Todd Bowles Next Coach Up?
January 22nd, 2019
GM Jason Licht talks about Bucs DC Todd Bowles.
Joe has written about, and spoken about this subject on “The Ira Kaufman Podcast” in the past week.
Thus far, nothing has changed Joe’s mind.
Joe is all but convinced the next coach of the Bucs whenever Bucco Bruce Arians hangs it up, even if it is next year, is already on the Team Glazer payroll.
This hit Joe a week ago Friday when defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin each held their respective introductory press conferences.
Joe was very impressed with each guy. They all came across as head coaches and commanded respect. And given how we all know Bucco Bruce Arians won’t be here for the long haul, Joe would not be surprised at all if part of the deal to land Arians was that Arians helps set up one of his assistants to take his spot whenever he steps down.
A coach-in-waiting type of thing.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht didn’t exactly deny this in talking to Ohio State honk Albert Breer of theMMQB.com. Breer asked Licht if the next Bucs coach already has an office at One Buc Palace.
Albert Breer: Given Arians’ age (66), do you need to have a succession plan?
Jason Licht: It’s off the radar right now. Right now, we’re just focused on Bruce and this season. I will say that Bruce feels very, very strongly that he’s got three coordinators and an assistant head coach that are all very worthy of being a head coach. He feels very, very strongly about Todd Bowles, and we do too. We’re really fortunate to have Todd. He wouldn’t have come here if it weren’t for Bruce. And he and I have a strong relationship too. I don’t want to say Todd is the next guy right now because we’re all focused on Bruce. But I do feel good about who he’s got.
Again, that’s not exactly a “no.” It’s more like a “we think so.”
Joe will have more on Bowles a bit later, but there is word floating around NFL circles that Bowles was cut off at the knees in New York more because the Jets had a lack of talent rather than bad coaching.
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:08 am
Todd Bowles hasn’t proved to me that he is a good head coach. He is a good DC but Head Coach……….I do not think so. You need a master mind, a genius, an innovator. Bruce is that, Todd Bowls is a good Defensive Coach………not a great one and so I think that this is not an ideal situation. Hopefully we can squeeze 6 years out of BA and by that time the culture will be in place for whoever it is to succeed.
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:21 am
“Given Arians’ age (66), do you need to have a succession plan?”
A: “mumblemumble vagueanswer mumblemumble TODD BOWLES mumblemumble vagueanswer mumblemumble”
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:45 am
Arians said Bowles is the smartest player he ever coached. There’s that
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:32 am
I hope we can get at least 3 years out of BA…maybe we’ll come together as a team and get to that winning “culture”!
January 22nd, 2019 at 2:36 am
I for one am really fed up with this whole circus. Either this guy is gonna coach and do a good job or he’s not. I don’t want his retreads- the Jets absolutely sucked. How well did we do with hiring crappy Atlanta’s loser staff. Now we have Arizona’s? They never won a damn thing. This is all talk and nonsense and hype. You reporters are so fickle and unintelligent it’s really disturbing. If Arians doesn’t win, clean house on this clown show Licht included. Lovies the answer- oh wait Koetter is in waiting- oh wait, hurry save the day Mike Smith needs to be signed, what a gem. LICHT is the biggest con artist of all time and the foolish media perpetuates it. Win or
CLEAN HOUSE
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:25 am
What’s a honk?
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:29 am
^^^
The ..we need to …sign mike smith to a bigger extension as D-coordinator was the best.
Remember that. We had to lock him down /give more loot ? So he would stop interviewing for head coaching gigs.
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:44 am
Mike have a snickers
January 22nd, 2019 at 4:10 am
@Joe … “word floating around NFL circles that Bowles was cut off at the knees in New York more because the Jets had a lack of talent rather than bad coaching.”
Wait a minute Joe, ‘lack of talent’ trumped ‘bad coaching’ in ‘NFL (excuse) circles’ but not in NY obviously. You mean coaches can actually get fired because they couldn’t DEVELOP and COACH UP weak talent? Please tell me it’s not so because there’ll be a lot of JBFers extremely disappointed if we don’t win the Super Bowl this year (yup, they’re positive we’re THAT talented). We’ve got the QB & the horses to lead us to the Promised Land ALREADY on our roster. A little tweak here, a little tweak there & it’s off to the races. (Oops, danged sarcasm font self-activated again; it’s off now).
All that aside, I agree with you 100% that Todd Bowles is our ‘next HC in waiting’. But in a way he’s in a very similar situation to what Lovie found himself in … ‘We’ll give you a couple upgrades on defense, but we’re gonna focus on fixing the offense first.’ Bucs vision I’m convinced is to become an offensive juggernaut (defined as one that actually SCORES, and scores often, when it gets inside the Red Zone). For now at least, the goal seems to be a Top-5 offense & a middle-of-the-pack defense. That’ll obviously necessitate a MAJOR defensive improvement, and IF Todd can pull that off in the near-term I’d be a happy man.
January 22nd, 2019 at 4:54 am
Todd Bowles just needs a genius OC
Much like Koetter needed a good DC
January 22nd, 2019 at 5:05 am
bowles really just wants to coach in washington
January 22nd, 2019 at 6:30 am
WGASRN?
The RN is right now.
January 22nd, 2019 at 6:55 am
I don’t care who the coach ends up being as long as we win and replace that losing culture with a winning one.
January 22nd, 2019 at 7:40 am
*vomits*
January 22nd, 2019 at 7:41 am
Let’s see what Arians does as head coach and what Bowles does for the defense before we jump on that train.
January 22nd, 2019 at 7:48 am
Don’t try and pass the coach in waiting crap!!!!!!!! That never works!!!!!! The truth is that no one would have been excited if T bowles was named head coach, and why should anyone a year from now??????? And if he could not overcome the “lack of talent” in NY why would he in Tampa?????????? Do the sheep want T bowles and licht weight picking a new QB????????
These coaches need to produce a winning record this year!!!!!! and with 7 home games and 9 away!!!!!! Good luck!!!! because they are surely going to need it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 22nd, 2019 at 8:06 am
if this is true i am back to calling the team the “ybor city buccaneers”…
because i will need a few drinks and scantly clad floozies…
January 22nd, 2019 at 8:24 am
Who in the blazes is excited about Bowles possibly being the HC in waiting? Nobody I know of. If he was any good he’d still be in New York. How did that work out for you, Jets fans?
January 22nd, 2019 at 8:38 am
I agree with this opinion of yours, Realist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 22nd, 2019 at 8:57 am
Bruce will wash away the mire, build us into a powerhouse then, hand it over to Bowles, just like Jimmy Johnson did for Barry Switzer. Turnkey system! (Slightly-sarcastic font on;).
Plenty of coaches were better their second time around at HC. The way they talk-up Leftwich maybe he is the next guy up? Would you prefer that, another first-timer?
I sure wish “the Bucs’ AC/DC lovin’ GM” tag were; “the Bucs’ exceptional talent aquirin’ GM”, instead! Better still, “the Bucs’ former…” (Slightly sarcastic font off!). Lock him out of the draft-room until the 5th round & we should be okay!
January 22nd, 2019 at 9:31 am
Yuck on Todd Bowles as a HC
January 22nd, 2019 at 9:56 am
don’t worry people the glazers’ undeniable incompetence will ensure no one has any success thus in 3 years, all these gentlemen will be gone. it does not matter what front office, coaches or players you bring in Glazers will guarantee they fail. it’s a buc life.
January 22nd, 2019 at 10:52 am
I could see all this exasperation and hand wringing had the Bucs not won a SB. One a lifetime is better than none as some fans of other teams have lived through.
January 22nd, 2019 at 10:53 am
Agreeing with Mike at this point….
Only this organization would hire a guy an two weeks later be discussing his replacement..before he’s ever coached a practice.
January 22nd, 2019 at 11:36 am
HELL NO!
Watching his presser, I have ZERO idea how in the hell he was a head coach.
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:31 pm
Buccfan37 Says:
January 22nd, 2019 at 10:52 am
I could see all this exasperation and hand wringing had the Bucs not won a SB. One a lifetime is better than none as some fans of other teams have lived through.
one Superbowl is not a lifetime free pass. raise your standards… if dungy the clown was not an ignorant one-dimensional fool they should have 2 rings minimum. that super bowl win does not give the glazers a free pass nor does it justify the fact the bucs are the worst ran sports franchise on planet earth. again. raise your standards super bowl victories expire week 1 following season. living in the past is for losers
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:05 pm
You know guys , I get tired of hearing stuff like oh he’s worked with Bill in ne ” Jayson Gump ” oh baby is the QB wisperer and so on and so on ! What I cannot understand is how we see it can be done ” win the whole damn thing ” in many different ways ! So go out coach up good talent and do it your way ! For these guys getting paid millions of dollars , it should not be hard to first , have a winning record and second unlike coach kutmyass , be prepared and adapt in game as the game goes to adjust to what teams are doing..you have to be muti dimentional and with the so called great coaches on this staff that supposed works very well togeather , they should have no problem finding out what we will be doing very well and apply pressure and also mixing in what each opponents do very well and adjust when we need to ! I am going to want to see theses things game by game and we should find out pretty quickly if this time will be different or more of the same..but let me tell you one thing , we need talent ! Guys did not want to tackle the a-train ! Guys did not want Sapp and Lynch and Brooks running them down and hoping them for 60 minutes ! We need talent and then a coaching staff that can compete with the best and get the best out of our players !
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:47 pm
I love how you’re worried about the next coach when this one hasn’t coached a game. If it goes south why would we promote from within? Let it play out first damn
January 22nd, 2019 at 2:53 pm
NY Jets fans rejoiced when Bowles was canned.
Headlines Read “Toilet Bowles Flushed”
But then, the Jets were not the most talented team either.
I sort of like the guy, what I have seen from him so far.
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:06 pm
Exactly what Buc407 said. It’s worth noting these points, but always getting so far ahead of ourselves. What if BA sucks? What if the defense still sucks after Bowles? We haven’t seen anything, and everyone points to the same era/timeframe of these coaches’ success for reference.
You know what coaches had a lot of great success together before coming to the Bucs? Mike Smith and Dirk Koetter. How’d that work out for us?
January 22nd, 2019 at 8:33 pm
More evidence the Glazers are completely clueless and we are headed for yet another train wreck.