During big football games, such as the Super Bowl, the winners and losers wear names, numbers, and pads. But even the most rabid fans have little idea how much work goes into an NFL season, from film study to practice to one guy selflessly crediting another guy with the win. Once the winning players get to feast on the Super Bowl's post-game awards, we are usually treated to much more muted celebrations between the head coach and owner of the team.
But rarely do assistant coaches get official nods for all their work, their endless hours on practice fields and in film rooms, the nuances of teaching technique, and somehow implementing it in a way that confounds their foe. So while Tom Brady and Tampa Bay's ruthless defense get most of the credit for dismantling the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, it's hard to overlook the humble, hungry coach who crafted all those schemes that baffled and bewildered Patrick Mahomes.
That would be Todd Bowles, of course, a man with whom the Jets and their fans are quite acquainted. If both Super Bowl clubs were being candid, they conceded that Bowles was the de facto MVP, for all his wizardry over a talented but not wholly together unit.
If Brady raised the team's focus and mojo, then Bowles gave the defense its intelligence and intensity. Mahomes, the human highlight reel who seems to have slain the NFL with the sheer flick of his wrist, was scampering for his football life all night, from whistle to gun.
It's hard to process the ease with which Bowles' defense thwarted a Chiefs offense that had the scoring power of an invading alien army. Mahomes, who fills up stat sheets with dazzling stats, completed just 26 of 48 passes for 270 yards, zero scores, and two interceptions.
It will raise the issue of Bowles' bona fides for an NFL head coaching gig. To say Bowles was a disaster with the Jets would be misguided, and maybe all he needs is a second shot to cement his head coaching chops. He was a wayward Ryan Fitzpatrick pass from making the playoffs in his second season, and the club never recovered. But one knock on Bowles you never heard was that his players didn't bust their butts for him. NFL history is festooned with fabulous coaches who got canned in their first gigs, but it's also true that many coaches are meant to play the assistant, the second in command, more consigliere than Godfather.
Just look at today's gaggle of gridiron wingmen; Matt Patricia, Hue Jackson, Josh McDaniels, and Steve Spagnuolo, to name four, are just some championship-caliber assistant coaches whose leap from second-in-command to commander-in-chief wasn’t fruitful. Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is on the opposite side (as is perhaps Bucs OC Byron Leftwich), one of a handful of hot names considered future head coaches still waiting for a first shot.
Yet Super Bowl LV was coached by two former assistants: Bruce Arians, who waited 38 pro and college seasons for his first official head coaching gig, and Andy Reid, a man who is more than two decades into his head coaching life but waited 17 seasons to get to the first year.
We know most NFL head coaching jobs will be filled by former assistants, and with the dearth of minorities who are truly a part of the NFL's brass, you'd like to see Bowles, or at least someone of similar skin and skill, pacing the gridiron as head coach next year.
So what does last night mean? That Todd Bowles got hosed with the Jets? Not necessarily. Does last night prove he earned one of those 32 precious roles wearing the headset on an NFL sideline, where the buck stops and the bucks flow? Maybe.
Todd Bowles was quiet, humble, smart, and self-effacing. It doesn't mean he can be the full-time man for four months of a grueling NFL season. But Bowles proved this year, and this weekend, that he deserves another look.
Follow Jason Keidel on Twitter: @JasonKeidel
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