Bucs Coordinator Expected to Get 2nd Interview for Vikings HC

Buccaneers Coordinator Expected to Get Second Interview for Vikings HC
Todd Bowles

The Minnesota Vikings recently wrapped up an era with a defensive head coach, and they could soon replicate the hiring tendencies of 2014.

Will Ragatz of SI.com reported on Sunday the Vikings are expected to host Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator for a second interview.

Bowles’ Buccaneers ranked fifth in the NFL for defensive EPA/play, fifth in points allowed, and ninth in defensive DVOA during the 2021 season. Not bad.

Of course, last year, the Buccaneers won a Super Bowl, humbling the Kansas City Chiefs led by heir-apparent-to-everything Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV by a score of 31-9. All told, Bowles has three Super Bowl rings — one as a player for the Washington Football Team in Super Bowl XXII, the next as a player-personnel staffer with the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, and last year as defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. The man knows how to contribute help for Super Bowl wins.

To date, Bowles’ success as a head coach is null. He coached in an interim capacity for the Miami Dolphins in 2011 and the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018. Bowles’ career head coaching record is 26-41 (.388), a mark akin to coaches like Leslie Frazier and Doug Marrone.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With the Vikings, though, Bowles would theoretically inherit a Vikings roster more talented than the Dolphins or Jets of yesteryear. A new general manager will be chosen soon in Minnesota, and Vikings ownership seems frosty on the idea of a full roster rebuild. Therefore, Bowles could shape the Vikings with essentially a group of the same players.

Minnesota has interviewed Bowles, Jonathan Gannon, Nathaniel Hackett, Kellen Moore, Raheem Morris, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Quinn, and DeMeco Ryans during this coaching search. Bowles is notable because he’s the first man expected to talk with the new general manager, according to Ragatz.

Under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings were the NFL’s 10th-best team per winning percentage from 2014 to 2021, so Bowles or the next head coach has a high standard to exceed. While the Vikings were often mediocre in stretches with Zimmer in charge, they never scraped the bottom of the league for performance — or anywhere near it. Zimmer’s Vikings were habitually relevant but never great, aside from a marvelous 2017 season.

The next coach will be asked to finish the deal, unlike the 2017 season, which fell short due to a shellacking by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).



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