Bill Belichick’s first stint as an NFL head coach didn’t work out too well. He had four losing seasons in his five years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1991-95. It was a similar story for new Bucs head coach Todd Bowles during his four-year run as the head coach of the New York Jets.

Belichick finished with a 36-44 record (.450) with the Browns before turning the New England Patriots into a dynasty and winning six Super Bowls from 2000-2021. Bowles had one winning season and three losing seasons from 2015-18 and produced a 24-40 record (.375) before joining the Bucs as their defensive coordinator in 2019. After Bruce Arians’ sudden retirement, Bowles gets his second shot at being an NFL head coach.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick – USA Today

While it would be hard to imagine Bowles having a second stint as a head coach as illustrious as Belichick’s, he can be successful the second time around. Former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum was recently a guest on ESPN’s Get Up program compared Bowles to Belichick. Both are defensive-minded head coaches who are under the Bill Parcells coaching tree.

Tannenbaum Is A Big Fan Of Bowles

Tannenbaum spent years working with Parcells when he was the head coach of the Jets in the early 2000s. And he worked with Bowles in New York in 2000.

While Tannenbaum said that the road back to the Super Bowl would be harder without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who retired on June 21, he thinks Bowles can make a difference for the Bucs.

“I think it’s going to be really hard,” Tannebaum said. “I think they still have a really good team, and I think an underrated storyline is Todd Bowles. I’ve worked with Todd before. He’s a great coach, not a good coach. You think about a guy like Bill Belichick, who struggled in Cleveland. He takes some time off and becomes a head coach again and the rest is history.

“I’m not saying that Todd Bowles is going to be Bill Belichick, but why not? Why can’t he have a great second chapter as a head coach? This is a team that missed over 47 [combined] games on defense [due to injuries last year]. I think this team is loaded.”

Tannenbaum has spoken highly of Bowles before, calling him “an upgrade over Arians.”