5 ex-NFL coaches who will be auditioning for a top job in 2020
By John Buhler
Pick Analysis. Defensive Coordinator. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 1. player. 48. Scouting Report. Todd Bowles
If any retread candidate will get his next opportunity, it will be Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. The Bruce Arians disciple is in his second season back with his mentor after an interesting stint with the New York Jets. Bowles played his college ball for Bowles at Temple in the mid-1980s. He previously was his defensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals.
Bowles left Phoenix for the New York Jets in 2015. While Gang Green almost made the playoffs his first year, thanks to Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s greatest season ever, his last three years were especially Jet-y. There is a reason people don’t succeed for extended stretches in the Jets organization. The Jets are one of the most hapless organizations in football. Good for Bowles on getting out.
He re-joined Arians in Tampa, as his former college coach decided calling games for FOX wasn’t his thing because he still wanted to win a Super Bowl. With more eyes than ever on the Buccaneers because Tom Brady came to town, teams looking to fill head-coaching vacancies will take a serious gander at Bowles and up-and-coming offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
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Leftwich is still very raw, but we’ve seen teams pick the fruit from a coaching tree far before it’s ripe before. As for Bowles, he has ample head-coaching experience. He may stay in Tampa as Arians’ heir apparent or he may go to an organization not as hopelessly screwy as those Jet-y Jets. Bowles will get interviews and he will get job offers. It’s just a matter of if he takes one in 2021.