Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles earned their Bachelor of Science in youth and community development on Saturday from Mount St. Mary’s University.
Bowles missed the second day of rookie minicamp to attend his graduation, bearing in mind his late mother. According to NBC Washington, he said he knew his mom, Joan, would be proud of him. Bowles left Temple University to begin his NFL playing career. Now, 37 years later, he has finally completed his degree.
Todd Bowles Earns Bachelor’s Degree
Joan was always a big supporter in Bowles’ life. “My mother never said anything; she just went with it, and she let me go ahead and live my life,” he said on the stage to his fellow class members. “She passed in 2009, and the only thing she asked me was to make sure I got my degree.”
And at 59 years old, Bowles did just that. It is now known that Bowles’ mother passed away from cancer.
Per Aol.com, his longtime agent, Anthony Agnone, a former Mount St. Mary’s alumni, also played a role in Bowles earning his degree. Agnone helped set up Bowles’ return in 2020 by encouraging him to take online courses while simultaneously working as the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator.
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Needless to say, the 59-year-old was overcome with joy in one of the few moments in life that could hardly ever be put into words. Yet somehow, he found the strength to leave his colleagues with a strong message:
“You stop learning, and you get old. You get old when you stop learning.”
Bowles’ NFL Career
Bowles was born in Elizabeth, NJ. He got picked up by the then-Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 1986 and played eight seasons in the NFL. He was with Washington from 1986–90, then played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1991 season. He finished his career in 1992–93 with the Redskins.
After he hung up those cleats, he held a lot of assistant positions for several teams before becoming interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2011. He reunited with his former college coach Bruce Arians in 2013, who was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals at the time. Bowles was his defensive coordinator.
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Eventually, Bowles decided to go back to where it all began and receive his first full-time position as a coach with the New York Jets. From 2015 to 2018, he called MetLife Stadium his home in East Rutherford, NJ. After his firing, he was on the road again and found a new home in Tampa Bay.
Bowles was the defensive coordinator for the Buccaneers for three seasons before becoming their head coach in 2022.
He coached the team to an 8-9 record and was able to take them to the NFL playoffs. However, they got no further than one game. Tampa Bay took a 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Wild Card matchup on Jan. 16, 2023.
Overall, Bowles may have had some hiccups when it comes to coaching, but they didn’t deter him from receiving his college degree.