The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have landed themselves the NFL game to watch this week, and not just because of the players on the field. On Oct. 12, Tampa Bay sports reporter David Schiele, the only Black reporter in the room, asked Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles about facing Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, in a matchup of two of only four Black head coaches in the NFL.
“I have a good relationship with Tomlin, we don’t look at what color we are when we coach against each other,” Bowles said. “We just know each other. I have a lot of good White friends who coach in this league as well, and I don’t think it’s a big deal as far as coaching against each other. I think it’s normal.”
Todd Bowles on coaching against Mike Tomlin this Sunday: "I don't think it's a big deal…we don't look at color."
Bowles on representation in coaching: "I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well."
*Questions included for context pic.twitter.com/JtehXqqKcW
— David Schiele WTSP (@Deacon_Schiele) October 12, 2022
The four Black coaches include Bowles, Tomlin, Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith, and as Schiele mentioned, Steve Wilks, who is now the interim coach for the Carolina Panthers after the team fired Matt Rhule on Oct. 10. Approximately 58% of NFL players were Black in 2021, according to Statista.
“Wilks has an opportunity to do a good job, I hope he does it,” Bowles said. “We coach ball, we don’t look at color.”
If Wilks had not been named the interim head coach, the Buccaneers-Steelers matchup would’ve been the NFL’s only game of the season between two Black coaches.
The relationship between lack of representation beyond playing in the NFL has been a public discussion for years now. The issue perhaps peaked earlier this year when Brian Flores sued the league in February. Flores’ lawsuit claimed the NFL doesn’t give Black coaches equal opportunity, and the Miami Dolphins fired him after a 9-8 season in 2021. He claims the franchise offered him incentives to lose more games to get a better draft pick.
Bowles’ answer has started a discussion by far-right media figures like Clay Travis and Candace Owens. Omitting Schiele’s first question, Travis jumped right to ESPN reporter Jenna Laine’s, a White woman, follow-up question asking Bowles about the importance of diverse representation.
“The White woman ESPN employee who lectured Todd Bowles about what he should think about being a Black coach in the NFL has turned off all mentions on her woke story,” Travis tweeted. “Woke White people are the worst. They are destroying the country.”
Todd Bowles didn’t get the woke memo on NFL racism. Listen to the questions he gets from left wing reporters and his responses. pic.twitter.com/PCjTpbXlF9
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 13, 2022
Todd Bowles in my kind of guy. https://t.co/fmdoCjQ1fR
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 13, 2022
Another reason I admire the hell out of Todd Bowles!!!!!! https://t.co/ytLzp3wdMf
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) October 14, 2022
Other media members chimed in, as well.
What the hell is Todd Bowles talking about?
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) October 13, 2022
This is dangerously naive. If Todd Bowles doesn’t want to talk about race, fine. Saying nothing would have been better than this. https://t.co/fw0pU8bCpe
— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) October 13, 2022
Todd Bowles is one of *checks notes* FOUR Black head coaches in the NFL, a league that is 70% Black mind you, and doesn’t think two Black head coaches coaching against each other is significant. pic.twitter.com/wWfXLFB60s
— Colb (@___Colb___) October 13, 2022
The Steelers-Buccaneers are scheduled to kick off in a prime-time matchup at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 16.
