Tampa Bay Buccaneers Could Land Iconic Head Coach Replacement for Todd Bowles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles walked into one of the best situations you could possibly think of when former head coach Bruce Arians retired and handed the keys to a loaded Bucs' roster over to him after spending a few seasons as the Bucs' defensive coordinator.
After a tumultuous stint as the head coach of the New York Jets from 2015-2018 that saw him go 24-40 (.375 winning %), Bowles was given a second chance with the Buccaneers.
Thus far into his tenure with Tampa Bay, Bowles hasn't been able to do much despite the advantageous situation he was placed into going 14-16 and getting knocked out in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last season by the Dallas Cowboys with Tom Brady as his starting quarterback.
IF the Buccaneers brass does indeed decide to move on from Todd Bowles following this season, CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan believes that current New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick could be in line to succeed him with the rumors floating that Robert Kraft has made the decision to move on from the legendary coach following this season.
“Yes, there would be something ironic about the Buccaneers again being the landing spot for a Patriots icon, but don’t sleep on this scenario,” Sullivan wrote.
The ironic part about this move would be the fact that former Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady made his way to the Buccaneers during free agency in 2020, which ultimately ended in him bringing a championship in his first season. Brady was not the only former Patriot that made their way to Tampa Bay as Rob Gronkowski, Shaq Mason, Logan Ryan, and Antonio Brown also made the move to join Brady in the red and pewter.
The Buccaneers have been known to make splash hires at the head coach position dating back to hiring Jon Gruden to replace Tony Dungy and most recently with getting Bruce Arians out of retirement to come and coach Brady.
The ability to make a splash hire at head coach is not the only thing that can be looked at as a positive for the hypothetical move. Buccaneers' GM Jason Licht and Bill Belichick also have a familiarity with one another from Licht's time in New England.
“There is familiarity with the Buccaneers front office as GM Jason Licht had two different tenures under Belichick with the Patriots, including a period from 2009 to 2011 when he was the director of player personnel,” Sullivan wrote. “With that prior working relationship in mind, there could be a collaborative approach to roster building with Belichick and Licht in his hypothetical partnership.”
It is still to be determined what route the Buccaneers' top decision-makers will go and likely will want to see how the remaining four regular season games and playoff game(s) - if they make it - play out before deciding what direction they want their future to move.
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