“His Heart Rate Is Never Up”
August 13th, 2025
No. 1 seed?
So have the Bucs taken on the personality of their head coach?
Joe’s not referring to players enjoying Gladys Knight, trips to Publix, low-grade chocolate chip cookies, NBA games and going to bed early.
Joe’s pointing to Todd Bowles’ unflappable demeanor.
Bowles almost defines the term “even keel” as a head coach. And that excites former Bears Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kyle Long.
He thinks the Bucs are prepared for a deep playoff run, in large part because of the guy in charge.
“Todd Bowles. Pretty awesome, would love to play for that guy. Old school. There’s a reason these teams stick together year in and year out,” Long said on his Pushing The Pilepodcast, a CBS production. “They have the ability to really just maintain their cool all the time.
“His heart rate is never up,” Long continued, referring to Bowles. “And I feel like that’s the Bucs. I mean, they’re in any game. That’s why they can go on the road and beat the Lions. That’s why I feel like they’re a team that can go and beat the Eagles at The Linc. And it doesn’t surprise me because they have fearless leaders at the receiver position, at the quarterback position, at the head coach position. I’m excited to watch this group. I’m just a huge Baker [Mayfield] fan.”
Co-host Mike Renner went on to make a case why the Bucs could be the No. 1 seed in the NFC, though Long and Renner are not calling the Bucs a Super Bowl team.
Bowles certainly captains a steady ship, but the Bucs certainly haven’t played consistent ball within a season under Bowles.
Joe looks for that to change this year, elimination of the midseason implosion. Under Bowles, the team has never had a winning record on Thanksgiving.
Joe thinks the Tampa Bay area would explode with excitement if the Bucs play solid ball from wire-to-wire this season. Maybe turn a 4-2 record into 7-4 and then 9-5 with three games remaining. That’s the kind of consistency Joe would love to see.