The Pulse: Fans believe Todd Bowles will stay in Arizona
Jan 10, 2015, 5:23 AM | Updated: 5:57 am
Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is a wanted man.
There are a handful of vacant head coaching positions around the NFL, and Bowles has been rumored to be a candidate for just about all of them.
In our latest Sanderson Ford Poll Question of the Day, which can be found in the right-hand column of our home page, we asked where the defensive guru will be coaching next year.
Close to half of all respondents think he’s staying “home” — in Arizona, that is. Out of 691 total voters, 314 (45 percent) said he’s staying with the Bird Gang. He’s certainly helped head coach Bruce Arians build success in the Valley, and a head coaching offer would presumably have to be mighty attractive to pry him away.
The second-most popular answer in the poll was Atlanta, which took 27 percent of the vote (190 people total). ESPN football insider John Clayton said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM last week that it’s “Atlanta or bust” for Bolwes, meaning the Falcons might be the only team that might be able to pry him away.
The third-most frequent answer was simply “Don’t know,” as 12 percent of respondents (86 overall) clicked this option. It’s a fair response because, admittedly, it’s anybody’s guess at this point where Bowles will be next year.
Coming in the final two spot in the poll were Chicago (8 percent) and San Francisco (7 percent). Bowles reportedly met with the Bears earlier in the week, but nothing has come of it yet. The 49ers, a division rival of Arizona, is looking for a head coach, too, after Jim Harbaugh was reportedly pushed out, prompting him to take a job with Michigan at the college level.
Bowles signed a contract extension with the Cardinals in November that’s supposed to keep him in the Valley through the 2017 season, but it doesn’t preclude him from interviewing for head coaching gigs with other teams.
