While earlier in the week team president Rod Wood suggested the Detroit Lions’ head coaching search was nearing an end, with all of their likely candidates already scheduled for an interview, it appears the Lions aren’t quite done yet.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Lions have put in a request to interview Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles for their head coaching position. No interview has been set up yet, as Detroit will not be able to interview Bowles after the Bucs’ Wild Card game against the Washington Football Team on Saturday, but the request has been placed.
Bowles is another longtime NFL coach who has an extensive history on the defensive side of the ball. He started as a secondary coach with the Jets and got his first taste of head coaching in 2011 as the Dolphins interim head coach following the firing of Tony Sparano. A few years later, he got his chance at the real thing, taking over for Rex Ryan as the head coach of the 2015 New York Jets. He got off to a hot start, getting the team to 10-6 in his first season. However, in the following three seasons he never won more than five games and was promptly let go after 2018.
Still, Bowles is a respected defensive mind, who has done a good job in Tampa as the team’s defensive coordinator. Interestingly enough, this won’t be the first time Bowles interviews for the Lions head coaching job. In 2009, he was a finalist for the job before losing out to Jim Schwartz.
For all of the latest head coach rumors around the NFL check out our 2021 carousel tracker.