With Bruce Arians stepping down as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Todd Bowles takes over for him. It is the only logical choice, as Bowles has been a respected coach in the NFL for some time.

Munich/Tampa Bay – It was a moderate tremor that went through the NFL on Tuesday morning German time.

Bruce Arians announced his resignation as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and moves to the front office to assist general manager Jason Licht. Arians’ successor is his defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. He also made a name for himself with the Bucs in the time before Tom Brady.

Bowles as Players’ Coach: Respected beyond team boundaries

Bowles is not an emotional coach like Robert Saleh of the New York Jets. Bowles is a calm professional who rarely flies off the handle – usually because everything is going according to plan.

That’s another reason why he is incredibly popular with the players. Devin White, linebacker for the Buccaneers, tweeted immediately after the decision: “That’s my guy, there’s no better person than him!”

That these are not just empty words from one of his own players is also proven by Jamal Adams. He also tweeted a “Shoutout to Coach Todd Bowles!” shortly after the decision. As a reminder, Adams and Bowles haven’t worked together since 2018 and in Seattle, Adams has definitely had issues of his own, including an injury.

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By the way, the connection between the 58-year-old and Adams comes from their time with the New York Jets, where Bowles was head coach from 2015 to 2018.

If there’s any doubt about the former defensive coordinator’s suitability, it’s because of his moderately successful stay in East Rutherford at best. Things were top notch at the start, with Bowles and the Jets picking up ten wins but missing the playoffs in Week 17 with a loss at the Buffalo Bills.

In the years that followed, the Jets fell off the wagon, winning just 14 games in three seasons, and the man who was even a native of New Jersey was forced to take his hat off.

Even without Brady: Defence at top level in Tampa Bay

Bruce Arians, now gone into coaching retirement, then brought Bowles in as defensive coordinator, knowing full well what a good coach he is. “He’s going to give us a chance to compete for the playoffs,” Arians said when introduced in 2019, when the Buccaneers still had Jameis Winston at quarterback and just five wins in 2018.

If Arians was laughed at then, the Buccaneers could have actually been in contention for the playoffs in 2019 had Winston not thrown 30 (!) interceptions. That it was enough for seven wins was due to Coach Bowles’ defensive unit.

2018, a season before he was hired, the Buccaneers were the 31 ranked defense (out of 32). While they improved only two spots in 2019, it was also because the offense consistently sent defenses into the game with short fields. Against the run, the Bucs were the NFL’s No. 1 defense under him.

Masterpieces against Green Bay and Kansas City

When Tom Brady came into the offense, a man who doesn’t hand the ball off to every opposing cornerback, the Buccaneers immediately became a top team.

He put down his first true masterpiece in Bucs service in 2020 in week six. Against the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay won 38-10, with eventual MVP Aaron Rodgers being made to look so bad by Bowles’ defence that he was even handed a pass. The passer rating of 35 was by far the worst of Rodgers’ season.

The Kansas City Chiefs also suffered the same fate in the Super Bowl. After the disappointing 24:27 in the Regular Season, the 58-year-old forged the perfect gameplan against Patrick Mahomes and did not allow a touchdown for his team for the first time in the young superstar’s NFL career.

“He deserves at least half of Brady’s MVP trophy,” “FOX” journalist Kevin Wildes said after the game. “I’m telling you, he deserves a head coaching job today (Feb. 8, 2021),” Wildes pleaded for Bowles to be the head coach even then.

Tampa is not New York: luxury situation for Bowles

That the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers repeats the same mistakes he made during his time with the New York Jets is probably out of the question. In general, Bowles has a very different situation now.

In New York, he had to work with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh McCown at quarterback and waste many, probably far too many, thoughts on his then dysfunctional offence. Now, with Byron Leftwich as offensive coordinator and Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, he has two experienced and respected figures at his side to de facto take the work out of running the offense. Brady could probably call the plays on his own if he had to.

Though things will change for the 58-year-old and he will take part in more team meetings, it is hard to imagine that he will fail as badly as he did in New York.

It is quite possible that this will be the second attempt at a successful career as a head coach.