In what has been a stunning NFL offseason, there is yet another surprising story. Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, who coached the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-2017, is stepping away from his job as head coach and moving into the front office as a football coordinator.
The way things work out, the coaching staff will remain intact and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who also was on Arians’ staff in Arizona from 2013-2014, will succeed Arians as head coach.
It mattered to him that he leave his coaches in a good situation.
It is what he had hoped to do when he retired from coaching after the 2017 season with the Cardinals.
According to the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer, Arians regrets how things played out after his retirement. He wanted James Bettcher, then the defensive coordinator, to be promoted so that the staff could continue and so there would be continuity.
Instead, the Cardinals hired Steve Wilks as head coach, most of the assistants were let go and then they went 3-13 and the staff was fired again.
In Tampa, he gets to see his legacy continue through Bowles.
“[I don’t need to] win another 15 games for me to be happy,” Arians said, according to Farmer. “I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [bad] job. I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it in February because [if] Brady gets hurt and we go 10-7, it’s an open interview for the job.”
He decided to return after the Bucs were eliminated from the postseason and decided quickly so he did not leave his assistants hanging. But with Tom Brady returning after his own brief retirement, Bowles now inherits a team that is automatically a contender.
It is the perfect time to step away.
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