If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hire retired former Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians as their new head coach, Todd Bowles may be coming with him. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Bowles would join the coaching staff as his defensive coordinator.
Arians seems to be the Buccaneers' top choice for head coach, as negotiations between the two sides are expected to begin soon. The fact that Bowles may go with him does not come as a surprise, given that he served as Arians' defensive coordinator with the Cardinals in 2013 and 2014.
Bowles met with the Washington Redskins earlier this week, although no specific role was discussed. The 55-year-old spent the last four years as head coach of the New York Jets, posting a rather inauspicious record of 26-40 without any playoff appearances.
He appeared to be on the right track during his first season with the Jets in 2015, winning 10 games and narrowly missing a postseason berth, but since then things spiraled downward. Bowles proceeded to post back-to-back five-win campaigns in 2016 and 2017 before finally going 4-12 in 2018, which led to his dismissal.
The Elizabeth, N.J. native earned his first coaching job with the Jets back in 2000, briefly serving as a secondary coach for one season. He then moved on to the Cleveland Browns, where he also served as a secondary coach from 2001 through 2004. After that, Bowles had stints with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Philadelphia Eagles, briefly serving as interim head coach of the Dolphins in 2011. He then took the defensive coordinator job with the Cardinals.
The Buccaneers went just 5-11 this past season, and as a result they fired head coach Dirk Koetter after three years.
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