TAMPA, Fla. -- Former New York Jets coach Todd Bowles joined mentor Bruce Arians as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ' defensive coordinator, the team announced.
Bowles landed with Tampa Bay despite a strong push by the Chicago Bears, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Josina Anderson on Wednesday.
When Arians' hiring was announced by the Buccaneers on Tuesday, it was believed that Bowles would be joining Tampa Bay, despite no assistants or coordinators being formally announced and Bowles not signing a contract.
The hiring of Vic Fangio by the Denver Broncos on Wednesday suddenly created a vacancy at Chicago's defensive coordinator position. Bears coach Matt Nagy's father was Bowles' high school coach, while Bowles played under Arians at Temple and was Arians' defensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-14.
Sources told Mortensen that the Buccaneers had been working out off-set language on Bowles' contract with the Jets before the agreement was finalized.
Arians addressed Bowles' addition during an appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show" on Wednesday.
"He's like a son to me," Arians said of Bowles. "We're really excited to be back together."
Arians also confirmed that Byron Leftwich and Harold Goodwin will be on the Tampa Bay staff.
"Byron Leftwich will be calling the plays," said Arians, who had a number of health-related issues throughout his coaching career. "I'll obviously have a big hand in it and be on there with him. But I trained Harold Goodwin and Byron Leftwich the last few years to handle that job, and I feel very, very comfortable with them."