Last week, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles completed his requirements for a bachelor of science in youth and community development from Mount St. Mary’s University.

Bowles began his studies in 2020 during the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl-winning season. The 58-year-old attended Temple University until 1985, before he entered the NFL.

Thirty-seven years later, Bowles finally came through on his promise to his mother.

“As a coach, I don’t think I can use it very much,” Bowles said about his degree. “As a father, it’s a good time to get it because I have a sophomore at Rutgers, and I have one that’s a senior now and one that’s in sixth grade. So, just getting that hopefully helps them get theirs, and they can do something with it. For me, it was a personal thing as far as a promise I made to my mother before she passed that I would go back and get it. Sometimes life gets in the way, and things come up, and you finally put your foot down, and you try and do it. So, it’s something that I just did.”

Bowles got his degree while working full-time as an NFL coach, which wasn’t easy.

“It’s tough, it’s tough,” Bowles said of working full-time and going to school. “I get to work early, do some work early, listen to some podcasts early, do some online stuff early, then do a little bit late and you make the best of it.”

While Bowles got his degree later in life, he recommends that people get their degrees as early as possible.

“I think you need to get [a degree] early as possible so you can do something with it – but at the same time, for the people that go back and get it, it’s a sense of personal accomplishment, and hopefully, it gives someone hope that it’s never too late,” Bowles said. “You’d rather get it earlier than later, but better to get it when you can.”

Bowles plans to attend the commencement ceremony in May 2023.