Tag: Bruce Arians

Bucs announce new date for Bruce Arians’ Ring of Honor ceremony

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have set a new date for Bruce Arians to be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor

After a slight delay, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians will finally go into the team’s Ring of Honor in Week 17.

Arians will receive the honor in a ceremony on New Year’s Day, at halftime of the Bucs’ home finale against the Carolina Panthers.

Originally scheduled for halftime of Tampa Bay’s Week 4 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Arians’ ceremony was rescheduled due to the incoming threat of Hurricane Ian. Contingency plans had been made during that week to potentially move the game to an alternate site depending on the path of the storm.

Arians retired from coaching after the 2021 season, moving into a front-office role after spending three seasons as Tampa Bay’s head coach, helping to lead them to a victory in Super Bowl LV. Those three seasons were all it took for Arians to leave as the winningest head coach in Bucs history.

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Hurricane Ian forces Buccaneers to postpone Ring of Honor induction for Bruce Arians

The hurricane headed for Florida is forcing the Bucs to postpone the Ring of Honor induction for former coach Bruce Arians.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are postponing the Ring of Honor induction of former coach Bruce Arians to a later game on the team’s home schedule, although the new date for the ceremony hasn’t been determined.

On-going scheduling conflicts created by Hurricane Ian necessitated the postponement.

Arians, now a senior football consultant with the Bucs, coached the team for three seasons (2019-21). He led the team to the playoffs in two of the three seasons and won Super Bowl LV following the 2020 season. He remains the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.

Overall, the Bucs went 36-19 in the regular season under Arians, including a 13-4 mark in 2021, and won five playoff games.

Once inducted, Arians will be the 14th member of the team’s Ring of Honor.

The Todd Bowles-led Buccaneers lost their home opener on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. The team will operate out of South Florida this week while preparing to play the Kansas City Chiefs. The primetime game, scheduled for Sunday night, is still currently expected to be played in Tampa, although the location is subject to change based on Hurricane Ian.

Report: Suspensions could be coming after Buccaneers-Saints brawl

Report: Suspensions could be coming after Buccaneers-Saints brawl, both for players and Bruce Arians

This isn’t going away. NBC Sports’ Mike Florio first reported Sunday evening that suspensions could be coming for the players involved in Week 2’s brawl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints, in which Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette and quarterback Tom Brady were jawing with Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore after a critical late-game stop on fourth down.

Some pushing and shoving started up, then Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans threw Lattimore to the ground, and the benches cleared. NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson called in from the league office in New York and ordered Lattimore and Evans both be ejected, though he chose to let the instigator, Fournette, remain in the game. Afterwards Anderson told Nola.com’s Luke Johnson that “We just did not feel like those actions rose to the level of disqualification.”

Now Florio is reporting that the league is “reviewing  all aspects” of the fracas in deciding who should be subject to league discipline, including fines and suspensions. And that isn’t just limited to the players who traded blows (Evans and Lattimore). It includes Fournette’s role as an instigator and the bizarre presence of former Bucs coach Bruce Arians on the sideline.

Arians was seen shouting at players and officials on the field throughout the game and especially in the moments that led up to this fight, but it’s unclear why he was around in the first place. After stepping down as the team’s head coach earlier this year he was kept around in an executive role with the title of “senior adviser to the general manager,” which still doesn’t carry any specific job descriptions. In any case, he played a part in starting this brawl, and he may be subject to league discipline, too.

What a mess. If Evans ran better routes he wouldn’t be beaten so often by Lattimore’s coverage, and then he wouldn’t get so frustrated and start fights like this. Unfortunately, Evans has a history of losing his cool in this matchup and trying to even the score with his paws instead. He may feel confident he won’t see a suspension after starting another fight (he missed one game after a similar incident in 2017), but maybe he should feel some level of concern.

As for Lattimore: it would be baffling to see him suspended, too, but “baffling” is actually a great descriptor for the league’s disciplinary process. They threw him out of the game in the first place despite him being the victim of Evans’ escalation, so there’s a real chance they botch the follow-up, too. Stay tuned for updates on this front.

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Tom Brady says ‘zero’ truth to rumors of soured relationship with Bruce Arians

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady shot down rumors of a soured relationship with former head coach Bruce Arians

Amid an eventful offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one persistent conspiracy theory involved a rumored degradation of the relationship between quarterback Tom Brady and then-head coach Bruce Arians.

Arians shot down the rumors at every turn, both before his retirement from coaching and after. Now, Brady is doing the same.

Speaking to the media Thursday following the final practice of the team’s mandatory minicamp, the GOAT made it clear that his relationship with Arians wasn’t an issue at all, and reiterated that Arians’ presence was a driving factor in his decision to sign with the Bucs in free agency back in 2020 (via Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times):

There are sure to be some who still won’t believe anything Brady or Arians says on the matter, but both parties remain adamant that there was no negative friction between them.

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Bucs had NFL’s most explosive offense in 2021

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led the NFL in explosive plays last season, and they did it in many different ways

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Tom Brady back in 2020, some wondered whether or not the GOAT would be a good fit for Bruce Arians’ vertical passing game.

Would an aging quarterback in his 40s be able to push the ball down the field as often as Arians wanted, and with the kind of success he would demand of himself?

Turns out, those concerns were greatly exaggerated.

In fact, the year after Brady, Arians, and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich helped lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory at the end of that 2020 season, Tampa Bay’s offense led the league in explosive plays in 2021.

Check out this fantastic thread from NFL Network/Next Gen Stats researcher Taylor Kyles on just how effective the Bucs were at generating big plays through the air last season, and how they made it happen in many different ways:

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Todd Bowles won’t be ‘putting handcuffs’ on Bucs’ offensive play-calling

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t care how his offense scores points, as long as they win

Bruce Arians was famous for his “no risk-it, no biscuit” philosophy, which was evident in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ style of play on offense over his three seasons as the team’s head coach.

Some have wondered whether or not that style of offense will continue now that Todd Bowles is the head coach in Tampa Bay. After offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich made it clear earlier this month that he has the same approach as Arians, Bowles himself said he won’t be pulling the reins back on the offensive play-calling.

“My attitude is to win the game any way possible,” Bowles told the media Tuesday. “If we have to throw the ball 50 times to win, that’s great. If we have to run the ball 30 times to win, that’s great. We’ll take what they give us – we’ll always have shots for big plays.”

Obviously, [Tom] Brady is a great passer,” Bowles continued. “We want to equal that with the running game, if we can. But, if they’re taking away the run and we have to throw the ball 60 times – and [Brady] throws five or six touchdowns – I’ll take the win. If we’re running the ball pretty good, and we can guard about 25 to 30 times, I’ll take the win. Whatever we have to do to win the ballgame. Nobody’s putting handcuffs on the offense from that standpoint. We’re going to do whatever we have to do to win the game.”

Brady led the NFL in pass attempts, passing yards and touchdown passes last season, at 44 years old. It wouldn’t be surprising if all parties involved preferred a more balanced approach this season, with a stronger emphasis on balance with a strong running game. But’s clear they won’t be forcing that balance at the expense of success, regardless of how they move the ball and put points on the board.

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New Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles says he learned from Jets mistakes

Todd Bowles plans on using what he learned from his failed stint with the Jets to succeed as the Buccaneers’ new head coach.

Todd Bowles’ tenure as Jets head coach got off to such a good start that it was nearly impossible to envision the failure that would transpire shortly thereafter.

New York fell just short of the playoffs in Bowles’ first season as head coach in 2015, but went 10-6 and showed enough to indicate that it would be a contender under the long-time defensive assistant’s watch for years to come. That never came close to becoming a reality, as the Jets went 5-11 in 2016 and 2017 before going 4-12 in 2018.

That proved to be the final straw for Bowles, as he was fired after three seasons of failing to manage personalities in the locker room and falling even shorter in the in-game coaching department. Clock management was a major issue for Bowles, as was being far too passive in situations where the Jets should have been pushing the envelope. His calm demeanor, meanwhile, didn’t always play well in the New York spotlight.

Now Bowles has been given a second chance at being a head coach in Tampa Bay after Bruce Arians retired. Bowles plans on doing things his way instead of what he thought was the right way when he took over the Jets as a rookie head coach.

“I think that when I first started in New York [I found that] when you try to do things the ‘right way,’ you don’t do things your way and you end up having regret,” Bowles said Friday. “So I’m going to do things my way.”

Bowles played a major part in helping the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl in 2020, making him a natural fit to replace Arians — even after the way his stint with the Jets ended. Bowles’ coaching acumen has seldom been in question. He is widely regarded as one of the better defensive minds in the NFL and a strong Xs and Os coach.

How Bowles improves upon the issues that plagued him with the Jets will ultimately determine how his second chance at a coveted head-coaching job plays out. Bowles’ time in the Big Apple is long behind him, but the lessons he learned from the job are something he will carry into his newest gig.

“I think when you take a head job [for the first time] you have to wear a lot of hats, but you had never experienced wearing those hats,” Bowles said. “When you understand that going in…without the experience I think you tend to do things a little differently. You have to be man enough to know when you can change things. Usually, when people get fired they blame everybody else. The first thing I did was look within myself, and there were a lot of things I can do better.”

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Bruce Arians gave Black coaches real opportunities and won for it. The NFL should take note

This is what real action looks like.

The timing behind Bruce Arians’ decision to retire from coaching has raised more than a few eyebrows. 

The NFL coaching carousel has long been over and the offseason is in full swing, with free agency behind us and the draft soon coming.

The most significant thing to happen with the Bucs in the meantime is their Hall of Fame quarterback retiring – and then deciding to cut his retirement short. Surely, Tom Brady had something to do with Arians’ decision to step away?

Well, it turns out he did actually, Arians confirmed Thursday at his retirement press conference. But not for the reasons most had assumed.

“Thought about [retiring] after the season but, again, it wasn’t right,” Arians said with Brady in the front row. “Obviously, going through the combine, going through all that process, trying to build next year’s team without Tom. And then when Tom said he’d come back, I was like ‘now it’s easy. Now it’s easy.’ We’re in the best shape we’ve ever been. It’s no better time to pass the torch than now.”

And that torch is being passed to defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, a longtime colleague of Arians and someone the coach thought should’ve landed a head coaching job after Tampa won the Super Bowl two years ago. Bowles will be just the fourth Black head coach in a league that has obvious problems giving Black candidates equal opportunities. 

Arians never had that problem. All of his lead coordinators in Tampa were Black, including Bowles, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, assistant head coach and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong.

As Arians noted at the press conference, he could’ve stuck around to chase individual accolades – such as another Super Bowl – on a team primed to make another run. Instead, he’s giving that opportunity to Bowles, who might have never received a second chance after his time with the New York Jets, a team that was never built to win to begin with.

“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. “Because I don’t give a [expletive] about the Hall of Fame. Succession is way more important to me. This has been my dream for a long time. Guys that know me, they knew I wanted one of my guys to take over, and that’s more important to me than anything.”

Arians’ motivations for retiring will remain in question for some, but his succession plan is nonetheless noble and something other teams and coaches should take note of. He most notably used his position of power, with both Tampa and with the Arizona Cardinals, to hire several Black coaches to high-profile positions, allowing them to gain visibility for promotion within the league.

Tampa’s coaching switch is a unique one and can’t be easily replicated everywhere. However, simply giving Black coaches real opportunities can be. For Arians, it led to a 80-48-1 career record – not including his 9-3 record as interim coach in Indianapolis – with four playoff appearances, including two in three years with a Super Bowl title in Tampa.

“Mostly, I gotta thank the coaches. Man, you guys did it all,” Arians said. “I mean, I really didn’t do [expletive]. I just led the ship, but you guys did it all.”

The rest of the NFL should take note.

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Mike Lombardi doesn’t believe Tom Brady forced Bruce Arians into retirement

According to Tom Brady and Bruce Arians, there are no issues.

Something felt off to the masses when Bruce Arians abruptly announced his retirement following the return of Tom Brady.

The duo reportedly had tension and speculation spread that Brady’s retirement was related to it. After a month away from the game, the 44-year-old said he was coming back and then boom — Arians is getting ready to play golf and enjoy life after football.

The timing just felt odd.

Both Brady and Arians have come out publicly and denied any strained relationship between the two. Longtime NFL general manager Mike Lombardi spoke on his podcast “The GM Shuffle” about the situation and he doesn’t believe Brady forced Arians out.

“This one shocked me, only in the sense of the timing,” Lombardi said, transcribed by WEEI. “Bruce was at the combine talking about Brady’s not coming back and was extolling the virtues of Blaine Gabbert. And at the owners meeting he wasn’t in the team coaching picture, he left early, it just doesn’t make sense why – and it’s going to add to a bunch of conspiracy theories.

“I just don’t think Brady was on the sixth floor of the depository waiting for Bruce to turn around on Elm Street to come down and be in a triangular configuration. I think that’s a lot of nonsense.I just think Bruce probably felt like it was time to play more golf, if that’s even possible.”

Brady will now play under Todd Bowles with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that keeps getting stronger.

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