The Lions scheduled an interview with with Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to be their next head coach, but they canceled it without ever interviewing him. Bowles said today that he thinks the Lions were eager to hire Dan Campbell as their next head coach and didn’t want to wait for Bowles, who wouldn’t be able to be hired officially until after the Super Bowl.
“They canceled the interview,” Bowles said. “I never got to interview. I think they didn’t feel like waiting. They had their mind made up.”
Bowles said he has no hard feelings about the Lions hiring Campbell, who played for the Cowboys in 2005 when Bowles was an assistant coach in Dallas, and then was on the same staff with Bowles in Miami.
“Dan is a great coach and a great person,” Bowles said.
Bowles also said he thinks he got a fair shot during his four years as head coach of the Jets and doesn’t think he’s owed another shot. But he’d like that chance if it arrives, even if helping his team get to the Super Bowl actually makes it harder for him to become a head coach again.