Redemption Time For Todd Bowles
August 30th, 2022
Demeanor masks fire.
Joe was very surprised to read this.
Joe has mentioned once in a while on “The Ira Kaufman Podcast” that Joe thinks the Bucs will miss the edge that former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians brought the team. Players often take on the personality of their coaches.
Fiery coaches have fiery teams. Cerebral coaches have cerebral teams. You get the drift.
The handful of times Joe interacted with Todd Bowles away from a press conference setting, Bowles cannot be a nicer guy. Always quick with a smile if not a laugh. And if you aren’t careful, he will ask you how you are doing before you get the first crack.
That image apparently masks a fire inside that Albert Breer of SI.com apparently heard about a week or so ago in Tampa on his own training camp tour. Bowles, apparently upset with his team dragging arse, lit into his players to the point it even shocked a Bucs staffer.
[T]the 69-year-old [Bruce Arians] had a pretty good idea of what was coming.
But the coworker standing next to Arians as Bowles called the team up sure didn’t. A few minutes later, she was stunned, and even a little amused.
“I didn’t think I’d hear that much cussing anymore since you left,” she joked to Arians.
“Oh, yeah, he’s got it in him,” Arians responded. “I promise.”
Joe loved reading that.
Bowles could have easily done this when reporters and photographers and TV cameramen were nearby. Instead, he called his team into a giant huddle. Nobody heard him but the players and coaches (and a couple of staffers). Bowles didn’t embarrass his team in front of folks like Joe who would have been delighted to quickly get something out on social media about Bowles exploding on his team.
That’s the sign of a smart coach, a coach thinking about his team. Players recognize stuff like this. And they appreciate it.
It’s what some folks call “bonding.”
August 30th, 2022 at 4:31 am
That was a good, honest story. ..R-E-S-P-E-C-T Joe
August 30th, 2022 at 5:21 am
The Bucs’ defense has known for years about that fire that burns in Todd Bowles. Now the whole team gets to experience it. Too classy a coach to do it in front of media though. Not his style.
August 30th, 2022 at 6:24 am
And yet there’s mohrons up here who still doubt he’s head coach material even though he saddle bagged the one qb Noone could contain in 2020 Super Bowl and kept the defense from imploding last year in spite of all the injuries it went thru.
August 30th, 2022 at 6:57 am
You can tell Bowles is just a good dude at heart and I’m rooting for him for some of those reasons
I knew Bowles was a cool cat the day the Press Conference happened w/ him back in 2020 in which Todd had the best response to Greg Auman’s, “What do you call it?” 😂😂😂 and how he later re-addressed it go to make sure he meant no disrespect and just found it sincerely funny. I like Todd as a person a whole bunch (hard to say about many these days so I cherish it)!
August 30th, 2022 at 6:57 am
Bowles should cuss them out in front of TV. Look what Tom did to his Oline and what happened after that. #doyourjobright
August 30th, 2022 at 6:58 am
So he DIDN’T embarrass his team in front of others LIKE his predecessor? This Bowles team, BA please disappear you are a distraction!!!
August 30th, 2022 at 7:25 am
Listnfrnafar, BA challenged Brady & the team and won a SB. If it weren’t for Bowles’ defence, most likely would have won 2 SBs. Will be interesting to see how this team finishes the season without this ‘distraction’ around.
August 30th, 2022 at 7:54 am
Bucsfan, I disagree, BA has the authority to overrule Bowles. It was BA who failed for his coaches/teams lack of preparation for that game. All I read on this site is Jamais is the reason Bucs failed in 2019 when at any point BA could of benched him. Brady maybe the reason for the winning culture change but he isn’t the only reason they win or lose games.
August 30th, 2022 at 8:15 am
Bowles poor decision making cost the team a chance at The Super Bowl last year . Left Cooper Cupp wide open for a huge gain that led to winning field goal.
Bowles still thinks his blitz was the right call.
August 30th, 2022 at 9:07 am
This probably isn’t going to sit well with some folks but here goes:
Maybe the blitz call in the Rams game WAS the right call? Sure, Stafford performs well when you blitz him but he’s not exactly a 2-minute master and gets a little panicked and makes mistakes (ints) in pressure situations (blitz + less than 2 minutes = pressure situation).
You can bet that blitz play call had someone (or 2 DBs) to account for Cupp but clearly nobody got the memo.
Poor communication was the culprit on that play. I don’t know who had the decal on their helmet but whoever it was didn’t communicate the play to the defense properly. How many Bucs defenders were standing around doing NOTHING at the snap and after? I think it was LVD in the center of the TV screen standing flat-footed and looking totally lost at the snap.
Hopefully the communication improves this year. Was it the right call? Maybe not, but if your players don’t seem to know what play is called and get torched, maybe put some.blame on the players. A ooach can only call the play. The players have to execute it. Sadly, the Bucs players looked totally lost and they blew it. Wrong call or not. Bowles could have called for no blitz and cover 2 but if the players don’t know their responsibility on the play, it would be a disaster also.
Basically, he called a blitz and nobody blitzed. So who’s to blame? Maybe if the players blitzed as called, it might have clogged up a passing lane and Stafford wouldn’t have seen Cupp? We will never know but I trust Bowles.
August 30th, 2022 at 10:02 am
IDK, if you’re relying on 2020 SB as his claim to fame, let’s be fair. That game was the second meeting with the Chiefs that year. First one Bowles defense was embarrassed to the point that the Chiefs were able to rest their starters in the second half. In the SB, Bowles got to play against backups or worst on the O-line and a injured QB with limited mobility. AND he got to game plan for that. So go ahead and give him the cred if you must but considering the results of the defense in the Rams games last year. I would wait till he’s really proven himself.
August 30th, 2022 at 11:29 am
Alvarado, you forgot the offense scored over 30 points. As far as Mahomes, his tie was shot up, he ran just fine. There was no offensive line stopping the front 7 that day, they were on a mission which made the secondary look good.
August 30th, 2022 at 5:49 pm
Get um Coach , Do what has to be done you are the man…….