With all of the wild, rampant hypothesis as to why Bruce Arians stepped down as the top coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this week, it appears the media and followers have forgotten one thing that's regular protocol when a Tremendous Bowl-winning coach retires.
We forgot to have a good time him.
We forgot to commemorate him.
We forgot to say goodbye in a correct method.
So as a substitute of speculating as to why Arians is leaving as Tampa Bay’s coach, allow us to simply be grateful that he ever grew to become Tampa Bay’s coach within the first place.
Allow us to honor his legacy.
A legacy of profitable and grinning.
A legacy of affection and loyalty.
A legacy of inclusivity and variety.
Thanks, Bruce Arians, for all you probably did for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFL teaching occupation.
Allow us to begin with Tom Brady, who's now being portrayed as not solely the quarterback of the crew however the de facto normal supervisor, possession associate and, now, head coach, too. Due to the odd timing of Arians’ retirement (greater than two months after the season ended) approaching the heels of Brady’s even odder unretirement, the rumors and rumblings are that Brady clandestinely choreographed Arians’ departure.
Consider what you wish to consider about whether or not or not Brady pressured Arians to stroll the plank on the Buccaneers’ pirate ship, however make no mistake about this: Arians is the primary purpose Brady ever boarded the pirate ship.
Brady was enamored with Arians’ status as an offensive guru and quarterback whisperer; he cherished Arians’ fearless “no threat it, no biscuit” passing philosophy; he was intrigued with Arians’ status as a personable gamers’ coach who relishes having a few celebratory cocktails with the crew after victories. As Arians as soon as stated of his relationship together with his gamers: “I’m not a father determine. I’m the cool uncle you’d wish to have a drink with.”
Not like the inflexible, unbending, dictatorial Invoice Belichick, Arians was prepared to let Brady be Brady; have extra enter on the offense, the sport plan and, sure, personnel issues. He even let Brady discuss him into the signing of perpetual malcontent receiver Antonio Brown.
Arians took an apparent shot at Belichick in a dialog about Brady with NBC’s Peter King earlier than the Bucs received the Tremendous Bowl in 2021.
“I permit Tom to be himself,” Arians stated. “New England didn’t permit him to educate. I permit him to educate. I simply sit again typically and watch.”
Brady understandably will get the brunt of the credit score for coming to Tampa and instantly main the Bucs to their first playoff look in a dozen years and their first championship in 20 years. But it surely’s not simply coincidence that on the unprecedentedly superior age of 44 years previous, Brady is coming off two of his best statistical seasons. Don’t child your self, ol’ Buccaneer Bruce, the quarterback sage and offensive genius, has had a lot to do with Brady’s renaissance as one of many league’s elite passers.
The yr earlier than Brady got here to Tampa, he accomplished 61% of his passes for 4,057 yards and 24 touchdowns with the Patriots. Final season with the Bucs, he accomplished 68% and led the league with 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Though Arians was solely Tampa Bay’s coach for 3 seasons, he has the very best profitable proportion of any coach in Bucs historical past. Right here’s all it is advisable know: Arians recorded 5 playoff victories with the Bucs in his three seasons; within the 43 years earlier years earlier than his arrival, the franchise had a complete of simply six playoff victories.
And Arians didn’t simply win video games; be blazed trails within the course of. In these politically, racially, sexually divisive occasions when the NFL’s hiring (or lack thereof) of minority coaches has been put beneath the microscope, Arians didn’t want a Rooney Rule to do the precise factor. When he took over in Tampa Bay, the Bucs grew to become the one crew within the league with all-Black coordinators – offense, protection and particular groups. Not solely that, however the Bucs additionally grew to become the primary crew with two full-time feminine assistant coaches,
“Inclusivity and variety are nice methods to show,” Arians would say. “I imply, the extra enter you get from various kinds of voices, the higher output you get. The very first thing a participant asks a coach is, ‘How are you gonna make me higher?’ He doesn’t actually care if the reply comes from a male or feminine, Black, white, brown, yellow, who[ever]; he simply desires somebody to assist him get higher. Coaches are simply glorified lecturers. The very best lecturers I had have been all totally different races, all totally different ethnic teams, female and male. When you can educate, you possibly can coach.”
One of many causes Arians says he waited to retire is as a result of he wished to arrange his hand-picked alternative — defensive coordinator Todd Bowles — for achievement. Bowles, who performed for Arians at Temple and has coached with Arians on and off through the years, turns into one of many few Black males in NFL historical past to get a second likelihood as a head coach. Bowles was beforehand the top coach of the New York Jets from 2015-18, when he went 24-40.
Arians says when Brady made the stunning resolution to unretire a few weeks in the past then his resolution to retire grew to become “straightforward.” With Brady and lots of different key gamers again from final yr’s divisional-championship crew, Arians knew Bowles could be taking up a Tremendous Bowl contender.
“We’re in one of the best form we’ve ever been,” Arians stated. “There’s no higher time to move the torch then now. Plenty of folks have requested, ‘Why are you stepping away from an opportunity to win one other Tremendous Bowl and go to the Corridor of Fame?’ As a result of I don’t give a [expletive] concerning the Corridor of Fame. Succession is far more essential to me. This has been my dream for a very long time. Guys that know me, they know I wished one in every of my guys to take over. That’s extra essential to me than something.”
So lengthy, Bruce Arians.
Whether or not or not Tom Brady had something to together with your departure will all the time be a supply of debate, however there is no such thing as a debate about this:
You have been a helluva soccer coach, to not point out a tremendous mentor and pal to your gamers and assistants.
The pirate ship received’t be the identical with out you because the captain.
As one other nice pirate, Jimmy Buffett, as soon as sang:
“I wave bye bye,
I pray Godspeed,
I want you pretty climate,
Extra luck than you’ll want.”
E mail me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and hearken to my Open Mike radio present each weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2
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