Todd Bowles to join Tampa Bay Buccaneers as defensive coordinator

TAMPA, Fla. — Previous New York Jets mentor Todd Bowles joined mentor Bruce Arians as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ‘ defensive coordinator, the workforce declared.

Bowles landed with Tampa Bay regardless of a potent press by the Chicago Bears, sources instructed ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Josina Anderson on Wednesday.

When Arians’ hiring was declared by the Buccaneers on Tuesday, it was believed that Bowles would be signing up for Tampa Bay, regardless of no assistants or coordinators staying formally declared and Bowles not signing a deal.

The hiring of Vic Fangio by the Denver Broncos on Wednesday suddenly developed a vacancy at Chicago’s defensive coordinator situation. Bears mentor Matt Nagy’s father was Bowles’ superior school mentor, though Bowles played below Arians at Temple and was Arians’ defensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-14.

Resources instructed Mortensen that the Buccaneers experienced been working out off-set language on Bowles’ deal with the Jets right before the arrangement was finalized.

Arians resolved Bowles’ addition during an look on “The Loaded Eisen Clearly show” on Wednesday.

“He is like a son to me,” Arians reported of Bowles. “We’re definitely enthusiastic to be back alongside one another.”

Arians also verified that Byron Leftwich and Harold Goodwin will be on the Tampa Bay personnel.

“Byron Leftwich will be contacting the plays,” reported Arians, who experienced a number of health-similar challenges during his coaching job. “I will obviously have a major hand in it and be on there with him. But I trained Harold Goodwin and Byron Leftwich the very last number of yrs to manage that career, and I feel extremely, extremely snug with them.”