Todd Bowles Opens Up About Growing Up: “The Dream Initially Was To Survive”

Everyone knows Todd Bowles as the Bucs’ head coach, but what about Todd Bowles the person?

Fans do not get to see Bowles other than when he is on the sidelines keeping his cool, while the media gets to see him after practice during press conferences. Still, not many know what he is like away from the field — until now.

He recently shared more than he ever has during his recent “Rooted In Progress” interview on WFLA News Channel 8. Bowles shared more about his childhood in New Jersey, growing up around the game, and the unique way that he started his NFL career.

Todd Bowles Became “Very Well-Rounded” From An Early Age

Todd Bowles is not one to share many personal stories about himself, which made his recent interview that much more eye-opening. He first shared what it was like growing up in the 1970s in not the most ideal environment.

“I was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey,” Bowles said. “If you don’t know, it’s right next to Newark airport. They built a section in Newark that’s partly in Elizabeth. If you know anything about Elizabeth, our downtown and projects… we were probably one of the most feared projects around. We had the best athletes, we had the best drug dealers, we had the best in a little bit of everything. I am very well-rounded, not to say I did any of it, but I have seen a lot.”

To keep a young Todd Bowles away from the streets — and out of the house — his mother and siblings encouraged him to play sports.

“Football and baseball, they were my two sports,” Bowles added. “I played some basketball as well, but I got into sports because my mother said, ‘There’s too many of y’all in here, get out of the house and go outside and play.’ You go outside and play, I have two older brothers and an older sister, so they were playing and bringing me with them. My brother Lenny, my oldest brother, taught me how to play baseball and my cousin Curtis along with my brother Lenny taught me how to play football. I always played with the older guys; I always played up. That’s kind of how I learned it.”

When did he realize was better than most? Well, Bowles actually thought he would get his chance in baseball.

“I didn’t realize I was good in football until I was like a sophomore in college,” Bowles said. “I thought I was good in baseball, I thought I was going to be a baseball player. I knew I was a better baseball player than a football player. Football was my favorite team sport; baseball was my favorite individual sport.”

A full-circle moment of sorts came about earlier this year on the baseball diamond, as Bowles threw out the first pitch during a Yankees spring training game.

Turns out he is a southpaw.

As an NFL head coach, Bowles preaches communication between players and hopes changes made this offseason can lead to further improvement in that area this season. Building friendships is what he enjoyed most about his high school and college days.

“Just the guys and the people that I played with for the most part. We had a lot of fun with everything we did. You don’t know it at the time, but you’d love to have those moments back. The camaraderie with the teammates that I had. We had some of the funniest times on the bus and everything else so those are the things I remember most.”

Todd Bowles Reflects On College Days At Temple

After graduating from Elizabeth High School, Todd Bowles received several offers to play college football in 1982. He discussed why he chose Temple, which was as important of a spot as any throughout his life.

“My senior year [of high school], I started to get a couple of calls and a couple of offers,” Bowles said about when he realized he was good enough to continue his playing career. “Temple allowed me — it was Temple, Rutgers, West Virginia. I ended up picking to go to Temple. I was a wide receiver and a defensive back, so they recruited me as an athlete.

“When I got there, the defensive coordinator said, ‘You’re going on defense.’ That was that. I actually played corner my first two years before moving to safety. I was both in high school, but you play ball where you play ball. You learn corner, you know safety and vice versa so I just went with the flow.”

The connections Bowles forged at Temple have helped him succeed at his job decades later.

Bruce Arians and Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

For his last three seasons with the Owls, former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was his head coach. Current safeties coach Nick Rapone coached up Bowles on the field for his last two years, while cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross was someone he sat behind and watched when Ross was a cornerback himself. All of this prepared him for being ready for anything.

“Our corners coach Kevin Ross that works for the Bucs, I was actually playing behind him,” Bowles said about his college days. “He was an All-American corner. He played for the Chiefs and the Falcons; he played about 15 years in the league. He broke his ankle, and my redshirt freshman year they threw me in the game, and I got a pick all the way down to the 2-yard line. I was Player of the Week on the east coast, and I finished out the year at corner.

“When I came back the next year, we had two All-American corners because Kevin came back and the other one was on the other side, my roommate Anthony. I was the biggest of the three and they said, ‘You going to safety.’ So, I went to safety. It wasn’t until after that sophomore season when you start seeing your name in the paper and everything that you have a glimpse that you’re not that bad of a football player.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

During his four years at Temple, Bowles began putting himself on the map. He recorded seven interceptions across four seasons, and he was enough of an athlete to move across the defensive backfield. Still, he went undrafted entering the league.

He reflected on an injury he suffered that affects him to this day.

“Going into my senior year, I was already an honorable mention All-American,” Bowles said. “I made All-East and everything else and I dislocated six out of seven bones in training camp. I had a cast and three pins in my wrist. I missed the first five or six games, and I played the rest of the season in a cast with my left hand. When I finished, the doctors told me I would never play again because I couldn’t — I still can’t to this day bend my left wrist all the way back.

“I went to the combine, which was in New Orleans at the time. I couldn’t bench press because I couldn’t do 225. I couldn’t even do a pushup. Who wants to draft a one-armed safety?”

Todd Bowles Shares A Crazy Story About How He Signed His First NFL Contract

Turns out, a lot of teams inquired about bringing Todd Bowles in for tryouts. Of them all, he felt the best fit would be with the then-Redskins. At the time, they were coming off a 10-6 season led by Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs. Entering 1986 though, they lost quarterback Joe Theismann to a career-ending injury and saw Hall of Fame running back John Riggins. That did not stop Washington from having success when Bowles entered the fold.

“I had about 12 calls for free agent tryouts and Washington was a place I thought I at least had a shot,” Bowles said. “I really hated the Redskins growing up because half of the people I went to school with were from Maryland and DC. Washington called me and they flew me down on the plane and I went in the office to meet [head coach] Joe Gibbs.

“When I met him, I said, ‘Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.’ They flew me down in a crop-duster. I don’t like to fly so I went into the bathroom, and I vomited. I went into Joe Gibbs’ bathroom, I vomited, and I came back out and I signed with them.”

Not many players are flying to tryouts in crop-dusters today, but it’s safe to say it paid off for both sides. Bowles played in 11 games in spot duty in 1986 before becoming a full-time starter in 1987. That year the Redskins won the Super Bowl, when he was the starting free safety and recorded a career-high four interceptions.

Although there was doubt that Bowles would make the team much less be an impactful part of a Super Bowl-winning team, he never looked back when he got his opportunity and made the most of it.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The Philadelphia Inquirer in training camp did a story every day up until the day I was supposed to get cut,” Bowles said. “I never got cut and I never looked back. I taped my wrist up and eight years later I put in a bunch of time in the league.”

Now reflecting on those times more than 30 years later, Todd Bowles realizes he did not have much of a choice. Circumstances forced him to succeed, and it is safe to say that he has.

“The dream initially was to survive and not have to depend on your parents. You know you’re on your own, so the dream was — I didn’t have a dream, I didn’t have a choice. My only option was to succeed.”

Now he will be looking to complete one of the last things on his list, and that is be the head coach of a Super Bowl-winning team.