pm
At least when they open the door Bowles will be there unlike his predessor. It appears Belichick is taking the easy road these days so I’m pretty sure that boat has sailed. The average person works to about 30% of their ability, today possibly less, get yours to 50% and you’ll kick ass. Brady just wants those around him to out work the opposing players and all will be fine. That being said 13 wins will win the NFC.
April 15th, 2022 at 10:56 pm
I couldn’t care less about Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft or anything to do with the Patriots. If you are a Patriots fan you should be on a Pats fan page. If you are a Bucs fan you should be on here. Brady is a Buccaneer. Those Patriots days are long gone and I don’t care about any of it. It is very boring. So figure out which team is yours and act accordingly. Thank you
April 16th, 2022 at 7:44 am
I think the only thing holding Bowles back is that he seem to be saddled with one of the worst special team coaches in the NFL. Look at Matt Guy once he left here he become one of the best field goal kickers in the league.
April 16th, 2022 at 3:36 pm
Learned under Parcells and is “player’s coach.’ Guess he went the other direction as the big tuna.