TAMPA. Fla. — In retrospect, his stay here was incredibly brief. It may not seem that way because it was chronicled in frenzied Twitter time, but Bruce Arians’ tenure as Bucs coach was barely three years long.
That’s shorter than the Sam Wyche era in Tampa Bay. Shorter than that of Ray Perkins, too. It was hardly enough time for us to learn his preferred drink — Crown Royal — but it turned out to be long enough to lure Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown and Ndamukong Suh to town.
It was long enough to break the franchise record for scoring three years in a row and long enough to play nearly a dozen games in prime time.
It also was long enough to end a dozen years of pointless and pathetic football in Tampa Bay with a resounding victory in Super Bowl 55.
Of course, you already knew that. But it bears repeating this morning, because it feels as if Arians’ legacy around here has already been diminished. Ghosted, if you will.
His supposed falling-out with Brady, followed by an abrupt retirement and hard-to-swallow explanation for it, has overshadowed his supernova-like impact in what had been an NFL wasteland. Instead of re-examining the glory, we — and that includes me — preferred to dwell in the gossip.
And maybe that’s how it had to be. After all, it’s not every day that a legendary quarterback half-heartedly retires, immediately teases about a comeback, sashays around a whisper campaign about his apparent dissatisfaction with the head coach, unretires and then — conveniently — makes a grinning cameo at the head coach’s sudden retirement announcement.
When you look at it that way, it’s no small wonder that the world didn’t have time to put Arians’ career in proper perspective.
So here goes:
Arians deserves his spot in the Bucs’ Ring of Honor, which was announced during his retirement news conference. He deserves to be lumped alongside Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay history, despite having barely half the number of wins. He deserves to be remembered as a champion for diversity in the NFL and as one of the most entertaining and outspoken coaches of his generation.
He may even, sometime down the road, deserve recognition in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That was one of the storylines when Arians abruptly stepped down less than two weeks ago. Here was a coach on the cusp of 100 career wins, a possible second Super Bowl win as a head coach and a chance to round out his Hall of Fame candidacy, and instead he voluntarily walks away?
In typical bombastic fashion, Arians dismissed the Hall of Fame as any motivation whatsoever.
“A number of people have already asked, why are you stepping away from the chance to go to the Hall of Fame and win another Super Bowl?” Arians said during his news conference. “I don’t give a s—t about the Hall of Fame.”
That, of course, is an exaggeration, if not an outright falsehood. It felt like a pained attempt to continue pushing the this-had-nothing-to-do-with-Brady narrative.
There is no doubt Arians would be thrilled to be immortalized with a bust in Canton. And it may still be possible despite his premature exit from the sidelines.
Consider his resume alongside that of Jimmy Johnson, who was elected to the Hall in 2020. Both had brief careers as NFL head coaches, with Johnson at nine years and Arians eight. Johnson had more playoff appearances (six to four) but Arians had a better winning percentage (.624 to .563).
Johnson won two Super Bowls and one coach of the year award. Arians won one Super Bowl and two coach of the year awards. Arians also had a long, distinguished career as an assistant, winning two other Super Bowls and helping groom Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, as well as being a pioneer in the hiring of minority assistants and coordinators. He also has the highest career winning percentage of any coach in Arizona and Tampa Bay.
So there it is. Decide for yourself.
But before you do, remember what One Buc Place was like before Arians arrived. He brought confidence, he brought direction, he brought a sense of unity. He brought swagger, he brought an offense, he brought Brady.
And yes, it’s true, the quarterback was probably more important than the coach in the grand scheme of things. Which would explain why the Glazer family sided with Brady if this was, indeed, some small power play between the two.
But don’t let that diminish all that Arians accomplished in a remarkably short stay in Tampa Bay.
He came, he laughed, he led.
And, by God, we all won.
