The 2024 NFL season is underway, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to win their fourth consecutive NFC South title. Who is the Buccaneers’ current head coach, and how long has he held that position?
How Long Has Todd Bowles Been With the Buccaneers?
Todd Bowles is the Buccaneers’ head coach. He played eight NFL seasons as a defensive back with Washington and San Francisco from 1986 to 1993. He started 82 games and had 15 interceptions during his career. As a player, Bowles helped Washington win Super Bowl XXII, defeating Denver 42-10.
After Bowles’ playing days came to an end, he transitioned to coaching. Initially, he became a defensive coordinator and secondary coach for three seasons at the collegiate level with Morehouse College and Grambling State.
Bowles moved to the NFL as the New York Jets’ secondary coach in 2000. He was primarily a secondary coach for his first 13 seasons in the NFL, with stops in Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, and Philadelphia. Bowles also served as an assistant head coach in four seasons with the Dolphins. In 2013, he was named the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator under Bruce Arians. Bowles and Arians reunited in Tampa Bay in 2019, with Bowles serving as the Bucs’ defensive coordinator.
As Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator, Bowles helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXI over the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9. He designed a masterful defensive game-plan that prevented Patrick Mahomes and Co. from scoring a single touchdown. The Bucs’ pass rush dominated Kansas City’s offensive line, with 10 quarterback hits and three sacks.
In 2022, Arians stepped down as the Bucs’ head coach and Bowles replaced him. Bowles is now in his third season as the Buccaneers’ head coach. This is his second head coaching job.
He previously coached the Jets from 2015 to 2018. He started strong with New York with a 10-6 record in his first season but finished with a 24-40 record. Bowles was also the Dolphins interim head coach in 2011, going 2-1 to finish the season after Tony Sparano was fired.
Who Was the Head Coach Before Bowles?
As previously mentioned, Arians was the Buccaneers’ head coach before Bowles. Arians guided the team to a victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV in his second season. He was 31-18 in three seasons with Tampa Bay, and he’s considered one of the best coaches in franchise history. Arians was inducted into the Bucs’ Ring of Honor.
Bowles was Arians’ defensive coordinator for two seasons in Arizona and three seasons with Tampa Bay.
What Is Bowles’ Record With the Buccaneers?
Bowles is 46-59 all-time as a head coach. With the Bucs, he’s 20-18, and the team has won the NFC South in each season he’s been head coach.
Last season, Tampa Bay was projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL and compete for the No. 1 overall pick. Instead, the Bucs exceeded all expectations in their first year of the post-Tom Brady era. They won their division for a third straight season and even managed to win a playoff game, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round and challenging the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round.
Has Bowles Ever Won the Super Bowl?
Yes. Bowles has won three Super Bowls: one as a player, one as an executive, and one as an assistant coach. Bowles won Super Bowl XXII as a starting defensive back with Washington. As a member of the Green Bay Packers’ player personnel staff, Bowles won Super Bowl XXXI in 1996. In 2020, he was the Buccaneers defensive coordinator when the team won Super Bowl LV.
Tampa Bay made the playoffs as a Wild Card team and won three road games to get to the Super Bowl, played in Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium — becoming the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl in its home stadium.