Rapoport: Todd Bowles ‘top choice’ to join Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay
Jan 8, 2019, 11:32 AM
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, right, greets New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles after an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals won 28-3. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
According to the latest reports surrounding the NFL head coaching carousel, it appears as though former Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians winding up as the next head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a good possibility.
But another Cardinals connection could end up there as well as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that former Jets head coach and Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is “the top choice” to join Arians in Tampa.
Rapoport later noted that “clearly, Todd Bowles is in demand” after his colleague, Mike Garafolo, reported that Bowles and the Redskins checked in with one another this week.
Reports of Arians’ hire in Tampa Bay haven’t been characterized as a done deal, but rather that it’s very likely to happen in the coming days. Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Bucs are zeroing in on Arians to be their next head coach, “and the strong interest is mutual,” adding that negotiations are likely to commence soon.
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The Buccaneers’ Twitter account made it publicly known on Saturday that the team had at least interviewed Arians, who coached the Cardinals for five years from 2013 through 2017. In 2013 and 2014, Bowles was Arians’ defensive coordinator in the desert.
Bowles was the Jets’ head coach after that, serving there for four seasons and putting up a record of 24-40.
