Two years ago, the Bears needed a coordinator to inherit the best defense in football.
They thought they had the perfect candidate, too: former Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who’d known Matt Nagy since the Bears head coach was a baby. Bowles was familiar with chairman George McCaskey and Ryan Pace, too, having interviewed for the Bears’ head coaching vacancy that went to John Fox.
One problem: the Buccaneers’ Bruce Arians, Bowles’ mentor since he played for him at Temple, was assembling a staff to take to Tampa Bay and wanted Bowles to go with him.
Bowles stuck with Arians. Two years later, he’s in the Super Bowl.
The Bears are onto another defensive coordinator. Sean Desai took over last month when Chuck Pagano retired following two underwhelming seasons.
“Me and Matt are good friends,” Bowles said Monday. “We talk a lot anyway. We had a conversation [about the job]. Obviously it entailed the whole family and everything else. We remain good friends to this day … Hopefully one day we can work together again.”
Arians said he sold Bowles on everything from the Bucs’ front office to Tampa’s climate to his plans for the team.
“He had a bunch of opportunities,” Arians said. “And I think our relationship from the past had something to do with it.”
Bowles’ defense has emerged as one of the most aggressive in the NFL. The Buccaneers’ 25 takeaways tied for fourth-most in the NFL. Only four teams had more sacks than their 48 during the regular season, and none have more than their seven in the postseason.
“I think that’s what sets him apart: he’s willing to put guys in positions to make plays,” defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh said. “Versus, ‘Really, this is my defense. This is the way you need to run it. Either you fit into it or don’t fit into it.’”
Nagy’s dad Bill was Bowles’ defensive line coach at Elizabeth (N.J.) High School. Matt Nagy was 3 when Bowles graduated and left for Temple, where Arians would serve as head coach from 1983-88.
Bowles — who would coach alongside Matt Nagy on the 2012 Eagles — smiled when laying out the differences between the Nagy men.
“Matt’s dad was a screamer and a yeller — almost like [late wrestler] Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage … ” Arians said. “He never came to work not wired up. Matt’s completely the opposite.”
