As is so often the case, the mainstream media saw Sunday night’s 31-9 Super Bowl victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost solely as the result of Tom Brady going from the Patriots to a new team and winning yet another title. While there’s no question that Brady’s
performance was impressive, and his track record of now being on seven Super Bowl winning teams is unmatched, there were many other arguably more important stories that were either overlooked or underplayed in the wake of Brady getting another MVP award and Super Bowl title.
The first was the presence of Black coordinators. It was the first Super Bowl featuring Blacks in prominent roles for both teams as offensive coordinators with Byron Leftwich serving in that role for the Bucs and Eric Bieniemy making his second straight Super Bowl in charge of the Chiefs offense. In fact the Bucs also had former head coach Todd Bowles in charge of the defense as well, and that defense held Patrick Mahomes squad without a touchdown for the first time since he became a starter. The Chiefs were limited to three field goals.
The victory also made Bruce Arians the second oldest coach to win a Super Bowl at 68. Arians showed he was willing to hire Black and women coaches and put them in key roles. Arians also publicly wondered why neither Leftwich or Bowles got any interviews during the recent hiring period, something that may eventually lead to the NFL changing the rule regarding availability of of coaches. Currently coaches whose teams are still in the playoffs cannot be approached (at least legally) by other teams regarding openings. The fact that once more Bieniemy didn’t land a head coaching job while lesser qualified whites were being hired led KC head coach Andy Reid to publicly repeat his praise of his offensive coordinator and say he most certainly deserves to get a head job.
Another intriguing story was the career rebirth of kicker Ryan Succop, who until two years ago had been a reliable member of the Tennessee Titans. Then an injury-plagued and ineffective year led to his being cut. Succop rebounded very well this season with the Buccaneers and that continued into the Super Bowl as he provided the final points for his team. The Titans have had their problems with kickers the past couple of seasons, but Succop has shown once more he’s both reliable and consistent, though not blessed with the strongest leg.
Now that the Buccaneers are champions, it wil be interesting to follow the fortunes of Leftwich and Bowles. Will they eventually become candidates for head coaching spots and for that matter how much longer will both Brady and Arians remain with Tampa Bay. The city has now also become the new home of champions, with the Tampa Bay Lighting being the defending Stanley Cup title holders and the Tampa Bay Rays being defending American League champs in MLB.
