Rutgers lands 2021 DB Bowles Jr., son of former Jets HC Todd Bowles
After landing seven preferred walk-on commitments this past January, Rutgers Football continued that trend into February as they landed a verbal commitment from Florida defensive back Todd Bowles Jr.
The 6-foot, 190-pound safety prospect used to play for Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey a few years back before his family made the move down to Florida to follow his father Todd Bowles Sr., who is the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the past year and a half plus, Bowles Jr. has been playing for Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.
He will now head back to the Northeast to play his college football for the Scarlet Knights over the next 4-5 seasons.
“I chose Rutgers because I have a lot of family over there,” Bowles Jr. told TKR. “You get a good mix of academics and athletics there. Plus I already liked the school a lot, but after talking to the coaches and checking out the campus I ended up liking it even more. It just seems like a place I will fit in at."
"I spoke a lot with coach (Joe) Susan during the process. His message to me was that they are going to treat me like family and told me about the family atmosphere. He also told me to be ready to work."
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Bowles Jr. had the luxury of already knowing two of his future teammates, as he is already pretty close to the Young brothers because their fathers were college roommates back during their playing days at Temple.
“I’m very close to Avery and Aaron Young,” said Bowles Jr. “I grew up with the two of them. They’ve been telling me about how it’s a good program, you have to work and compete. They basically just told me it’s a great place to go and that everyone there treats you like family.”
Now that Todd Bowles Jr. is committed, he hopes to have his younger brother, Troy Bowles join him and play for the Scarlet Knights too.
"I hope I can convince him," Bowles Jr. said. "He's still undecided, but now that I'm decided hopefully that'll give him some more motivation. I think that him and other guys should definitely know that Rutgers is a great place to go to school. The campus is real nice and you'll earn a great degree.”
As mentioned before Bowles is the son of former New York Jets head coach and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles Sr. The younger Bowles has learned quite a bit from his dad over the years and credits him for his success.
"My dad has made a huge impact on me," he said. "I'm his biggest fan and he's somebody that I look up too. He's helped me with a lot of things throughout my life not just football, but everything."
Super Bowl LI is all set to take place this weekend and with Bowles Jr's father set to coach in the game, it's pretty obvious who he is rooting for.
"That's a tough one," said Bowles Jr. "I'm going to have to go with the Bucs on this one. I think we can definitely pull it off."