Tom Brady’s retirement means the Bucs will “lose aura” in 2023, admits coach Todd Bowles as he opens up about losing the iconic QB after he finally called it off a day earlier this year at the age of 45.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles has opened up about his efforts to replace the irreplaceable after legendary quarterback Tom Brady retired earlier this year at age 45.
Brady finally called it off in February, insisting it was for good this time, after the Bucs were beaten in the playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys.
Bowles and the Bucs hired Baker Mayfield to help fill the void, but the coach admitted he’s building a team for a new era after losing the greatest player the game has ever seen.
“When you replace a player of that magnitude, you don’t replace him in the first place,” Bowles told NFL.Com on Sunday. ‘You lose aura. You lose the expectation of being great.
That doesn’t mean you can’t be great. You just have to do it more as a team. We did it as a team when he was there, but he was a great player and a great person that you focus on.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles opened up about the shock of losing Tom Brady
Brady retired from the NFL this year after the Bucs lost to the Cowboys in the playoffs.
‘And now that that’s gone, the perception is that everything else is gone when in reality it’s not.
‘We have a lot of good players on our team on both sides of the ball. We have a few pieces to fill in, but we have a lot of good soccer players on our team.
“And we just have to understand that and not go with the so-called external narrative and do what we have to do to win ballgames.”
Bowles also spoke positively about Mayfield, who joined the Bucs on a one-year, $4 million contract.
“I liked Baker when he was coming out,” Bowles said of the decision to pursue the former No. 1 overall pick.
‘He has a great understanding of the game of football. He knows where to go with football. And he has moxie. He is a boy’s boy. Players love to be around him and will fight for him because he is a winner.
“He’s won on a lot of different levels, so you like that about him coming in. I thought the way we were trying to run our offense this year, the style of offense we were trying to run, I thought it fit the bill.” for it.
“So between him and Kyle Trask, I have no doubt one of them will go out and succeed.”
Brady won the Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2021, his seventh and final title in the game.
Baker Mayfield has arrived at QB for the Bucs and has vowed to put his own stamp on the team.
Mayfield himself said he wants to bring his own style to the Bucs and not try to copy Brady, who won his seventh and final Super Bowl with the team in 2021.
He said at his inauguration: ‘Listen, I’m never going to be Tom Brady. There’s a reason he’s won so many Super Bowls. He is the greatest of all time.
No doubt about that. I’m not going to try to be Tom. I’m going to be me. That’s what has brought me to this point.
“We will do it differently, but that is what makes this league so special. Everyone puts their own touch on it.