Teaching With Sarcasm
April 5th, 2022
Todd Bowles has jokes.
Joe has always believed coaching is teaching. And the key to teaching is communication.
An instructor could be the smartest in his or her field, but if the message doesn’t connect, those smarts don’t mean a damn thing.
In a sitdown with Casey Phillips of Buccaneers.com, Bucs coach Todd Bowles explained some of his coaching philosophy. His two biggest coaching influences are two guys who used sarcasm to get across their points: former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians and Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.
Arians was more like an uncle chewing out a player. He was often direct and his words biting, but not mean. Parcells? Think Bobby Knight (Parcells and Knight were once roommates when assistant coaches at Army).
Knight was a frustrated comedian. While Parcells never tried to be funny, his words and tactics were just like Knight’s and could be harsher than Sam Kinison.
It seems Bowles has learned from both: Sarcasm is a way to communicate effectively.
Phillips asked Bowles how much he adheres to Arians’ motto he learned from Bear Bryant, “Coach ’em hard and hug ’em later.”
“You always coach ’em hard but they have to know it is not personal,” Bowles said. “My interaction will be daily with every player. The sarcastic part they will hear and they will say some things back. I will wait until it is Day 5 or 6 in camp when they have to get up early and they are tired and I will get them back.
“You will keep it fresh and keep the momentum going but you will coach football. They will see my personality as it goes out. They will understand I will come to work every day. I try to win at everything whether it is punting or punt returns, seven-on-seven team drills. You have to adapt to that mentality and I think we have it and we can take it to another level and get to the next step.”
While Bowles has the public demeanor of a quiet, straight-laced guy, behind the scenes he’s often joking and laughing — when he isn’t coaching. When it’s football, Bowles is quite serious.
Joe hopes Bowles’ sarcastic communication when it comes to tackling better begin to sink in on his cornerbacks. The way they didn’t tackle well the last time they were on the field wasn’t very funny to Joe.
If Bowles can help the Bucs offense beat the slimy Saints, Joe is confident many Bucs fans will be laughing over several Big Storm Brewing beers.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:03 pm
I’ve used this management styles for years and it’s very effective.
I dubbed it “constructive sarcasm”
April 5th, 2022 at 1:23 pm
Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin. Sarcasm is usually paired with being passive aggressive. It comes from not wanting to address a situation head on and then punishing the person who angered you without explanation. Not sure that’s a great way to coach football.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
Didn’t work with the Jets.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:35 pm
Arians wasn’t mean ? I can remember the Rams game where Brady took a late hit, that drew blood on his chin.
He complained to the Ref, and drew a penalty.
When he went over to the sidelines for some love and understanding from Arians, he reamed him a new azz!
April 5th, 2022 at 1:38 pm
Now with two of our former busts playing for that hateful team it will be that much sweeter to kick them in the teeth. Hopefully Bowles can figure out a way to beat them in the regular season…
April 5th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
Hey Joe on a different topic I just read on NFL.com that the Honey Badger is going to visit with the slimey saints. In no way shape or form should coach Bowles allow this to happen.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:51 pm
Whatever the style, the ultimate goal is obviously to get the best performance out of the player. Parcells didn’t coach everyone the same. His genius was knowing what to say to who, when. Many players will tell you they hated parcells at the time, but understood later, what he was trying to accomplish. It ultimately made them better players.
April 5th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
🤷♂️
Not sure what the Bucs can do. The NFL is not like baseball where savvy GMs of winning teams would trade for players just so their rivals wouldn’t get them. If Bucs sign Honey Badger, pretty much can kiss Ndamukong Suh goodbye.
It is frustrating the slimy Saints always seem to find a way around the salary cap for big-name free agents not their own.
April 5th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
Watching nfl network too. Saw that about mathieu visiting saints. 😡
Sucks if they just lost both safety studs to rebuild with maye And mathieu
And i am amazed they find this money every year. Been kicking the can down the road for 5 years or so. They were 75 mil over when this all started.
Thats his home though and he has commented for years he would love to play there so we shall see
April 5th, 2022 at 2:44 pm
We need to sign Suh, JPP, and Honey Badger. Make it happen Jason.
April 5th, 2022 at 2:47 pm
Holy Crap! Can you imagine bunking next to Parcells and Knight while they were roommates? Worst living situaion ever!
April 5th, 2022 at 2:49 pm
If players/employees know you are genuine and your heart is right this works. Unfortunately more often than not leadership’s heart is NOT right. We have a leadership crisis of incompetence in this country. I am hopeful and fairly confident Bowles is one of the rare leaders that IS genuine and his heart is right. Go Bucs.
April 5th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
Buc4evr Says:
April 5th, 2022 at 2:44 pm
Why are people still calling for JPP?
The dude had shoulder surgery. He probably won’t be rehabbed until summer. He’s a 33 year old beaten up player with a bum shoulder. Why would he be a priority? What’s more of a priority is getting younger and healthier there. I wouldn’t pay him anything until we know the shoulder is 100%, maybe in summertime, for a low price. Even so, why would we pay him when JTS is the future and we have Shaq on the other side?
Bring back Suh. He doesn’t get hurt, and we don’t have anybody else right now. If we don’t sign Suh, then we’re in a must-draft-DT-round-1 situation. Arguably, we should do that anyway, but it becomes imperative if we don’t.
Can’t pay Honey Badger. Sorry, there’s only so much cap manipulation you can afford. If they really wanted Honey Badger and were committed to taking a run at him, I don’t think they would have signed Logan Ryan, even though they’re different players. I’d bet money we draft a Strong Safety in round 1-3.
April 5th, 2022 at 3:11 pm
Not sure what the Bucs can do. The NFL is not like baseball where savvy GMs of winning teams would trade for players just so their rivals wouldn’t get them. If Bucs sign Honey Badger, pretty much can kiss Ndamukong Suh goodbye.
It is frustrating the slimy Saints always seem to find a way around the salary cap for big-name free agents not their own
You’re absolutely right on this one Joe. Thanks 👍
April 5th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
I could live without suh if we draft Jordan Davis
April 5th, 2022 at 3:49 pm
My biggest fear with Bowles is that he will be so confident in his defense, he will be content to sit on a small lead and punt instead of going for it on 4th down. You know, like in the last minute of the first half of the NFC Championship game. What would he do in that situation?
April 5th, 2022 at 4:18 pm
Is the headline of this article about Mike Smith?
April 5th, 2022 at 4:37 pm
JPP’s shoulder isn’t his biggest problem, watch his legs, they’re shot. There’s no more burst, or power there. He couldn’t push the pocket, and couldn’t get off blocks last year because his legs are dead. I hope the Bucs aren’t foolish enough to resign him.
April 5th, 2022 at 4:58 pm
Sarcasm is never a good idea on any situation.
April 5th, 2022 at 5:15 pm
Hodad is exactly correct. JPP has all the earmarks of a spent player. You don’t get better at 33, unless chemically enhanced.
April 5th, 2022 at 5:20 pm
WillieG, your concerns are well founded. It’s been an eternity in NFL years sense bowles was a HC.
April 5th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
When we go 8-9 and miss the playoffs I will laugh my ass of at all the excuses the Joes will make. This dude only knows how to lose. He’ll even turn the GOAT into a loser. Then Tom moves on in 2023 and wins his last title. The Yucs make a return and we are the arm pit of the NFC south again. But hey, diversity is all that matters.
April 5th, 2022 at 6:19 pm
@EtheV,
If you’re suggesting Bowles was just a diversity hire, you obviously have your head lodged up your a55, and you’re probably a ray-cyst as well. Good job.
April 5th, 2022 at 7:04 pm
Joe Says:
April 5th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
Hey Joe on a different topic I just read on NFL.com that the Honey Badger is going to visit with the slimey saints. In no way shape or form should coach Bowles allow this to happen.
🤷♂️
“Not sure what the Bucs can do. The NFL is not like baseball where savvy GMs of winning teams would trade for players just so their rivals wouldn’t get them. If Bucs sign Honey Badger, pretty much can kiss Ndamukong Suh goodbye.
It is frustrating the slimy Saints always seem to find a way around the salary cap for big-name free agents not their own.”
Well, since his father in law is the head coach of the Bucs, I think he could probably say :see what you can get and we will match it or better it.”
April 5th, 2022 at 7:11 pm
mybucsdontbucaround … ‘I could live without suh if we draft Jordan Davis’.
Suh’s been with us for 3 years & we know exactly what he can do. Jordan Davis is currently projected as the #1 DT and will almost surely go in the Top-10. Do you really think he’ll survive to #27? And IF he does, the first question everyone will ask is ‘What’s wrong with him?’ (aka, OJ lasting until #19?).
Bucs weakness right now is our DLine (we’ve got Vea, Gholston & RNR). I love Vea, but in 16 games last season he gave us 607 defensive snaps (55.5%). Will Gholston also gave us 16 games & added another 507 def snaps (46.4%). Add the two of them together & it barely equals 100% … equivalent to 1 DLine position worth of snaps.
RNR also gave us 16 games, along with 415 defensive snaps (41.2%). But add what Ndamukong Suh contributed (17 games & 717 def snaps for 65.6%) and we pretty much have TWO full-time DLine positions covered between those 4 players.
My math’s a little rusty, but last I looked, a 3-4 defense requires 3 DLinemen on the field plus 4 LBs as I recall. Got a hunch we’d better sign Suh AND draft a rookie IF we expect to live with that level of defensive snaps from Vea, Suh, Gholston & RNR.
April 5th, 2022 at 8:38 pm
What would it take for us to be able to trade up and get Jordan Davis. What would we have to give up?
I am all for looking to the future but, I believe that we are in currently in “all in” mode for this year. Anyone?
April 5th, 2022 at 9:34 pm
JimbobBucsFan Says:
April 5th, 2022 at 8:38 pm
Unknown… Davis is said to offer almost nothing as a pass rusher at this stage, so he could drop a little. He has measurables that are frightening, so the idea of pairing him with Vea sounds amazing. Nobody would bother to run on us. Our best best is to wait to see if he gets past 15, and then see what it would take to move up.
Problem is, our defense is way more than one player away from being complete. We need more picks, not less.
April 5th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
Word. No JPP. He is fast and love his length he’s 33 and just wasn’t getting off the line fast enough with his busted shoulder for what he is likely asking.
April 5th, 2022 at 10:19 pm
Rogers got bumped up to OC. JPP DL COACH!!!
April 5th, 2022 at 10:36 pm
^ Well, that’s not gonna happen.
And Rodgers got bumped to co-DC, so he can probably still handle DL duties.