Former NY Jets head coach Todd Bowles lands two HC interviews

Todd Bowles could make a return to the head coaching position

It hasn’t taken long for former New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles to prove that he deserves a second chance at leading a professional football team.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Bowles has interviewed for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coaching vacancy, while the Chicago Bears have also requested to interview him.

The #Bears have requested permission to interview #Bucs DC Todd Bowles, source said. Bowles has also interviewed for the #Jaguars and will likely have others. A top candidate.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2022

Rapoport adds that Bowles is “a top candidate.”

Jacksonville began its search for a head coach weeks ago after firing former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer only 13 games into his first season as an NFL head coach. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell took over as the interim head coach.

Chicago fired Matt Nagy shortly after the regular season’s conclusion. Nagy spent four seasons in Chicago, going 34-31 in the regular season while making two playoff appearances, but the Bears were one-and-one in both instances. The former Chiefs offensive coordinator never lead Chicago to higher than 21st in total offense.

Bowles coached the Jets for four years from 2015-18. He finished with a 24-40 record and no playoff appearances, starting out hot with a 10-6 record in 2015 but winning no more than five games in any of the following three seasons.

After being fired by the Jets, Bowles became the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator in 2019. Here are Tampa Bay’s defensive ranks under Bowles’ watch:

• 2019: 15th in yardage, 29th in points, 5th in takeaways
• 2020: 6th in yardage, 8th in points, 5th in takeaways
• 2021: 13th in yardage, 5th in points, 5th in takeaways

Bowles’ defense engineered the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl run in 2020. Over a three-game stretch against Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes, Tampa Bay yielded just 18.3 points per game and forced eight turnovers. That includes a nine-point shutdown of Kansas City in Super Bowl LV.

In addition to Chicago and Jacksonville, there are head coaching vacancies in Minnesota, Las Vegas, Denver, and Miami.

Bowles actually served as Miami’s interim head coach for three games at the end of the 2011 season after the firing of Tony Sparano. He went 2-1, including a Week 17 victory over the Jets that eliminated them from playoff contention.

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