BSPN: Todd Bowles Is Not A Fun Coach
August 23rd, 2025
No fun?
When Joe read this excerpt, Joe immediately had a comeback for the slightly faulty premise.
Noted Todd Bowles hater Ben Solak of BSPN, who does have some valid reasons why he’s no Bowles fan, gets carried away when he knocks the fourth-year Bucs coach.
Solak earlier this summer ranked the Bucs’ coaching staff No. 22 in the NFL. That’s awfully harsh for a head coach who has done nothing but lead the Bucs to the playoffs every season and guides the team to more wins each season after his 8-9 start.
Doesn’t that count for something?
Solak recently decided to rank each NFL team by watchability. Meaning, is the team fun to watch?
Solak may have had the Bucs in the top two or three but Solak made the case that Bowles drags down the team down and his presence makes the Bucs more boring.
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield is one of the few players in the league so watchable that he transcends fandom. You cannot help but root for him when he’s jawing with defensive linemen after scampering for a key first down. The collective excellence of the Buccaneers’ offense around him — Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin — spells a highly watchable experience. The addition of Emeka Egbuka might even make this offense a Bengals-like experience in 2025.
However, the Buccaneers are hard-capped on this ranking by the caution of their coach, Todd Bowles. He does not go for enough fourth-down attempts or 2-point conversions. The Bucs’ defense is eminently watchable, though — high effort with sacks and takeaways, all at the expense of big plays. Only three teams gave up more 30-plus-yard completions than the Buccaneers did last season.
Now that’s not an entirely unfair take by Solak. It still sticks in Joe’s craw — not craw, craw! — that Bowles didn’t go for two to steal a win in Kansas City last year.
As for Bowles making a team less fun, well, history is not on Solak’s side. Does a coach with a stick up his backside let his offensive coordinator call a first-down pass play for Mike Evans very late in the final seconds of the regular season — in his own real estate — in a one-score game?