Why Buccaneers' Todd Bowles was 'handcuffed' during 2022 season

Todd Bowles found himself in quite a unique situation during his first season serving as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

"With all the outside forces that came with it, you were kind of handcuffed a little bit," Bowles told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. "...We won the division. That’s No. 1. We didn’t play very well in the playoff game (against the Dallas Cowboys). I thought we were maxed out as a team, in all honesty. Even the year before when (former head coach Bruce Arians) left, we won off talent. We were just out there. We won off talent alone."

Quarterback Tom Brady retired in February 2022 but then confirmed in March he was returning for another season. Later that month, Arians surprisingly stepped down as head coach to become a senior consultant with the organization, a decision that resulted in Bowles making the move from defensive coordinator to Arians' previous position as Byron Leftwich remained the team's offensive coordinator. 

Arians hung around the Buccaneers as they won the NFC South division title with an 8-9 record. Shortly after Tampa Bay fell to Dallas 31-14 in the wild-card round of the playoffs, the Bucs parted ways with Leftwich and other assistants. Meanwhile, Brady retired "for good" in February after he endured a difficult season amid his divorce from Gisele Bündchen after 13 years of marriage.

Stroud added that Arians "has returned to his forever house in Georgia" ahead of the upcoming season. 

"You always love having Bruce around. It wasn’t a factor," Bowles insisted during his chat with Stroud. "The fact that you get the job so late, we were like two weeks away from the draft. The hay was in the barn. The system was set. The coaching staff was set. The players were practically set to report back. So it was hard."

Bowles and new offensive coordinator Dave Canales ultimately named free-agency signing Baker Mayfield as Brady's Week 1 replacement over 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask this summer. The Buccaneers enter their bye after Week 4 and theoretically could go to Trask during the break depending on how Mayfield plays through Oct. 1. 

"So this year, you get a chance to rebuild the culture and the chemistry and kind of get it right," Bowles explained. "You understand, even if you’ve been coaching together a long time, sometimes you agree to disagree."

Buccaneers players have embraced an "us against the world" mentality with many predicting the club will finish in the basement of the division standings. As of Tuesday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Bucs as the top underdogs at +1000 odds to claim the NFC South crown this season.