Todd Bowles hilariously downplays being "hero" to Eagles fans with Tush Push

There are a lot of reasons to believe the city of Philadelphia will hold current Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles close to their hearts.

Bowles was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia. It would take him nearly 30 years to return to the City of Brotherly Love, where he would become the secondary coach for the Eagles in 2012.

Many Eagles will remember (or try to forget) 2012, as that was Andy Reid's final year as head coach, when the team finished with a 4-12 record after a 3-1 start. At the time, defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was fired mid-season, and Bowles took over as the interim. While he wasn't able to turn things around, that experience actually helped him land his first NFL defensive coordinator job with the Arizona Cardinals the next year.

More importantly, though, Bowles and the Buccaneers played a critical role in the offseason to save the Eagles' Tush Push. Tampa Bay was one of 10 teams that voted to keep the play in place, which was enough to prevent the proposal to ban the play from being approved.

Bowles won't ever call himself a hero for what he did

While many Eagles fans will be indebted to Bowles for that, he wouldn't say that at all. At Bowles' press conference, he was asked about being considered a "hero" in Philadelphia for his role in saving the Tush Push, and he hilariously refuted that claim.

“I think the only place I might be a hero at is Ishkabibble’s down on South Street. Other than that, it's a good play, it's a creative play for them, and we got to get better on defense just to be creative to stop them.”

Since taking over as the head coach of the Buccaneers in 2022, Bowles and his team have had pretty good success against the Eagles. He is 2-1 against Philly, with the Buccaneers winning the last two matchups by double digits.

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While Philly won't forget what he did, they certainly hope Bowles forgets about how to win against the Eagles on Sunday.