Bowles plans to be in the stands to watch his son, Todd Bowles Jr., play for Long Island University when Florida football hosts LIU in its season opener on Saturday at The Swamp (7 p.m., SEC Network+).

A Tampa Bay Jesuit grad, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Bowles Jr., began his college career at Rutgers before transferring to LIU in 2022. Bowles Jr. appeared in one game for LIU last season, making two tackles against TCU. He plays defensive back, like his father, who played seven seasons with the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers (1986-93) before going on to a coaching career that has included head coaching stints with the New York Jets (2015-18) and Buccaneers (2022-present).

It’s rare that Bowles gets to see his son play due to the NFL-college football crossover. It worked out since the Bucs don’t have a preseason game this weekend before their season-opener on Sept. 7 at the Atlanta Falcons. The Florida Gators opted to host LIU, an FCS opponent, to start the 2025 season after facing power four conference teams in openers in each of the last three seasons (Utah in 2022 and 2023 and Miami in 2024).