Michael Lombardi: Don’t Let Record With Jets Define Todd Bowles
April 1st, 2022
Bucs coach and Bill Parcells man Todd Bowles
The Jets organization is a joke. And it can drag down good men. Sort of like now the Bucs’ Lost Decade swallowed up and spit out good people because losing was so ingrained into One Buc Palace.
Joe brought word yesterday from a Super Bowl-winning suit a couple of years ago at the combine who told Joe that no educated NFL type would hold Todd Bowles’ record with the Jets against him. The Jets’ front office was such a joke, Joe was told, it was a no-win situation for Bowles or anyone who took that job.
Former NFL suit and coffee fetcher Michael Lombardi fully agrees with that assessment. Those who regularly listen to Lombardi on his podcast, “GM Shuffle,” know he’s a big fan of Bowles because Lombardi is a big fan of Bill Parcells. And Parcells loved Bowles. You do the math.
(Bowles worked for Parcells in Dallas.)
So Lombardi typed a piece for VSiN about the transfer of power between Bucco Bruce Arians and Bowles. Lombardi insists the Bucs are in good hands.
When defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was interviewing for head coaching positions this year, I felt the Bucs should name him head coach in waiting. They couldn’t afford to allow him to leave. Bowles is an excellent coach and don’t permit the New York Jets experience from 2015-2018 to affect your evaluation. Yes, his 24-40 record wasn’t good and he had problems solving the offensive staff riddle and finding the right quarterback; his general manager at the time, Mike Maccagnan, also wasn’t great in his role. Bowles, as a young coach, needed a partner in the front office to help him develop into the role. There is more to Bowles than that subpar win-loss record.
Bowles became an NFL coach because former Giants head man Bill Parcells watched this undrafted rookie from Temple start at free safety for Washington, making every adjustment call in the complex Richie Petitbon defense. For those that don’t remember, Petitbon was an outstanding defensive coach, and his system of defense required adjustments to the adjustments and highly intelligent players playing linebacker and safety. Parcells was so amazed that Bowles could grasp this intricate defense, he instantly made a mental note to hire Bowles as a coach when his playing days were over. Parcells took Bowles under his wing, he helped develop his philosophy and how to demand from the players. Bowles isn’t shy about holding players accountable. He understands the importance of playing complementary football and will be philosophically in tune with Brady.
Lombardi on his podcast all but begged Team Glazer to lock up Bowles this year to a long-term contract when he was flirting with other teams for head coaching vacancies. Lombardi went so far as to suggest the last guy the Bucs could afford to lose was Bowles.
Time will tell whether Bowles’ days in New York were an aberration or a pattern. One thing is for sure, Bowles with the snap of the fingers upgraded from rotten Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith and Stewart McClown to Tom Brady.
The News of the Day: Bruce Arians retires from coaching and Todd Bowles takes over the @Buccaneers. @mlombardiNFL and @TheWrapRadio discuss on #LombardiLine pic.twitter.com/haKlmftv2X
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) March 31, 2022
April 1st, 2022 at 9:08 am
This is scary. Like our President, Lombardi has been wrong about literally everything in his life.
April 1st, 2022 at 9:17 am
This put more pressure to Bowles as he was handed a well-oiled machine. THey handed him the ball in the 1 yard line and the only thing he needs to do is run it. DOn’t screw this up COach, we are rooting for u. GO BUCS!!!
April 1st, 2022 at 9:21 am
Guys, Arians is still going to give his 2 cents, he just wont be on the sidelines and stuff. Soft retirement
April 1st, 2022 at 9:31 am
Bowles strikes me as a highly intelligent individual. You can just tell, sometimes. Dude’s got it!
April 1st, 2022 at 9:32 am
So let’s see Kalind. The President has a multi decade career. Wrong about “everything”. See how hypebole makes you look like the idiot.
So was Biden wrong to reinvigorate NATO after his predecessor tried to destroy it? Let’s ask the Ukrainians.
Lombardi earned his bones working as a scout for Bill Walsh, a personnel guy for Bill Belichek, a top personnel guy under Al Davis.
So there’s just a fraction of Lombardi’s resume…let’s see..Walsh..Belichek..Al Davis…what do these guys know about the NFL right Kalind.
So just for grins what are your bona fides Kalind. What is your NFL background the has formed this criticism.
NOBODY is right all of the time!!!
Wow are we biased to the negative or what here? We seem to rarely view people through the prism of their success if we do not like them personally or worse still WE disagree with their opinion.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m well aware despite decades of following the game as a fan…a decade covering it from afar as a TV Sportscaster…I NEVER compare my knowledge to PROFESSIONALS.
Likewise…I may disagree with the Joes but they’ve been doing this long enough from a close enough insider perspective that I understand they KNOW more than ME about what is going on. Again everybody makes mistakes…can you say Johnny Football..Fameis Jameis…but the Joes batting average is excellent and their connections run far far deeper than mine.
So when I disagree with Joe I do not feel the need to attack them personally nor do I feel the need to attack Bowles for what WE feel was a mistake on the final big play of the year.
Ted Williams was the single greatest hitter I’ve ever seen. As a Cincy guy who grow up watching Pete Rose it’s hard for me to type that truth. A career average right a .350 he flirted with .400 a few times.
In Ted Williams greatest season…he still FAILED 60% of the time.
April 1st, 2022 at 9:41 am
Kraft, Bellicheat and Brady wouldn’t even be able to fix the Jets dumpster fire organization.
April 1st, 2022 at 9:59 am
Now Brady can look right at the head coach and ask “WTF was that all anout?!” in the Rams game at the end. Followed by “Don’t ever let that happen again” and I would expect Brady to be vocal about defensive ineptitude if and when he sees it in practice this year. Holy buckets.
April 1st, 2022 at 10:18 am
Bowles is from the Parcells’ coaching tree? That’s all you had to say. I’m sold.
April 1st, 2022 at 10:28 am
@stpetebucsfan…whine much?
April 1st, 2022 at 10:33 am
Bowles without question is a very intelligent coach. If we have another solid season, BL probably will get a HC job somewhere else. I hope the Bucs are thinking about future QB and OC now because that is what we will be looking for sooner than later. Future coaching turnover is a little unsettling, but Bowles replacing BA was a good move.
April 1st, 2022 at 10:34 am
In today’s NFL heavily slanted towards offense, the defensive head coaches can struggle when their offensive coordinators leave.
That is the main issue with this hire. Long term consistency. Much smarter to hire young, smart OC.
April 1st, 2022 at 11:05 am
The only thing between Bowels and many more years of failure is TB12. He will be able to paper over the ineptitude of a losing HC only hired for diversity. This is just a propaganda piece by the Joes. We’ll see how much they love this hire when we’re in the basement of the NFC south in a few years.
April 1st, 2022 at 11:07 am
The defensive game-plan against the Chiefs in the Superbowl is one of the most brilliant plans I’ve seen in decades. I think the Bucs will be just fine with Mr. Bowles as HC, especially given his experience and pedigree of his mentors. Relax, Bucs fans, this should be a great year, and we have every reason to believe that the Bucs will be competitive and vying for a playoff victory or two. If all works out well, there’s no reason to be optimistic that we could reach and win the SB this year. I’m excited!!
GO BUCS!!
April 1st, 2022 at 11:08 am
Sorry, typo:
There’s EVERY reason to be optimistic…
April 1st, 2022 at 11:15 am
Showme
One man’s “whine” is another’s opinion. And again we all know what they say about opinions.
April 1st, 2022 at 11:42 am
I can’t speak for other team fan blogs, but we sure attract the yahoo trolls on here. Geebus, Bill Parcells?? Ritchie Petitbon?? That’s who trained Bowles?? What a resume!! You bet I know those names!! What was HOF Coach Dungy’s resume? We educated Bucs fans KNOW what he accomplished here. Now, I have a question, joes: is Richard Sherman still on the team? I bet he’s potential coaching material.
April 1st, 2022 at 12:04 pm
Lets keep it real here guys, If Bowles fails with this team, He will be booed right out of Tampa Bay. All he has to do is get the Defense right. The rest will take care of itself. Don’t screw it up Mr. Bowles. Les You be dumped..in the Bay.
April 1st, 2022 at 12:06 pm
We’ve only won Superbowls with offensive minded coaches. Defensive minded coaches are too conservative with the offense. Period.
April 1st, 2022 at 1:44 pm
Just curious. If the Goat goes down early, heaven forbid in the preseason or an early game, do we think the Bucs are still playoff bound?
If the GOAT goes down will it be Bowles fault?
April 1st, 2022 at 1:55 pm
Bowles will be fine. I would’ve been fine with Leftwich either, honestly.. At least now we’re keeping one of our top flight coordinators.. I was afraid we’d lose both, and then BA would retire..
April 1st, 2022 at 5:54 pm
Anyone who calls BA or Todd a loser should not even be allowed to watch our games from now on.