Buccaneers’ Bruce Arians Is Set To Retire

Bruce Arians is a seasoned coach who kept the club together year after year. Bruce is currently serving as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. Recently, it was revealed that Bruce Arians is set to retire, allowing Todd Bowles to take over as head coach of the Buccaneers.

Arians broke the news to his coaching staff and players on Wednesday evening and spoke exclusively with the Los Angeles Times and NBC’s Peter King about his decision. Bowles is likely to be named head coach as early as Wednesday night, with an introductory press conference scheduled for Thursday.

“Succession’s always been huge for me. The organization is probably in the best shape in its history.”

Bowles will take over the reins from Arians, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year. Normally, for a head-coaching job, a team would have to follow the Rooney Rule and undertake in-person interviews with at least two minority candidates – people of color and/or women. This form of coach-to-coach succession is permitted because it occurs after the start of the league year when the interview window has closed.

The Buccaneers recently requested clarification from the NFL to ensure that they were following the right hiring procedures. Bowles would be the sixth minority head coach in the NFL. He will be the Buccaneers’ fourth black head coach, which is an NFL record. There have never been more than two in any other franchise. The Buccaneers’ owner, the Glazer family, has previously hired Tony Dungy, Raheem Morris, and Lovie Smith as head coaches.

“(I don’t need to) win another 15 games for me to be happy. I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some (bad) job. I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it in February because (if) Brady gets hurt and we go 10-7, it’s an open interview for the job.”

“I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him.”

“Great relationship off the field.”

Arians intends to remain with the Buccaneers as a senior football adviser. He did not attend the NFC coaches’ media breakfast on Tuesday and spoke about his choice over the phone.

“I’ll be at practices. I’ll be in the office. Whatever they need me to do. I’m gonna have a heavy hand in the draft because (general manager Jason Licht) and I, we’ve got a good rapport in the draft. We’ll have Todd in there, too.”

“The biggest thing I know, I won’t be on the sideline during games. I’ll be making too many penalties. They’ll flag me now that I’m not the head coach for cussing them out. That’s the biggest thing right now — where the hell am I gonna stand during the games?”

“I thought really hard about going out on top. Then it was like, nah, let’s go for two. Last year was a grind with all the injuries but still winning and getting to where we got. Immediately after, two to three weeks afterwards, it was like can’t let my coaches hanging. I got 31 families that depend on me. If I retire in February, it’s open interviews. My wife is big on not letting all those families down.”

“Like (my son) Jake said, ‘You’re stepping away from a Super Bowl team. That ain’t really smart,’ ” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m stepping away because I’m not retiring. In my mind, I’m not retiring I’m just moving over to the other side of the office and still be there for whoever needs me.”

So, Bruce has stated that he will be retiring next year. For the players, this is extremely devastating news, but it’s a good thing that Bruce stated that he will always remain as the team’s football advisor. For further updates stay tuned to Thirsty.

What’s your take on it? Sound it in the comments.