One of the most sought-after coaching candidates has received another interview request. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Raiders have requested to meet with Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. 
Bowles has already been linked to the HC vacancies in Chicago, Jacksonville and Minnesota. The buzz around him shouldn’t come as a surprise, of course, considering the work he has done in Tampa Bay. In three years, he has overseen one of the league’s top defenses, which played a crucial role in the team’s Super Bowl championship last season. He signed an extension to stay on in his current role with the Bucs, but the door has always remained open for him to take a head coaching job if possible.
The Raiders, of course, have been connected to Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh since the beginning of the hiring cycle. They’ve also given interim coach Rich Bisaccia a chance to get the full-time position, as he interviewed last week to stay on board. Schefter adds that the interview with Bowles is set to take place in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Bowles, 58, had an up-and-down stint as the head coach of the Jets prior to coming to Tampa Bay. Given the interest being shown in him now, however, there seems to be a very good chance he will get a second opportunity to lead his own staff.
I think a lot of guys are looking at Bowles in a disingenuous way. Like, they are going to just interview to check the bow. Bowles hasn’t really done anything that should change minds on him as a HC. A top tier coordinator? Yes. A prospering HC just seems like a stretch.
I thought Todd balls did pretty well for the Jets considering his roster was below average the entire time. He’s a hell of a coach.
Bowles
The Raiders are interviewing Jarod Mayo and DeMeco Ryan’s, as well as rumored interest in Caldwell. I think your claim of the Raiders using Bowles to “check a box” falls short. The Davis’ have been very progressive for a really long time with hires like Art Shell, Hue Jackson and Tom Flores (the first Mexican HC). They also employees Reggie McKenzie as a GM and Had the first female CEO in Amy Trask.
While the Saints, Patriots, Falcons, Rams, Eagles and Cowboys have never hired a minority HC or GM. (I’ll have to double check the GM part.). But still… The box checking comments should be left for those teams.
*Employed McKenzie and Trask
You guys need to stop using that image for your Todd Bowles articles, which you’ve posted repeatedly. That photo is of Kacy Rodgers who is the d-line coach for the Bucs. It’s not Todd Bowles.
It might be auto-generated by whatever platform they use to make these posts. If it’s mislabeled somewhere, it’s always going to automatically show up on Bowles articles.
Would still rather have the Harbaugh/Fangio pairing but this guy definitely deserves a look
In your opinion, what has he done differently that says he should be a HC again? We all know he can coach a defense…
I want Bisaccia to be given the job. I think the man has earned a shot on a 3 year deal or something. That team never quit on him. They fought, even when they had every excuse not to.
That said, why are so many of these requests for defensive guys? I’m not a fan of the idea of them hiring Bowles, but as a whole you need innovative offense to win in the league now. You hire a defensive HC and you have to then get an outstanding OC to pilot the offense. If that OC does his job, then he won’t be there long.
That team never quit on him, but they also never did anything for him. Sure they ‘made the playoffs’ somehow but definitely didn’t belong there.
They won 7 games, made the playoffs and played the Bengals (who are in the AFC Championship game) close. If not for a horrible officiating whistle the Raiders might’ve beat the Bengals, who knows? That’s never doing anything for him?
And *if* they didn’t “belong” there, but he got them there… doesn’t that speak to his coaching ability then?
I feel like you’re trying to make a point, but everything you said works against it.
They also lost five games and two of those loses came against the Giants and WFT. They had an impressive win against Dallas, and the Chargers game in Week 18 was nice, but they didn’t really do anything impressive otherwise. They were actually outscored 261-319 when he was coach. They only scored 21.75 points per game for him.
I mean, he should definitely be a top candidate, but he hasn’t ‘earned’ anything. They should cast a wide net and if he’s still at the top of the list, great.
The point differential is largely due to the two blowout losses to the Chiefs, which is understandable. The Chiefs have a lot of firepower and LV wasn’t built to score that way. The team itself needs more pass catchers beyond Renfroe and Waller.
Bisaccia did a great job in my opinion, and I think he has earned a shot. I won’t back down from that, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Todd should decline. Every major sports media outlet says M Davis wants Jim H. Why be a puppet?
Every major sports network is getting that info from where?
Wet dreams. Because nothing concrete has come out on Harbaugh leaving his dream job other than that he was honest with recruits that he would listen to offers.
Harbaugh’s mom.