Bruce Arians is the future head coach of the Buccaneers.

 

 

 

The former Arizona Cardinals head coach has been named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ new head coach, the organization announced on Tuesday.

According to a source who spoke with NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, Arians will sign a four-year contract with a five-year option.

According to Rapoport, the former coach of the Cards is anticipated to appoint Harold Goodwin as run game coordinator/offensive line, Clyde Christensen as quarterback coach, and Bryon Leftwich as offensive coordinator. Todd Bowles, his previous defensive coordinator, is another man Arians is pursuing for the same Tampa Bay post.

Rapoport earlier on Tuesday said that the Bucs planned to extend the deal to Arians. From then on, everything happened very rapidly.

Bruce Arians has been one of the NFL’s most well-respected coaches for the past 20 years, and Bucs owner and co-chairman Bryan Glazer is thrilled to have him in charge of the team. “During this process, our main goal was to identify the best coach who could motivate our players and advance our club. Some of the top players in our league have greatly benefited from Bruce’s growth and professional success, and we are excited to have him continue that work with our team.”

According to Rapoport, the Bucs traded Arians and a 2019 seventh-round pick to Arizona in return for a 2019 sixth-round selection as payment for hiring Arians.

Arizona still owned the Arians’ rights through 2019 as a result of a team option in the coach’s 2015 contract with the Cardinals, which made the trade essential. When the Cards insisted on payment, the NFL withdrew its previous statement that the Arians wouldn’t need any payment from the Bucs in order to join Tampa Bay. In the end, the parties avoided discussing the team option, got together to work out a deal, and traded selections to make it happen.

Arians, who left his position in Arizona early in 2018 to concentrate on his health and personal life, worked as a color analyst for CBS during the previous season. The first whispers of Arians maybe coming back to coach in the NFL appeared in that booth. However, it had to do with the Cleveland Browns, not Tampa Bay, as there was another opening.

Shortly after the organization sacked coach Dirk Koetter on December 30, the Bucs entered Arians’ sphere of possibilities; Koetter was hired Tuesday by the Atlanta Falcons to be their offensive coordinator. Arians increased the number of teams he would be open to listening to, even though he had previously stated that he would only think about leaving retirement to take the Browns position, which he claimed he had wanted for more than 10 years.

He was hired as a coach as a result of his choice.

After a coaching career primarily spent as an offensive mastermind, mentoring young Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger before they developed into All-Pro players, Arians became well-known. Before his astonishing rise to the position of offensive coordinator and temporary head coach in Indianapolis garnered him NFL Coach of the Year awards and the Arizona job, that also included his firing from Temple, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh.

Equipped with an experienced quarterback in Carson Palmer and a rotating cast of players (including rookies David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Patrick Peterson), Arians finished five seasons with the Cardinals with a 49-30 record. He was the face of the most fun period in Cardinals history, leading the team to postseason participation in 2014 and 2015. He finished with a 1-2 record.

After nearly 500 football seasons, it came to an end as the Arians’ Cardinals battled injuries to finish 7-8-1 and 8-8.

With Arians leading the way, where are the Buccaneers heading? They will have Jameis Winston’s most qualified tutor since he signed with the Buccaneers in 2015, after all. This is crucial because Winston, who is in the final year of his rookie contract after being benched and starting the season with a suspension due to bad play, needs to improve or risk losing his job with the Bucs.

If they and the Arians can get along quickly, the Buccaneers—who have more youthful talent than one might imagine—could improve their record. Chris Godwin is just one example. Arians will first need to assemble his team, which may involve a sort of Cardinals reunion. Pay attention.