The Buccaneers' 2022 offseason has been unpredictable, to say the least. Tom Brady's retirement created a pall of uncertainty around the team. Forty days after that, he changed his mind. At that point, it was a sumed that Tampa Bay would be running it back with largely the same core that helped it earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC last season.Instead, the Buccaneers stunned the NFL as another key member of the organization retired. This time, it was coach Bruce Arians.Arians, 69, announced that he would be stepping down from his head coaching post on Wednesday night. He will move into a front-office role with the team instead.MORE: The decision on its own isn't a major shock. Arians has retired before, after all Azeez Ojulari Jersey , first calling it quits after the 2017 NFL season with the Cardinals. The surprise was more about the timing of this decision.Some have speculated that Brady rumored to have had a rift with Arians at the end of their time together could have played a role in Arians stepping down. However, the veteran coach has insisted that this was all part of his plan to give Todd Bowles a chance for real succe s at the NFL level."I really began thinking about my personal transition plan earlier this offseason. I wanted to ensure when I walked away that Todd Bowles would have the best opportunity to succeed," . "So many head coaches come into situations where they are set up for failure, and I didn't want that for Todd."Tom Brady'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 pa s the torch to Todd."Bowles, 58, has previous head coaching experience with the Jets. His four-year tenure there didn't go particularly Blake Martinez Jersey well. Can he avoid the same pitfalls that tripped him up in New York? It looks like he will have a great chance to find succe s with the Buccaneers.MORE: Bowles served as the head coach of the Jets for four seasons from 2015 through 2018. The Jets performed very well in his first season there, vastly exceeding expectations.The Jets went 10-6 in 2015 with Ryan Fitzpatrick serving as the team's primary starting quarterback. Fitzpatrick threw for a career-high 3,905 yards and 31 touchdowns while working with top receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. The team had both a top-10 offense and defense as a result of Bowles' work, but they just barely mi sed out on the playoffs.Still, Bowles did enough to establish himself as an up-and-coming coach, so expectations were high for him heading into his second year. However, things went downhill from there instead.The Jets' offense regre sed significantly from Bowles' first year to his second year, as Fitzpatrick went back to being a low-end, volatile starter. More problematic was the team's defensive regre sion, as the pa s-rush duo of Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson, produced just 5.5 combined sacks a year after producing 18.New York finished 5-11 in Bowles' second year, and it never bounced back. The Jets would go 5-11 and 4-12 in 2017 and 2018 respectively as their offense slumped toward being a bottom-five unit while their defense became a bottom-10 unit.Below are Bowles' overall stats and ranks from his coaching career with the Jets.YearRecordTotal offenseScoring offenseTotal defenseScoring defense201510-610th11th4th9th20165-1126th30th11th28th20175-1128th24th25th22nd20184-1229th23rd25th29thOn its surface, Bowles' overall record of 24-40 would inspire little hope for Buccaneers fans. That said, it's important to note that Bowles faced some obstacles with the Jets that he simply won't face in Tampa Bay.MORE: Bowles may have had his share of i sues with the Jets, but he shouldn't have the same problems with the Buccaneers New York Giants Pet Gear . Why? Tampa Bay's roster is significantly more talented than anything that the Jets had from 2015-18, at quarterback.Tom Brady will serve as an enormous difference-maker for the Buccaneers. The Jets' offense struggled with Bowles as their head coach, but it would have been extremely difficult for any coach to succeed with the parade of quarterbacks that the Jets rolled out during Bowles' tenure.Ryan Fitzpatrick; Geno Smith; Bryce Petty; Josh McCown; Sam Darnold. These are the guys that Bowles had to entrust as his quarterbacks during his time with the Jets. They are almost entirely backup players. Now, Bowles will get to work with Tom Brady, who is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.Talk about an upgrade.It's also worth noting that the Buccaneers have a proven up-and-comer at the offensive coordinator spot in Byron Leftwich. Brady has a strong rapport with Leftwich, who interviewed for head coaching jobs during the offseason and was the presumed favorite for the Jaguars' job .As such, Bowles will have stability at the offensive coordinator spot, at least until Leftwich gets a head coaching job. Stability is something Bowles hasn't had on offense before; he had three different offensive coordinators during his four years with the Jets: Chan Julian Love Jersey Gailey, John Morton and Jeremy Bates. None found succe s.The other major advantage for Bowles this season will be his connection to the Buccaneers' players and staff. They are already intimately familiar with one another and have been since Bowles was brought aboard in 2019. The team has had little turnover on either side of the ball since their Super Bowl win thanks to shrewd work by general manager Jason Licht. That existing chemistry will play a role in making the team an instant contender.Of course, Bowles will need to improve on some of the shortcomings that showed during his time with the Jets. Notably, he needs to wisely pick and choose when and where to blitz, as he can get a bit blitz-happy at times. We recently saw that happen in the 2022 NFL playoffs against the Rams, as Bowles called an untimely all-out blitz that his defense failed to execute.COOP. AT THE 10 YARD LINE. WOW.: on NBC: NFL (@NFL) So, there are areas in which Bowles can improve. And with the proper tools, he should be able to do just that.The Buccaneers have given Bowles those tools.The reigns Arians is turning over to Bowles are those of a ready-made contender. Bowles should have a fairly easy path to his first playoff appearance as a head coach given that the Buccaneers are far and away the best team in the NFC South.Suffice to Kadarius Toney Jersey say, Arians was true to his word.He has helped position Bowles for succe s and now, the talented defensive coach will get to show what he can do with control of a high-end roster.
