And please, if you can, shy away from any sarcasm, ideally I'd like to get a host of opinions from our fan base in regard to our current head coach. Personally speaking I'm unconvinced Bowles is the man to lead this re-build/transition, and I'm not even certain he has the chops to be an NFL leading man anywhere as he strikes me more being suited to a coordinator - at best. As a 'face' for a franchise he comes off as woefully weak in his press conferences and in his overall demeanor -- and his ability to inspire as a head coach is more than suspect to this point. I don't like what I perceive to being a lack of accountability, for a recent example, his cavalier attitude he expressed for players being late to meetings and such. I want to like this guy, I want to believe he can become a good head coach...at this point however I feel like Bowles may be holding the program back, more a problem than anything resembling being a part of the solution. Thanks guys.
I know, over half of the threads on the first page are from the same guy. 7...noone else has more than 2. Trying to rack up the thread count.
Buffalo, Week 17. I will never get over it. There are a lot of other issues with Bowles but that one sums up everything about him. I started not to like him during the Giants game, we came out flat and I started to recognize that as a trend. Luckily Fitz had the comeback of his life and I will forever love Brandon Marshall for making that TD catch, but that's when I saw things were not good. Week 17 was a crushing way to end a really magical season. I really felt that was a special year and I think the magic happened in spite of Todd Bowles not because of him. I'm not saying we could have won the superbowl that year but it would have been nice to go on a little run in the playoffs. This guy will not bring us anywhere, I can't wait til he is gone.
Pretty much what you said. He is not a presence, and he seems either apathetic or, I hate to say it, emasculated.
First, what happened to your "All sunshine, all the time in Jetland" attitude? Nice to see some realism from you for a change. As to what my problem is with Bowles? Nothing, personally, but he's not qualified to be a HC. Maybe someday, like BB, he'll become one, but now, definitely not, and it was a big mistake to have not fired him at the end of the season for all the reasons I and others have given many times in the past. My only hope is that the new coaches really make a big difference, because Bowles won't.
Excellent post. The big problem I see is that he is not fit for the job. He is a not a leader, he cannot manage a locker room, very poor in-game decisions (punt v. go for it, two-point conversions, etc.), constantly makes absurd comments during interviews (like understanding and not penalizing lateness to meetings) which set a poor example, too loyal to washed-out vets (Fitz, Revis), and he has no long-term vision for the team. As I have posted before, his stupid grin (face of the franchise, as you write) that he always sports makes me believe he is like the last kid to make the cut for the varsity football team-- he is just happy to be there, and if he never gets in the game or the team loses, who cares? In football, as in life, you should want people who hate to lose. Nobody likes to lose, but many people don't mind losing and rationalize that they did the best they could, so the rest was out of their hands. Bowles does not strike me as a person who hates to lose--he seems happy to have just made the team.
The main problem with Bowles? Where to start. It appears he's got a few issues...on & off the field. Poor clock management has bitten us in the ass a few times. So has his proclivity to chase points. In game adjustments are non-existent. Coming out flat to start games. Really flat. I think that comes partially from his demeanor and seeming lack of fire. Landry was quiet, but he carried a big stick. Bowles is too mellow and the players don't seem to respect or fear him. Even when we went 10-5 under him the problems were glaringly obvious. I believed we were going to improve as he got used to the position of head coach, but his second year was worse. But I think his main problem is his inability to motivate players. I believe he's one of those managers that was a self starter as a player and thinks that all players are the same way. They're not...sometimes a player needs a swift kick in the ass to perform. This season will decide if Todd Bowles is up to the task. If he doesn't improve drastically he should go back to being a D coordinator. No shame in that. There's been lots of coaches that couldn't make the jump to HC.
Hey look another "let's bitch about Bowles" thread. That's original. I think Bowles gets way too much of the blame for last year. I'm looking for him to improve his game plans and halftime adjustments. The rest is just drama and speculation.
my biggest issue with bowles is he couldn't keep fitz's clock from striking midnight. but then no coach has
He is going to graduate the Stanley H Kaplan Head Football Coaches Crash Review Course before the Seasons Kicks off Hmmm... lets see where that gets him
Mr. "Awe Shucks" has the same problem Rex had...he holds no one accountable. I don't want to hear about " he suspended Richardson & Wilk for a qtr for being late to a meeting", wtf is that supposed to do. When you have a locker room that is in disarray, as has been widely reported, and you have VETERANS setting poor examples by being late to meetings, you have to make an example of someone. You CANNOT say things like "people are late everyday in life, it happens"...that just shows that this guy is WEAK and the inmates are running the asylum. Add to that his on field coaching blunders and I can only draw the conclusion that THIS GUY HAS TO GO !
He's still a young head coach. Still learning. Not making any excuses for the man but not too many head coaches would've had success under the type of (less than ideal) QB situations in which he's been birthed into. With that said, I'd just like to see a little fire out of him on the sidelines. Also with this upcoming season I'd like to see major improvement in regards to situational decision making.
I dislike Bowles because he cannot make an adjustment at all. He get's a game planned and never once corrects what the other team is doing. I also dislike his handling of the team locker room. He should shutdown whatever was going on last year right away. That means the players don't respect him either.
I'm sorry, but imo you are making excuses. There's no excuse for not holding players accountable. There's no excuse for not having the team prepared and ready to play each week. There's no excuse for not disciplining the team and having control of the locker room. There's little or no excuse for not handling game situations better and the clock better. I don't care who the QB is, the team can be focused, play hard, smart and tough, and not beat itself with stupid penalties, mental errors and sloppy play. There's no excuse for making many of the same mistakes (ignoring the offense in the draft, practices, etc., and think that one can win on defense alone) as your predecessor. Bowles may be a man of high character, but he obviously isn't very smart, isn't a very good HC, and he's severely lacking in passion, fire and leadership skills.
Tough choice between: Doesn't hold veterans accountable for bad play. Piss poor time management that has cost us games. Doesn't know how to make adjustments mid-game.
I don't have the same confidence you do that he is still learning, at least not in the basics of running an operation. This may be his first head coaching job but he has been around the game as a player, coach and coordinator long enough to have learned some basics from the coaches he's worked with. I sincerely doubt that he has ever met a successful coach with the same lackadaisical attitude with respect to the simple things in football, as in almost anything in adult life. Things like showing up on time and showing up ready to go to work. And when he has exhibited that lackadaisical attitude at the outset he has failed to correct the problems when the situation calls for it. Surely he must have been involved with coaches who were capable of making effective adjustments - shouldn't he have learned something from them?
I don't even think he was all that good a defensive coordinator to be honest. Clock management is an issue, but that effects a lot of guys...even really good coaches have some horrible clock brain farts (Andy Reid). But the locker room was in total disarray this year, he doesn't make proper in game adjustments, the teams lack fire or urgency it seems. He is out-coached pretty much always. There is a lack of accountability all around. The players don't seem to respect or fear or really play for him. They up and quit quite often this season. I think he's a good guy, though guy, well meaning, but he doesn't have it in him to be a good NFL head coach. After this year he'll go back to being another disposable assistant. He's supposed to be a secondary guy right? I don't see it. Especially last year...and despite the injuries how about coaching up some guys and scheming your way to competency. But it completely fell apart.
