Second Time Around: Why Todd Bowles Can Succeed With the Buccaneers

Bruce Arians wanted to leave Bowles setup for success, and he did just that.

As the newest head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Todd Bowles will look to right the wrongs he experienced when he led the New York Jets to a 24-40 record from 2015 to 2018. 

The news was flying at a rapid-fire rate as former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians retired, and just as quickly as Bowles was named his successor, doubt started creeping in.

One of the biggest reasons for doubt is Bowles' track record. The aforementioned disaster in New York.

As the head coach of the Jets, Bowles got off to a 10 win start before winning just 10 more games in the next two seasons. 

Four wins in his final season was all New York needed to make the decision to move on, and that's exactly what they did. 

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So what makes the Bucs believe this time will be different?

For starters, this isn't the New York Jets. 

Now, that may seem like a 'no duh' statement, but as it does in all things, context matters. 

As most new head coaches do, Bowles inherited a bad team in 2015. And perhaps the worst thing that could have happened was the 10 wins they earned that first year with veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

Because of that season, the Jets were well out of range of landing either of the top quarterbacks in the 2016 NFL Draft and ended up with Fitzpatrick for a second season instead of moving forward in crafting a sustainable on-field product.

Fitzpatrick grossly underperformed, and he wasn't the only one, and the team saw its win total cut in half. 

Bowles would go through five starting quarterbacks in four seasons, with none proving capable of leading the team's offense with much success outside of 2015.

NFL Draft misses, locker room conflicts, and more losing only followed, and once the team crashed it never found a way to put itself back together again. 

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This time around, Bowles gets a roster coming off two playoff appearances, full of solid performers, and Tom Brady is his quarterback. Another veteran, but not of the same caliber, by a longshot. 

And consistency is really the key here. 

Because of the circumstances surrounding the team in this coaching move, Bowles' transition as the head coach will be perhaps the most seamless the NFL has ever seen. 

The roster fits the coach's vision of what football should look like, the general manager has a proven track record of finding contributors for the scheme, and the coaches and players all have a rapport. 

These are critical characteristics of successful NFL franchises that usually have to be built after a coaching change. 

But they don't in Tampa, because their head coach already helped establish all of it, before he ever had the job. 

For more on this story and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!