As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sail into another important offseason, one of the first orders of business is to determine who will be helming the ship when next season starts. Todd Bowles is set to enter his third year as head coach but there’s a large group of fans and media who believe that shouldn’t be the case.
Part of what’s putting pressure on the situation, at least externally, is the rise of Liam Coen. After just one season running Tampa Bay’s offense, Coen is getting serious head coaching consideration and there’s a real chance that he leaves for a top job. This would mark the second time in as many years that the Bucs have lost an offensive coordinator to a head coaching job, which is a feather in the cap of Bowles that is getting overlooked.
Instead, the failure of the defense to hold up its end of the bargain at times last season has wore critics thin. Despite a rash of injuries holding the defense back, Bowles and his sometimes baffling coaching decisions have all compounded to create a vocal movement to get him removed so Coen can be retained.
Those things are not mutually exclusive, but seem to be inseparable in the minds of some. Linebacker Lavonte David isn’t among that group, and is giving us insight into the internal mindset of the team for the first time since all of the anti-Bowles dust got kicked up.
Lavonte David claps back at critics who want Todd Bowles fired
While speaking with the media this week, David polietly called out critics who have been calling for Bowles to be fired, which includes fans and
"Outside looking in, they see something different. Inside, being in the building, seeing him every day, the way he works, the way he tries to do the best for the players and stuff like that — we know what type of guy we got," David said. "We know what type of leader and man he is, and If you don't hear none of us complaining about him, I don't think you should complain about him."
That’s really what this all comes down to, as it’s easy to rattle cages from the outside without having full context. All along one thing that has been lost in the justifiable angst about the job Bowles is doing is how much the locker room loves and supports him.
It’s more than just words that back this up. Twice we’ve watched the team pick itself up off the mat and reverse what should have been fatal losing streaks to reach the playoffs as division champions. So many players get credit for that but Bowles is the man behind the curtain of the culture, and David sticking up for him without much prodding goes to show just how important he is to how well things have gone.
Bowles is not without his flaws, and he’s struggled with some fundemental things that come with being a head coach, but locker room culture is not one of them. In fact, it’s been such a strength over his tenure that it’s arguably the thumb on the scale of why his job is safe for the time being.
Some fans might have grown tired of his coaching and leadership, but the 53 players who suit up for him every week clearly have not. In the end, that’s a pretty significant tiebreaker for Bowles to have in his back pocket.
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