There is one more Black head coach in the NFL.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians announced his retirement on March 30, and is set to be replaced by Todd Bowles.
Bowles previously coached the New York Jets from 2015-2018. He went 24-40 during his time at the helm. The Jets have gone 13-36 since his departure from the franchise.
With Tampa Bay, Bowles has a much better situation he’s stepping into, with quarterback Tom Brady announcing he’s coming back for another season. Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win in 2021.
“I wanted to ensure when I walked away that Todd Bowles would have the best opportunity to succeed,” Arians said in his statement. “So many head coaches come into situations where they are set up for failure, and I didn’t want that for Todd. Tom’s decision to come back, along with Jason and his staff doing another great job of keeping the core of this team intact during free agency, confirmed for me that it was the right time to pass the torch to Todd.”
One of Arians’ controversial moments at the helm was when star wide receiver Antonio Brown took off his jersey and ran off the field in the middle of the game. Brown said he refused to go back in the game after he told Arians he was hurt all week, and Arians told him he was off the team if he didn’t go back in the game.
Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the NFL for discrimination after Miami fired the Black coach after a winning season in 2021. At the time of his termination, there was only one active Black head coach in the league, which was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. Flores eventually joined Tomlin’s staff later in the off-season. The Dolphins replaced Flores with Mike McDaniel, a mixed man who the internet had a field day with for identifying as such.
McDaniel, Lovie Smith, Mike Tomlin and Bowles are now four of the NFL’s 32 head coaches.
