Todd Bowles isn’t the longest-tenured head coach in the NFC South, but he’s not far from it.

When longtime Saints head coach Sean Payton announced his retirement (which was ultimately brief) in February of 2022, Dennis Allen was promoted from his defensive coordinator position to replace him. Just over a month later, the same thing happened in Tampa as Bowles was promoted from his defensive coordinator role to replace a retiring Bruce Arians.

Now, heading into the 2024 season, the coaching landscape in the NFC South looks significantly different. Bowles and Allen are still in their respective roles, but there are two new head coaches in the division. The unique thing for the Bucs is that both have ties to Tampa Bay. So in a way, the coaching landscape is unfamiliar, but the faces within it are especially familiar.

During his media availability on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Todd Bowles had plenty of praise for the new head coaches in Carolina and Atlanta.

Todd Bowles “Proud” Of Former Bucs OC Dave Canales

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Of course, Todd Bowles is plenty familiar with the Panthers’ new-look coaching staff. After all, a significant number of the coaches who will patrol the sidelines in Charlotte this year were doing so in Tampa last year. After one year as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator, Dave Canales left to become the new head coach of the Panthers.

Bowles, who played a part in hiring Canales to replace former offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich last year, said Tuesday that he’s proud of Canales and thinks he’ll do a great job with Carolina, which won just two games in 2023.

“Very bright coach. Extremely smart and intelligent. Positive energy, positive attitude,” Bowles said. “When you lose a coach like that… Sean Payton put it in perspective for me. At least you know you’re picking the right guys, so that should give you some solace. I’m happy for him. I think he’ll do a great job for them, hopefully except for two games. He’ll do a great job. I’m proud of him.”

Asked what Canales did with Baker Mayfield and how he could translate that to helping 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young bounce back from a rough debut year, Bowles had plenty to say about his former offensive coordinator’s people management skills.

“His calmness, number one. His calmness, his attention to detail, his positivity,” Bowles said. “He [was] always building him up. There were quite a few coaches on the staff that kind of did that. Thad Lewis, the quarterbacks coach did that as well. Wide receivers coach Brad Idzik did it, and the offensive line coach helped him as well. But Dave was very good at bringing everybody together, hearing ideas and helping Baker be the best he could be.”

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, OC Dave Canales and WRs coach Brad Idzik – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Canales wasn’t the only Bucs coach to leave for Carolina. Wide receivers coach Brad Idzik went along with him to be his offensive coordinator, while run game coordinator Harold Goodwin and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert joined him as well.

“Brad’s an outstanding coach,” Bowles said. “I really liked him before Dave came along as a wide receivers coach. I know his dad, I know all about him. He’s a great, young coach in this league. He’s going to be a heck of a coach in this league. Very detailed. Participates in routes as well. Teaching all the time.

“Whether you’re an All-Pro or whether you’re a scout team guy, he’s always teaching. He’s always getting guys better, he’s always out there trying to push the envelope going forward to make guys better, which makes him a heck of a coach.”

Todd Bowles Happy For Former Bucs HC Getting A Second Chance

When Todd Bowles was promoted to replace Bruce Arians in 2022, he was getting his second chance to be an NFL head coach. He was previously 24-40 in four years as the Jets’ head coach, going 10-6 and missing the playoffs in year one before back-to-back 5-11 seasons in 2016 and 2017 and a 4-12 season in 2018. From there, he was fired and available to join Arians’ staff in Tampa for the 2019 season.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris – Photo by: USA Today

That path is somewhat similar to the one that Raheem Morris took to the Falcons’ head coaching job. Morris was Jon Gruden’s replacement with the Bucs in 2009 and after a 3-13 debut year, he, too, had a 10-6 debut season in which his team missed the playoffs. After Tampa Bay fell back down to 4-12 in 2011, he was fired. His 17-31 record over those three seasons made for a slightly worse winning percentage

Morris’ second chance took longer to come around, as he bounced around from defensive backs coach in Washington from 2012-2014 to assistant head coach/defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta the next year. From 2016-2019, he was the Falcons’ assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and offensive pass game coordinator, then he was the defensive coordinator and eventually the team’s interim head coach in 2020.

From 2021-2023, Morris served as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. And now, in 2024, he’s getting his second chance to be an NFL head coach. Todd Bowles knows what that’s like, and he said Tuesday that he’s happy that Morris is getting another shot.

“I’m extremely happy for Raheem. He’s been a great coach in this league for a long time,” Bowles said. “I’m glad he got a second chance. He’s familiar with Atlanta, they’ve got some pieces over there and they have some talent. Hopefully he does a great job with everybody except us.”

As happy as Todd Bowles might be for Dave Canales and Raheem Morris, he of course knows how important it is to beat them come time for the 2024 season. Bowles is 17-17 in two seasons as Tampa Bay’s head coach, and he’ll need to oversee another year of improvement in order to keep see a fourth year and potentially become the longest-tenured head coach in the division.