Todd Bowles: NFL Players’ Effort Can’t Be Coached
September 7th, 2026
Fun debate here for the Labor Day barbecue.
Joe will start with a Mike Tomlin quote: “When you’re a coach that’s talking about somebody can’t learn, you’re seeking comfort because your teaching is struggling.”
So last week, Todd Bowles agreed with the notion that effort cannot be coached in the NFL. It struck Joe as borderline ridiculous. Bucs legend Rondé Barber sparked the Bowles comment during the WFLA-TV show Barber hosts.
“The one thing you absolutely cannot coach is effort,” Barber said to Bowles.
Bowles nodded in agreement and had a quick reply: “That’s exactly right,” he said.
Barber continued: “If you’re coaching effort, you’re not coaching for long, man. Your team ain’t it. That is non-negotiable.”
Joe absolutely thinks effort can be coached in professional athletes. It may be a challenge that’s far greater than it is with high school kids or in college, but it can be done. Not only can it be coached, Joe believes, various motivational tactics to improve effort can be employed.
Bowles sort of sounded like he’s given up on the concept.
Joe thinks back to the spring of 2025, when Bowles said the Bucs lacked a “killer instinct.” Joe asked Bowles how he can develop a killer instinct in a veteran team. Bowles said, “It’s not a coach thing.” Bowles believes killer instinct, typically tied to effort, has to come from players personally holding each other accountable.
Ironically, the Bucs proved Bowles right last season. They got off to a great start and showed very little killer instinct by choking away a division title and finishing 2-7 through November, December and January.
Joe’s curious to hear what fans think when it comes to coaching effort. And, man, Joe would love to know what Team Glazer and Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht think.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:45 am
No? But they can be cut, or not given a pay raise prematurely.
This organization’s modus operandi is Bush league. Every time Bowles opens his mouth just further confirms that Bud Licht and Kit Kat gotta go.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:49 am
It’s up to the HC to discipline the team Loafers
He may not be able to coach effort into a player
But if a player isn’t playing with effort, it’s his job to get rid of the player
You can’t continue to pacify these loafers
September 7th, 2026 at 10:52 am
No way, Joes. I only played ball to the college level, but I’ve been an executive chef for more than 10 years and I’ve said for some time now that I simply can’t train an individual how to hustle. I can’t make someone WANT something. I can scream and scare them and make a scene. I can lead by example. I can show anyone how to physically do anything and explain to them why it’s done that way. I absolutely CANNOT change their work ethic.
What I can do, is get rid of the ppl that show clear signs of laziness or lack of accountability.
Some of my best cooks were the ones who didn’t know anything but had a desire to learn, a sense of urgency, and respect for those who do it right everyday. You cannot teach these attributes.
Bowles has made it clear that he didn’t have the type of players he needed last year. Many are gone and a lot of new faces have arrived. We’ll see if they want it. Because I DO believe Bowles can coach the game. But the players have to be up to the challenge.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:52 am
The bigger question is why you are not seeing the effort?
Is the player so injured he cannot put forth the effort?
Is the player so over the hill he cannot give the effort?
Is the player loafing and receiving no punishment for loafing?
Is the player not buying in to the system and quits caring?
As a coach the very first time you see a lack of effort and do not address said lack of effort-then you are giving tacit approval of loafing. Surprised Ronde and Coach Bowles would say this as it is just plain wrong mindset.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Mike Evans loves Australian food!
September 7th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Ronde Barber … “The one thing you absolutely cannot coach is effort.”
So Todd Bowles agrees with Ronde, but Joe doesn’t. Got it.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:56 am
Lakeland … ‘It’s up to the HC to discipline the team Loafers’.
Amen Lakeland.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:56 am
Any player that isn’t motivated to give full out effort throughout the echo of the whistle? For their teammates?
Absolutely they can be coached. By yanking them off the field and never, ever, letting them play on the team again.
September 7th, 2026 at 10:59 am
Maybe effort can be coached but a lack of it is way more on the players than the coach. Maybe these motivational tactics get 0-5% more effort, but the pool you’re increasing is something only the player controls.
People love to pretend the professional adult athletes are seven year olds and aren’t accountable for their actions. I don’t think many HOF coaches even try to suffer a player that doesn’t show effort, they just get rid of them.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:02 am
Effort can be coached before and during the high school years. After that, effort can’t be coached at all.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:06 am
Effort NO… ACCOUNTABILITY YES!!!
September 7th, 2026 at 11:11 am
Every team employs full time mental health professionals and some employ sports psychologists. Lack of effort is more often a mental hurdle that can be addressed by a professional mental health advocate who can sometimes unlock the problem causing the lack of effort , so YES you can coach improving someones’ effort even if it is not the coach achieving the change.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:11 am
It can absolutely be coached.
It took me 5-6 years of playing pro before I realized what it takes to make the next step/be a true pro. Certainly not something I am proud of.
You know what really motivates a guy? Threat of losing his job. Do you wanna go full out in practice every time so you can go full out each game? If not, the slightly less talented guy who will work hard is taking your job and you are fired.
Bowles doesn’t even have the jam to do it with STCs who cost 3-4 games a year, smh.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:13 am
Josh put it much more succinctly.
Accountability creates effort. In most cases I agree with the other side of this, where a person has work ethic or they don’t.
Todd’s problem is he shrugs his shoulders and lets the McCollums do their thing all season without sending a message.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:20 am
Effort is not something to coach. It’s something to inspire. That’s what Gruden brought to the Bucs that helped us win the Super Bowl. He challenged the defense to make a certain number of touchdowns and that challenge inspired effort.
It’s often talked about how much the players like and respect Bowles. If that’s the case he should challenge them instead of just hoping they give great effort!
September 7th, 2026 at 11:20 am
Effort can be coached, but apparently Bowles ain’t capable. Does this guy ever take responsibility? If you can’t coach them you can certainly bench, than cut them. That is unless your ROH GM gave them a big extension they didn’t deserve?
September 7th, 2026 at 11:23 am
What Bowles inherently believes is the reason why this team won’t win a superbowl. Effort is tied to urgency. Urgency is directly tied to guilt and fear. Being made to feel guilt for letter your teammates down. Fear of being publicly exposed for lazy effort. Fear of being benched for lazy effort. Bruce Arians excelled at this. Can you imagine the Bucs cutting a starter mid season for dogging it? Or better still, putting him on the practice squad? or making him wear a jersey all week that says dogging it? What kind of message would that send to everyone else? They would show up for the next game with their heads on a swivel, that’s for sure.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:24 am
Jimmy johnson
Parcels
Bear Bryant
September 7th, 2026 at 11:25 am
As a father, I can tell you that effort is absolutely 100% taught.
Anyone that’s ever been in the military will tell you effort can be taught.
He’s a failure of a coach if he believes that.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:26 am
While you can’t teach effort, you can certainly instill a culture that demands it. Bowles doesn’t know how to do that, which is one of his core failings.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:28 am
It’s going to get him fired this year. While you can’t force a pro athlete to work harder, you can develop an environment that puts them in a difficult situation personally if they aren’t putting forth enough effort. Those are high energy environments, with coach’s and players talking/yelling/playfully letting each other know when they’ve been bested in a drill. Coaches can absolutely work towards that by putting their own effort into it each day.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:32 am
People saying players aren’t being held accountable like there is an endless supply of players to pull from.
Zyon not held accountable. Ok, then if you hold him accountable by not playing him.
All summer long we keep hearing about how much we lack any quality depth at CB. So you are either coaching up on Zyon or starting someone that sucks worse.
“Sure, the WR beat him by 5 yards on that go route, but he really tried his best”
Too many people playing fantasy football thinking teams have unlimited starters on the bench.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:32 am
This is why Bowles will never be a great head coach. He’s been a great defensive coordinator, but to be a head coach, just as with any leadership position, you have to know how to motivate and inspire people to be the best they can be. And that includes professional athletes.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:36 am
You can’t coach it directly, but you can create an environment where it comes about on its own.
When players know a system and feel confident about how it will succeed, and have trust in their teammates, they will put more effort in. 2002 Bucs, 2020 Bucs.
The problem with Bowles is his system is so needlessly complicated that it’s too hard to follow and players give up in my opinion. People don’t try to polish a turd forever.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:46 am
Everything coaches and players do is gauged off their level of effort. Coaches cannot make players apply themselves more than they can, but other things like setting goals that reflect effort are always present in this game.
Can’t give a coach the credit when a 300lb DLmen chases an RB in the box before he breaks for a bigger gain, that’s good effort on the players part.
You get a guy like Percy Harvin or Devin Hester returning a kick, nobody is looking at the coach when those guys are making people miss or running away from kick coverage for a score, that’s good effort.
A coach can set the standard, Í want us to run these 5 full field gassers in <7 seconds or Í want an RB to practice biting the ball for security, the moment a team/player fails to do these things and it effects the collective. That’s when discipline and accountability come in, but it’s not to be confuse with effort. Like the Gent up top said “you cannot make a player/collection of players want something”, but as a coach it’s your job to keep them aware of what they should want paired up with what’s expected of them to get them there.
Ali Marpet lost the desire to put effort into playing football anymore, Ryan Jensen lost the ability to put forth the effort to continue his career due to injury. Jensen was even presented with the opportunity to at least try, but his body hampered his ability to sustain such effort. Point is, no amount of coaching could’ve changed those players’ circumstances and that’s how varied effort is in the game of football or life in general.
The old “Í can give you the answers and show you the way, but I/we can’t do it for you”(said every parent/teacher/mentor/coach ever)
September 7th, 2026 at 11:49 am
And whose fault is that??? The team let one of the best corners last year walk out the door. Rag on Jamel Dean all you want but who was the best corner for the Bucs last year? They could have had Jacob Parrish and Dean at corners. But no, let’s bank on a guy who is “bored” and another who can’t go three weeks without popping a hamstring — when he’s not getting lit up.
And now the team is whining about depth??? That’s rich. They made their own bed.
September 7th, 2026 at 11:53 am
Todd … ‘Lack of effort is more often a mental hurdle that can be addressed by a professional mental health advocate who can sometimes unlock the problem causing the lack of effort’.
Excellent point Todd
September 7th, 2026 at 12:04 pm
I don’t think Ronde’s point was about the possibility of coaching effort but rather that at this level if you’re having to use time and energy to get more effort out of players you won’t be able teach the things actually necessary for winning games.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Mikadeemas Says:
September 7th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Mike Evans loves Australian food
Who tf cares?!?!
September 7th, 2026 at 12:09 pm
Thus far no one has managed to instill that into Devin White
September 7th, 2026 at 12:18 pm
Here’s the other side of the coin; if we have/had players who lack the will and desire to give there all, then how did said players make it through our scouting without red flags. Need to be looking in the mirror Jason and the scout team. I guess “I am that man” wasn’t really nailed down was it?
September 7th, 2026 at 12:22 pm
Hodad … ‘If you can’t coach them you can certainly bench, than cut them. That is unless your ROH GM gave them a big extension they didn’t deserve?’
Joe … ‘And whose fault is that??? The team let one of the best corners last year walk out the door. Rag on Jamel Dean all you want but who was the best corner for the Bucs last year?’
JBFers talk about ACCOUNTABILITY all the time, but who’s holding our GM accountable? Did Bowles let Dean ‘walk out the door’? I doubt it; Todd seemed to treat Jamel more like a son than any of his other players. Who did Bowles have last season to take the place of LVD if he’d benched him for his injuries or his perceived ‘lack of effort’? Oh that’s right, Russell. Nope, no longer with the Bucs. Who did he have at OLB if he’d benched Reddick for lack of productivity? Oh ya, Braswell. And how is it that Josh Hayes got 265 def snaps in 2024 but ZERO in 2025? Why was he even still on the team if he showed so little in 2024?
LACK OF DEPTH falls almost entirely on the General Manager IMO. Back in 2020 when Vea went down early, we had RNR (482 def snaps) & McLendon (265 def snaps) to fill in, with Gholston (606 def snaps) & Suh (786 def snaps) both playing huge roles. Made all the difference.
Staying healthy was still a key to winning the Super Bowl. Our starting OLBs that year (JPP with 943 snaps & Shaq with 822 snaps) rarely seemed to come off the field. Neither did our starting ILBs (LVD with 1056 snaps & White with 991 snaps), but when they did we had a quality ILB in Kevin Minter to plug in. Even our Secondary stayed reasonably healthy (Winfield 1034 snaps; Whitehead 918 snaps; Davis 904 snaps; SMB 882 snaps; Dean 708 snaps).
HOPEFULLY we have as much ‘luck’ this year staying reasonably healthy as we did in 2020.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
I agree with you Joe! Effort can be coached. That’s what benching a player is about!! If you don’t give this team 100% and your backup will, then hit the bench until you’re ready to give100%!! Of course Todd Bowles doesn’t coach this way!! Apparently because he doesn’t believe that it is effective!!
September 7th, 2026 at 12:33 pm
These interviews feel like they are trying to justify why Bowles is the HC. Winning games justifies your continued employment, Bowles. Win and no one will question you as the HC!
September 7th, 2026 at 12:34 pm
I think effort can be coached if the player is coachable. Some players are Uber talented and think they’re incapable. DW45 for example. Some are cancers like Antonio Brown.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:35 pm
Incapable should be infallable.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:39 pm
A lack of effort can be punished and great effort can be rewarded, but I don’t believe the effort itself can be coached. No one in the comments has explained how you can actually coach effort. I’m not even certain you can independently measure an individual’s effort. I used to be able to run a 4 minute mile when I was 18. I’m not sure I can break a 7 minute mile in my early 50s. If I tried, I’d give the same amount of effort.
My point is that it’s an abstract thing you can’t directly coach. You can only punish or reward a perceived level of effort.
It absolutely can be coached. To what degree it can be coached is the variable. It could simply start by asking players (in some form) if they’d like to learn about improving their effort. Players can learn how they can push themselves harder, through mental coaching as well as physical. Simply playing two inches lower is a concept that applies across many professional sports. Sometimes, it can be coaching to a raised performance standard: here’s the new line in the sand on kickoff coverage, whatever. Maybe coaching effort, physical or mental, is only something that works with 17 percent of the roster but coaches need to identify those players. –Joe
September 7th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
The Bucs CBs are going to get lit up Sunday. I mean is there any doubt? Look at the QB and WRs they’re facing and Bowles will have no answers. And the offense will start slow as they get acclimated to a new OC again. I LOVE the Bucs and hope I’m wrong, but easy money is easy money and if I have to suffer the loss, at least I get paid. Cincinnati -3 locked in this AM.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
There’s a huge difference between can’t and won’t. Sure, you can’t get more effort out of someone too injured to perform properly at a high level. That’s a lot different than someone who won’t put in the effort to learn how not to hold or not to jump offside or what the correct position is on defensing a slant. There’s also Todd who just won’t enforce accountability. Arians had an accountability board for errors every week. You didn’t want to go on it twice. Bowles’ mentality is his undoing. Bench guys not performing, permanently if necessary. Be accountable yourself as a HC. Take the criticism for the benching. Show your players you are a serious coach. Letting the loafers get away with ruining the attitude of the team is the sign of a weak coach. Own it Todd. Saying you can’t coach effort is a cop out.
September 7th, 2026 at 12:54 pm
I want to amend my answer. I think effort in terms of what a player does during a play or certain situations can be coached. As a generic example, did the player slow down pursuing the ball at any time. If so, then figure out why and explain what is expected. If that’s “effort” then yes, it can be coached.
September 7th, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Hold on…..
You’re telling me that grown adults that have competed their way into a professional sport are taught effort at the professional level…
Yeah this must be the week between preseason and week 1 – all nfl journalists are grasping at straws for content.
Next you’ll tell me we “develop” players at the professional level hahahhahaha
September 7th, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Did Todd learn nothing from BA? Accountability, calling out mistakes, embarrassing players in front of the whole team, inspires effort……
September 7th, 2026 at 1:12 pm
I enjoy reading people saying “Bowles doesn’t do this” and “doesn’t do that”.
He doesn’t do it for you. He doesn’t perform for you in press conferences or provide reports for the public of how he holds people accountable.
None of us have any idea what he does in a team setting. Stop pretending we do.
I can’t believe some of the comments make me actually defend a guy I think should have been let go last year, but here we are.
September 7th, 2026 at 1:17 pm
I agree effort is internal. So is indigestion, but eventually somebody has to address it.
If a millionaire needs to be convinced to hustle for 60 minutes, maybe the problem isn’t the coaching manual.
Yeah, nothing says “killer instinct” like finishing the season with all the urgency of a DMV waiting room.
Polite request. If effort can’t be coached, can we at least put it on the injury report?
And AT THE END OF THE DAY … effort may not be coachable, but the bench remains undefeated as a motivational speaker.
September 7th, 2026 at 1:24 pm
You couldn’t count on Dean to even play, Joe. He had the skill when he wanted to play, but he fell in love with the bench. Let’s see how he does this year.
Other Joe agrees. Dude missed all or large parts of six games last season. And he was jogging too often. –Joe
September 7th, 2026 at 1:34 pm
BigPoppaBuc you hit the nail on the head. You can teach and show how to do it right and by repetition and reminders but it’s up to the individual to apply it in their life, work, etc. You simply cannot make or force anyone to do something the right way or put forth more effort it must come from the persons personal desire to become better at whatever they are doing.
September 7th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
The whole lack of any thing import to success in any endeavor is directly related to STRUCTURE and DISCIPLINE. STRUCTURE and DISCIPLINE, the two concepts that this organization top to bottom is severely lacking!
September 7th, 2026 at 1:43 pm
I remember going to tryouts for little league teams with my older brother. Even though I did well he coached me about hustle and how coach’s look at that as much as ability, in fact he said it’s the first thing they look at. He said always be hustling because good things will happen when you do. I was 7 years old, not 23 and up like NFL players and that stuck with me my whole life. I also learned later in life how to work hard and independently unless I absolutely needed help with something. Again the gist is those are teaching moments and I was willing to apply them but it was squarely on me to do it.
September 7th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Fire Bowles!
September 7th, 2026 at 2:08 pm
It’s like that relative we all have. Given opportunities. Spoken to. Shown the negative alternatives if behavior doesn’t change. Still, the inner drive that separates simply is absent . The Braswell Syndrome.
September 7th, 2026 at 2:11 pm
Tomlin is spot on. Of course effort can be coached, like pretty much every aspect of human behavior. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, obviously, or that the coach is the dominant factor. Fortunately, it can also be evaluated/drafted before it’s coached, and traded/released after.
September 7th, 2026 at 2:28 pm
Think we can assume Reddick lacks effort and David admitted as such – I also think low effort results in more injuries (Chris Godwin said as much referring to players getting their heads cracked if they don’t jump intensity from preseason to regular). Sorry I know I blame the Hormuz “hassles” on Bowles but this is another example of why I think he’s a poor HC.
September 7th, 2026 at 2:39 pm
cant coach effort, lol. how about he just cant coach at all.
he just doesnt want to put in the effort himself to coach others to put out the effort.
he’s lazy.
September 7th, 2026 at 3:05 pm
Expectation + Motivation will = EFFORT. In the real world it’s called produce or you’re fired! In the case of the NFL players have guaranteed money so you better figure out who is ONLY playing for the money.
September 7th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
Further proof of Bowles not being cut out to be an NFL Head Coach, or at any level, really. The loafing has been going on for the entirety of his HC tenure, one of the worst being Devin White. Sure, White ruined his own career, but Bowles had a hand in it by babying, coddling, and letting him do whatever he wanted. Terrible.
September 7th, 2026 at 3:53 pm
Defense Rules Says:
September 7th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Ronde Barber … “The one thing you absolutely cannot coach is effort.”
So Todd Bowles agrees with Ronde, but Joe doesn’t. Got it.
———————————–
@ least one of the joes needs to just say he doesn’t like Todd being the head coach and officially take his place as critic (troll?) #1
You’re no longer trying very hard to appear objective or positive unless it’s to say “not worried about the offense” while regurgitating the same old criticisms over and over to keep the trolls happy. Smh
September 7th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
It’s because, Todd Bowles is NOT a leader of MEN.
September 7th, 2026 at 4:16 pm
If I pay you millions of dollars you will put forth MAXIMUM effort or begone 2morro…get em out.
Get him OUT!
September 7th, 2026 at 4:20 pm
@ Sacsbucs, Roket, Trey, Lakeland, Todd, Kenton, Josh,ATLbuc, Hodad, SlyPirate, Tbbucsfan, Hopes on 2027, infomeplease, Badbuc,D Rome got it, PSK,BallWasher61,Okiejim,Bucs1987, Just Visiting, Red zone, Jimmy, BucnJim
Are just a few that are hitting nails on the head.
Believe me, “Motivation AND Effort” ARE teachable ON tbe daily. “In the Real World”
Now, if you do not recognize or understand that FACT of life… Well you’ve had a MUCH DIFFERENT life experience than the rest of us UNTIL.. You moved out of your parents house…
Life In Itself WILL motivate YOU! YOU WILL GIVE EFFORT OR ELSE! On the Daily.
The Entire Collapse of 2025 is DIRECTLY and 1000% on this WEAK coaches shoulders.
September 7th, 2026 at 4:42 pm
Okay Bowles. No one can coach effort. Perhaps. But why don’t you tell us about what you ARE capable of coaching. And give examples to support it.
September 7th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
I think effort manifests itself in attention to detail. Because lack of attention to detail is failure. Yes you can coach attention to detail. Weather or not someone deploys that is another thing altogether.
September 7th, 2026 at 6:52 pm
It’s never Todd’s fault. I’ve certainly learned that the last 4 seasons.
Anyone that works for a living that has taken a personality assessment understands that everyone has driving forces that motivate them. And everyone’s forces are different. As a manager it’s your job to understand what these are and tap into them.
Can you point a gun to the players head and make them do it? Of course not. But leadership is so much more than coaching X’s and O’s and just expecting them to do it. The mental and relationship part of the job is hardest part of the role. And Todd has indicated he doesn’t even understand what it is.
Not shocking. You want to understand the annual losing streak….look no further than this comment.
September 7th, 2026 at 6:53 pm
Bowles sort of sounded like he’s given up on the concept.
Correct. He simply no longer cares. He’ll get his paycheck either way.
I bet if his job wasn’t so secure he’d try a little harder to stay employed.
That’s why the players are complaining about more money while still on a contract.
And all the guarantees are killing effort levels across the NFL.
If my boss guaranteed my salary no matter the results of my efforts, I could just go to sleep and wake up at 5pm and go home.
September 7th, 2026 at 8:25 pm
Clearly this has been a hot topic and I’m sorry that I missed commenting on the post earlier. Strongly disagree with coaching effort. I’ve often said, in my thirty years of leading hundreds of men and women, give me effort and I’ll take care of the rest. Even the Joe arguing that effort can be coached is really talking about players who are willing to put in the effort and you then show them the way. Subtle but different than coaching effort. The effort has to be there from within. You’re talking about men who in many ways have gotten where they are because of athletic ability. In the pros, everyone has those abilities. Effort, and good coaching, are differentiators but they are two separate things.