awful move
bowles called the worst and dumbest play in bucs history and worst backups pass 300+ yards on his secondary. he can’t defend the pass, I am very very dissapointed.
about licht, ok, fine with that. he is not roseman but he is not the blind one either
he should be happy he is in the south, in any decent division he would go 7-10 at best
extended through 2028
Haley said the Bucs are very smart to appreciate how Bowles has done a very good job and recognize how difficult it was to transition from the Tom Brady era. Haley emphasized Bowles has been “very good” but “not great” and a thriving tandem of a GM and head coach is always something that should be supported.
I too am surprised about extending Bowles. Maybe OBP thought the team would play harder if Bowles wasn't a lame duck coach? HA HA HA. We've all seen NFL HCs get sacked despite extensions if their teams didn't perform up to expectations. I feel the expectations will be high for the 2025 season, both by OBP and the fans like us. I hope that Bowles has spent some time being introspective and reviewing the 2024 season's highs and lows. There were too many poor game management decisions. There were ongoing clock management issues. There were ongoing poor use or non-use of timeouts. There were issues leaving players in the game was out of hand and decided. There was questionable play calling on defense.
Injuries certainly had an impact on the defense, but all teams deal with injuries. The Lions defense was decimated last season as well, but they limped through the season into the second round of the playoffs. Hell, the entire Steelers secondary was out when they beat the Bucs 20-18 in 2022. That's some exceptional coaching, patching together a defense that held up vs the greatest QB in NFL history while your backup Mitch Trubisky came off the bench and won the game. The same Trubisky who torched the Bucs for 6 td passes in one game when he was with the Bears. I could go on and on, but that's enough I think.
Well Firebowles2023 will be fine with a simple name change to Firebowles2033! I don't know that Bowles did enough to warrant that extension, but now he's got it. He's not on the hotseat anymore. That won't stop the fans from calling for his head if the Bucs have another losing streak.
Guess I'm drinking tonight
Cheers to mediocrity, my friend!
Licht definitely deserves it but Bowles still needed some things to prove. Even though we've won the division and gone to the playoffs its more because of our roster being superior to the rest of the division and for the most part the NFC in general hasn't been great. Just a few teams sticking out including ours. Anyone that has truly watched the bucs would know that Bowles has made some poor decisions leading to losses or near losses. I hope im wrong but I think he needed to prove himself to get this extension not just given it. People can learn from mistakes but if there's no reason to and you've been rewarded for what you've already done, a lot of people won't change. Hope he will learn from his mistakes. If he does we have something going but like I said most dont. So hope he is one of the few where the lights go on in certain things. I think we can have worse but this team is in a window for a super bowl and they need to get it. You never know how often that happens. We spent years in the basement it can happen again. These years make those easier when they do. Its only a matter of when for some teams..
We've all seen NFL HCs get sacked despite extensions if their teams didn't perform up to expectations.
I think Gruden was fired right after a similar extension, so definitely have to perform
We've all seen NFL HCs get sacked despite extensions if their teams didn't perform up to expectations.
I think Gruden was fired right after a similar extension, so definitely have to perform
Monte was king of that era coaching wise. These extensions mean very little other than some sweat off of the Glazers back if things don't go well this year.
These extensions mean very little other than some sweat off of the Glazers back if things don't go well this year.
and a lot of angst on the board lol
"Mediocre" Bowles is 3rd in winning percentage among all Bucs head coaches. He's behind Arians (who had Brady) and Dungy. If the Bucs win 12 games this season he'd pass Dungy. Dungy is in the HOF. He'd also be tied with Gruden for playoff appearances, in about half the number of seasons.
All during a time that most here expected the Bucs to be rebuilding.
The Bowles "hate" borders on irrational.
Its been a great run, especially versus expectations
Well, not exactly. The Anti-Grudenista’s (a term I coined on these boards during that era) are a group that doesn’t die easily.Monte was king of that era coaching wise
Correct.
Carried an overrated OC/HC to a title.
Poeple forget that the league “arranged” the Bucs to send the Raiders TWO 1st round picks and TWO 2nd round picks - as well as $8 million - to begin to negitiate with Jon Gruden.
For those doing the maths, that cost impacted our offense (that Dungy left in woeful shape) - for two straight years. Gruden was denied access to premium draft picks on both sides of the ball - more impacting the offense l, but also impacted our aging defense. It was a poison pill that forced Gruden to fish out of the old timer pool. It also cost us Lynch & Sapp because we were also in a tight cap period.
So, Jon getting Brad Johnson, a couple of lineman and mid round picks - and his ACTUAL NFL-ready offense - to win a Superbowl. Many of us, including Monte Kiffin, were quite happy with the immediacy of the Championship. We had become way more frustrated with Dungy absolutely ignoring the offense - and insisting on using Clyde Christiansen as an OC with Trent Dikfer & Sean King as NFL QB’s.
We knew the defensive scheme & talent dominance was Championship caliber - but it was married to a Mickey Mouse offense - but the window was closing on the defensive dominance.
We would have won more games with Gruden if we hadn’t been robbed of those picks and strapped by cap limits.
…or so my argument went. I found it equally hilarious that had Dungy been forced to abide by the same “Trade” deal in Indy, don’t know that he’d have been as successful redirecting the Colts defense. Don’t hate Dungy, I loved him, he just REFUSED to adapt on offense. Dungy’s defense helped Peyton Manning take the Colts to another level.
So, as you can see, it’s not really a great comparison.
Don’t hate Dungy, I loved him, he just REFUSED to adapt on offense. Dungy’s defense helped Peyton Manning take the Colts to another level.
+1
Also, Dungy was forbidden with screwing with the offense in Indy, so in that regard, he was a fantastic DC, but a really terrible HC. Built a Superbowl defense in Tampa, but struggled mightily in the post-season because of his defense (we actually LOST the NFC Championship 9 to 6). Part of that was because he really didn’t have much use for his offense, therefore he sucked at QB evaluation (ala Dilfer & King), partly because because he felt bad things could happen if you tried to score points.
Todd has adapted, repeatedly, on defense. We’ll see if the new down/distance/clock-watching coach will fix my remaining concern with Todd Bowles - and that whether he’s truly learned to trust his offense to win a game.
To sum it up: I am not yet as frustrated with Bowles as I was with Dungy, just before he was fired. The Bucs ownership even met with Dungy before his last season - pleading with him to bring in a legit OC - he refused, stuck with Clyde… and the rest is history.
I am glad he finally won a Suoerbowl. He did so with a good defense…and predictably, an outrageous offense.
Well, not exactly…
Remind me again of how many Top-10 offenses the “offensive guru” fielded in his 15 years as a head coach in the NFL?
