When the Buccaneers open their 2025 training camp next week, one of their primary goals is to win their fourth straight NFC South title under Coach Todd Bowles.
However, Bowles, who signed on as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2019 before succeeding head coach Bruce Arians prior to the 2022 season, will remind his young club that another division title is a notable achievement but hoisting the Lombardi Trophy this February is the ultimate goal.
Bowles, 61, enters training camp with the strong backing of the team’s ownership, who signed him (and team general manager Jason Licht) to a three-year contract extension late last month. The roster has been successfully turned over since the Tom Brady-Rob Gronkowski days when that veteran team won Super Bowl LV in 2020.
“I am extremely appreciative of the confidence the Glazer Family has shown in my abilities to lead this football team,” Bowles said in thanking the Glazer ownership group for the contract extension. “It is a responsibility I do not take lightly and am honored to have. It starts at the top , and their unwavering commitment to our organization allows Jason and me to perform at our best and compete for championships.”
Bowles, a New Jersey native who played at nearby Temple University in Philadelphia, signed a rookie free agent contract with the Redskins after not being selected in the 1986 Draft. As is his nature, he quietly played seven seasons in Washington, and one with the 49ers, before ending his playing career. Future Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf quickly added Bowles to his Packers player personnel department where he worked for two years before returning to the sidelines. He started as a coach at Morehouse and Grambling State in the late ‘90s. Bowles transitioned back to the league in 2000, including a four-year stint as Jets head coach. Bowles had mixed results in New York but his second stint as head coach in Tampa Bay has been a great deal more rewarding for him and his team.
Todd Bowles is a quiet leader who has the respect of the entire Bucs organization, including ownership and the young players in the locker room. He has our respect as well. We wish him and the other seven Alumni brothers, who now are NFL head coaches, much success this season.
