CBS Not Overly Optimistic On Todd Bowles
July 9th, 2022
Ranked.
When guys are pumping out coach rankings, how are they supposed to rank first-year head coaches with any degree of fairness?
That seems to be the pickle Cody Benjamin finds himself in while ranking NFL head coaches from Nos. 1-32 for CBS Sports. enjamin has Todd Bowles at No. 20. And yes, a large part of that is because Bowles was less than successful with the Jets.
20. Todd Bowles (Buccaneers)
Season: 1st with Buccaneers, 6th as HC*
Career record: 26-41 (.388) | Playoffs: N/ABowles may well belong with the Dennis Allens and Lovie Smiths of the world. His only other head job, with the Jets, produced one season with more than five wins. But he’s run Tampa Bay’s defense with such authority, and conceivably learned on the job under Bruce Arians, that we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt. It helps he’s got a championship-level roster headlined by Tom Brady, the most influential player in the sport.
Joe cannot go there with comparing Bowles to Lovie Smith. Lovie was a total disaster in Tampa with only a couple of exceptions with the Bucs. But Joe would put Bowles in the same class as Allen.
Remember, Allen was once the coach of the Raiders but that was just after Al Davis died and the Raiders’ organization was in a messy transition.
Bowles did come one win from a playoff berth with rotten Ryan Fitzpatrick as his quarterback. Talk about overcoming the odds!
July 9th, 2022 at 8:13 am
As long as he doesn’t try to fix what isn’t broken.
July 9th, 2022 at 8:13 am
On looking at Cody Benjamin’s coaches’ rankings, it seems that there’s a reasonable chance that he doesn’t think very much of the NFC South.
o Todd Bowles (Bucs) – #20
o Dennis Allen (Saints) – #26
o Matt Rhule (Panthers) – #28
o Arthur Smith (Falcons) – #29
Should bode well for us?
July 9th, 2022 at 8:16 am
I have doubts about Todd. If he’s such a good coach, there shouldn’t be so many coverage busts, missed tackles, amd please double cover Cooper Kupp.
July 9th, 2022 at 8:20 am
Grrr… the Dead Season
July 9th, 2022 at 8:29 am
He’s been fortunate to have a great front seven but his secondary is very questionable especially since he was a DB. He’s fortunate to have great players on his team but to say the future success of this team is in Bowles hands is a stretch. If the goal is to win the NFC South, yawn, their wasting their HOF QB’s time, he wins division titles in his sleep.
July 9th, 2022 at 9:02 am
Bowles better have an answer for the Saints and Rams. Beating those two teams is all that matters at this point.
July 9th, 2022 at 9:08 am
“Rotten” Ryan Fitzpatrick?
July 9th, 2022 at 9:15 am
After watching the last Bucs-Rams game i’m not convinced he is a top tier coach.
July 9th, 2022 at 9:27 am
Pre Buc Brady went 5-1 against the Rams. As a Buc he is 0-3 scoring 24 pts in 2 games and 27 the final game. Summary, Bucs coaching staff cannot beat the McVay. 24 and 27 points should be enough to win at least one of the games. Clearly a D coaching issue. NO chance if they meet again Bowles out coaches McVay. He is supposed to be this great defensive mind yet how many times over the last two seasons did the O have to score at least 30 points to win a game?
July 9th, 2022 at 10:12 am
Where are they going to rank him after we win the SB. Probably at#19 because they will say it was all due to #12. Even the greatest coach is going nowhere with a chitty roster
July 9th, 2022 at 10:19 am
SUH.
July 9th, 2022 at 10:23 am
Listnf….
The Rams are not the same team the last couple of years. Prior to this coaching staff they weren’t that great.
That said, they need to beat them and the Saints this year!
July 9th, 2022 at 10:25 am
Unlike the Jets, Todd Bowles and BA hand picked a ton legit coaches they had worked with in the past and pretty much everyone from last year other than BA. Bowles runs defense. Byron and GOAT run offense. I think he has a better chance as HC in Tampa.
July 9th, 2022 at 10:44 am
Goatfarmer says nailed it. Here’s a couple things that might prevent a few losses. #1 when you’re playing the fastest player on the planet, DOUBLE HIM as soon as he gets off the bus. DON’T wait til he gets 200yds in the 1st damn qtr!!! #2 When you’re playing the MVP receiver in the NFC championship game. PLEASE double him. this is football 101. NOW you’re the head coach. I hope you don’t put Tommy Boy and Evans on defense LOL. If you do, put them in the secondary haha
July 9th, 2022 at 10:54 am
listnfrmafar…..You nailed it!!!!! I would cringe when they mention Bowles being a genious. To your point, remember when the Patiots only scored 13 points in the Superbowl AND WON!!!!!! How? they held the Rams to only 3 points in the freak’n SB!!!!!!!!!! I think Flores was the DC. He goes to Miami to be HC and gets fired hahahha
July 9th, 2022 at 11:03 am
Ranking, rating, and list-making season is the low point of the annual NFL cycle. Completely useless nonsense. Doesn’t matter if it’s a positive or negative assessment, it’s all crap.
July 9th, 2022 at 11:20 am
Bowles should be very successful. Only 2 things could inhibit his success with Bucs- injuries and interviews.
July 9th, 2022 at 11:37 am
Maybe he’s better than he was with the Jets, maybe he’s no, maybe he’s the same guy.
No one knows.
Fact is, Todd Bowles is the #1 Unknown of any aspect of this Bucs team.
July 9th, 2022 at 12:19 pm
Cobraboy … ‘Todd Bowles is the #1 Unknown of any aspect of this Bucs team.’
Wow Cobra, even more of an Unknown than our rookies? Or how well Hicks will perform as a Buc? Or when Godwin will make it back to his old self?
Just teasing ya of course, but this team is loaded with Unknowns right now. Heck, having a 45-year-old starting QB is a huge Unknown in itself (never been done before so no historical reference to go on).
July 9th, 2022 at 12:25 pm
That’s right about where he belongs.
July 9th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
@DR: in the aggregate, yes. An unknown at HC, especially an unknown with a spotty HC record, is far more influential to team success than rookies, even all the rookies.
July 9th, 2022 at 1:22 pm
Since he’s not a first year coach, I think Bowles will be great. He brings a calm and confidence to the plate. I don’t always see that in coaches. GOBUCS!
July 9th, 2022 at 1:39 pm
I see their point… Bowels has produced a lot of dung as HC so far!
July 9th, 2022 at 3:03 pm
Bowles ain’t taking this team nowhere. Health & TB12 are the keys.
July 9th, 2022 at 3:46 pm
Cobraboy … Seems like every Jets HC has had a spotty record. Seems obvious that Bowles is much better set up to succeed this time around (better coaching staff, more talented players, The GOAT as his QB, even a supposedly weak division).
Personally I think what sank him starting back in 2016 was terrible drafts by their GM; Jets weren’t a very talented team. In 2015, Bowles’ 1st year, the Jets went 10-6 … with Ryan Fitzpatrick as their QB (they actually had a positive Turnover Differential which made a huge difference, and their defense ranked #9). In 2016 Fitz melted down, was replaced by Bryce Petty then Geno Smith, and they went 5-11 (TOs ballooned to 30 that year & their defense went from #9 ranking to #28 … hmmm, sounds all too familiar). 2017 had Josh McCown at the helm, and the Jets went 5-11 again … bad offense sealed that deal). 2018 was even worse, as rookie Sam Darnold replaced McCown & the Jets went 4-12 (TOs again ballooned to 30 & the defense ended up ranked #29). Thankfully for us, Todd Bowles was moved on to greener pastures, and ended up as our DC.
Crummy drafts during those years sealed his fate IMO. Jets had the same GM all 4 years Todd was there … Mike Maccagnan. Guess who else was fired in 2018 along with Bowles … Mike Maccagnan. Coaching staffs can make up for a lot, but when it comes to talent, you gotta have the horses. Jets didn’t.
July 9th, 2022 at 4:28 pm
DefenseRules–I think you have forgotten about George Blanda. He was a QB and didn’t retire until he was 48. So far he has Brady beat in that regard.
July 9th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
Crickett … Actually didn’t forget about Blanda; he never started a game after age 41. He only made it to 48 because of his kicking, not his QBing. In his last 3 years (after age 45), he threw 7 passes TOTAL and completed 2. Didn’t start a game in his last 7 years (his QB record in those 7 years was 0-0). Matter of fact, he only started 106 games total out of the 340 games that he played in. Don’t think anyone will call him The GOAT anytime soon.
Maybe that’s why Tom Brady decided to unretire; to become the oldest starting QB in NFL history. Several started at age 44 (Steve Deberg, Vinny Testaverde, and Warren Moon), but none made it to age 45. Yet.
July 9th, 2022 at 5:58 pm
How many 1st year head coach have won the Super Bowl?
July 9th, 2022 at 6:07 pm
CBS…not my ultimate source of authority.
#yawn
July 10th, 2022 at 1:52 am
Boston is a fun city and I’ve loved the folks there when I’ve gone. Why we get mostly numbnuts from there spewing their nonesense here is beyond me. Anyways, I despise the patriots for no other reason than they are not the Bucs and Belichick seems like a d-bag, but putting McVay and Reid ahead of him is one of the dumbest things that I’ve read in awhile. There was a time.when I enjoyed reading bleacher report, but like most media today, it has gone to hell.
July 10th, 2022 at 8:10 am
Alton, I believe the Flores departure from Miami was mutual, that being said I would love to if seen Flores as Bucs new HC. Also GREAT point, Pat’s D held Rams to 3 points in SB and McVay was the HC. Rams were also the highest scoring team in the league that season. They had a shootout with KC where both teams score over 50 points in that game, EPIC.
July 10th, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Todd … You asked ‘How many first year head coaches have won a Super Bowl?’
Though many rookie coaches have taken a team to the Super Bowl, only Don McCafferty and George Seifert won the Super Bowl. The caveat to these two rookies winning their rings is they inherited two of the best teams in the history of football. Although Todd Bowles isn’t a rookie HC, he did inherit a pretty darned goo d team. HOPEFULLY we get a Super Bowl win this year.
July 10th, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Bowles unfortunately lacks the level of attention to detail and in-game adjustment that the truly elite coaches have.
In this regard, I would say he is a step down from Arians. He may have other qualities that can compensate, but when you look at the success of every great leader in any organization, business, public sector, sports, whatever, it is the ability to understand and manage granular details and adjust accordingly.
July 10th, 2022 at 8:47 pm
Secondary coaching was the reason we missed Super Bowl last year.
July 10th, 2022 at 10:47 pm
I am skeptical that Bowles can take us to the promised land. One, his history as a head coach is not great and second, I question his commitment and his loyalty to the Buccaneers. We might have won 2 in a row if he did not have 5 interviews for other jobs while the Bucs were right in the middle of a playoff run.
Right now he is a poor to average head coach until he demonstrates otherwise.
July 11th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
I’m not completely sold on Bowles as HC. I’m in the wait & see mode. But it could have been worse. The Bucs could have picked Leftwitch as HC. I hope Lefty gets a HC gig as long as its not with the Bucs.