Cons: Bowles coached the Jets from 2015-18 and they were bad. He accumulated a 24-40 record in four full seasons. After that the question begs to be asked, is Bowles one of those guys who is only good as a coordinator? The world may never know until he gets another shot as a head coach.
As well-traveled as Bowles is, who knows which coaches he’ll hire to fill his staff. Chan Gailey was his offensive coordinator in New York, and the Miami Dolphins recently fired him. Would you trust him to fix Carson Wentz or develop Jalen Hurts after the Fins decided he wasn’t the guy to coach up Tua Tagovailoa? I don’t think so.
This isn’t to say Gailey and Bowles are a packaged deal, but no one knows who will come along with him. Say Bowles finds the next hottest guy: a Brian Daboll-type, he’ll just be poached away in a few years leaving the team in dire need of a new, good offensive coordinator. It doesn’t seem like a recipe for success when the quarterback room is already in shambles. They need stability more than anything.
In conclusion: He’s a damn fine defensive coordinator, has a ton of connections to successful coaches but the jury’s still out on if he’ll be a good head coach the second time around.