Bowles brings bluntness to job
Bucs’ new coach won’t attempt to be like Arians
Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA, Fla. — To triumph at the news conference, he first had to admit defeat. In that sense, Todd Bowles nailed it, with candor and conciseness.
“I blew it,” the new Bucs head coach said Thursday.
Know this about 58-yearold Todd Robert Bowles: While different in myriad ways from predecessor Bruce Arians, both share the blunt gene. It’s a trait generally appreciated by a fan base, a refreshing alternative to rehearsed rhetoric.
Which is why he likely won points his first day on the job by readily acknowledging the failure of the Bucs’ final defensive play of the 2021 season, in the NFC division playoff.
Instead of dancing around the question of why he called for a Cover-zero, all-out blitz of Matthew Stafford — resulting in the Rams quarterback finding Cooper Kupp isolated
Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht, left, moved quickly to promote Todd Bowles to coach when Bruce Arians decided to step down earlier in the week. Bowles led the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018.
downfield for a 44-yard completion — this former NFL safety safety tackled it helmet first.
“We were trying to win,” said Bowles, whose strategy resulted in Matt Gay kicking a 30-yard field goal as time expired to lift Los Angeles to a 30-27 triumph.
“I will never apologize for trying to win. If I didn’t call zone and (Stafford) got the play off, you’ll say I should’ve blitzed. ‘We blitz all the time, how come we didn’t blitz?’ That’s part of football, that’s coaching. You have to learn to make peace and live with it.”
In a way, Bowles’ introduction as the franchise’s 13th head coach — and its fourth Black head coach — simply perpetuated the most surreal offseason in team history. Less than 24 hours before, he remained the convenient scapegoat for one of the most excruciating losses this town had experienced.
On Thursday, he still was processing the fact that he had been afforded a rare second act as an NFL head coach, with a five-year contract to boot.
“A lot of people had to be in agreement for this to happen. It’s not a one-man show,” Bowles said of the succession plan allowing Arians to pass the torch to the New Jersey native he has known since 1983. “I feel very humble, I feel very honored, I feel very excited. I’m ready to go and we’ll try to get this thing rolling.”
If nothing else, Bowles will roll his own way.
Unlike Arians, who made ‘Win or lose, we booze’ a half-serious mantra on his watch, Bowles doesn’t drink or do cigars. And whereas Arians’ practice reprimands were laced with profanities, Bowles is more likely to point out player deficiencies with dry sarcasm.
“I think if I tried to put on a kangol hat and came in here and grew my goatee (both Arians trademarks), you guys would look at me like I’m crazy,” Bowles said. “‘Look at this clown, he’s mini-bruce.’ I can’t do that, and I’m not going to. I’m not going to try.”