Bruce Arians, who coached the Tampa Buccaneers to a Super Bowl LV win just over a year ago, is stepping down as the team’s head coach. Todd Bowles, the ex-New York Jets head coach and current Tampa Bay defensive coordinator, is going to take over for Arians.
Arians’ decision, first reported by NBC’s Peter King, means he’s going to move into into what he told King was a “senior consultant for football” in the Buccaneers organization. He told King he was stepping away now because he wanted a clean line of succession with the job.
“I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [crappy] job,” Arians said. “I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So, I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it next February because [Tom] Brady gets hurt, we go 10-7, and it’s an open interview for the job … I got 31 [coaches and their] families that depend on me. My wife is big on not letting all those families down.”
The 69-year-old Arians also said that Brady’s decision to unretire did not have an impact on his decision.
“No,” Arians said, per King. “No. Tom was very in favor of what I’m doing. I mean, I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him. Great relationship off the field.”
Bowles, 58, becomes the sixth NFL head coach of color along with Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Washington’s Ron Rivera, New York’s Robert Saleh, Miami’s Mike McDaniel and and Houston’s Lovie Smith. He was 24-40 as the New York Jets’ head coach, but was considered among the top candidates for jobs this offseason around the NFL before returning to Tampa as defensive coordinator.