Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles will face his former franchise on Sunday when the New York Jets travel to Raymond James Stadium, but he had no hard feelings after being fired by the organization.
The Buccaneers have made a perfect start to the season and improved to 2-0 after Baker Mayfield’s heroics secured a last-second victory over the Houston Texans on Monday. It’s been tougher going for the Jets, who are 0-2 to start the year and may be without quarterback Justin Fields for Week 3.
Bowles signed a multi-year extension with the Buccaneers this past offseason after leading Tampa Bay to the playoffs in his first three seasons with the organization. The Jets handed Bowles his first head coaching role in 2015, but he was fired after four seasons.
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The Jets hired Bowles after he was named AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014, while he was the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals. Bowles led the Jets to a 10-6 record in his first season, but he struggled to maintain that standard the following year.
Bowles and the Jets finished at the bottom of the AFC East for the next three years, and he was fired following the 2018 season. Bowles wasn’t unemployed for long, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired him as defensive coordinator weeks later.
The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl two years later with a little help from Tom Brady, but Bowles was asked about his role at the Jets before Tampa Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Rather than criticize his former employers, he pointed the blame at himself.
“I had four years,” Bowles said. “When you get four years to make some things happen, you don’t make excuses. As a head coach, the buck stops there.”
Bowles won the Super Bowl during his playing days with the formerly known Washington Redskins, and enjoyed another victory in 1996 after joining the player personnel staff at the Green Bay Packers. He then turned his attention to coaching and landed his first NFL role with the Jets in 2000.
Glenn was in his seventh season with the Jets when Bowles was hired, and they later reunited at the Dallas Cowboys for the 2005 season. In an interview on ‘The Official Jets Podcast,’ Bowles revealed that Glenn was always an intelligent player who engrossed himself in football.
“He was very professional,” Bowles said. “He’s very smart. He was such a smart and instinctive player, and he studied profusely. And I think that’s a reason he’s a head coach today.”
Like Bowles, Glenn also held executive roles before starting his coaching career, and worked as a personnel scout for the Jets in 2012. “I think it’ll help them a great deal,” Bowles added.
“I started out as a scout as well, so it helped me a great deal, because as a coach, when you’re looking at players now, you really don’t know how to look at offensive linemen or defensive linemen, especially coming in being a DB coach.
“You can do that with the wideouts and the DBs, so your eyes are closed, but it teaches you a different perspective of what to look for when you’re looking for offensive linemen. So you have more input in the draft and when you’re looking at players on the road and not just relying on the scouts, because you were a scout yourself.”