Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is officially retiring from coaching football and will join the Buccaneers’ front office as a senior consultant for football. Darlington received a text from the 69-year-old that simply stated: “It’s time.”
According to Pro Football Talk, the move isn’t as surprising as it may appear, as he started thinking about retirement at the NFL Scouting Combine a month ago. He’s also a prostate cancer survivor who was hospitalized late in his first year as an NFL head coach in Indianapolis due to illness. However, a theory has been going on social media that his retirement is the fault of someone that recently “retired” himself: Tom Brady.
Despite the conspiracy theories, Arians says he feels more at ease retiring now that Brady has decided to return because the team is in such good hands. The Buccaneers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Brady, according to Arians, has been supportive of him and his decision. The coach admits there was some conflict at some point but it’s not a factor taken into his retirement “I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him,” said the coach to the LA Times.
Tom Brady’s message for Arians
Arians’ decision to resign, combined with Brady’s brief retirement, has sparked widespread speculation about the quarterback’s potential role in Arians’ decision to resign. Brady, at least publicly, expressed gratitude for what Arians did for him and celebrated their accomplishments in their two seasons together.
Arians responded to Brady’s post with a simple comment that just read: “Thanks brotha.”
Arians cited his desire to provide successor Todd Bowles with a successful team as a driving force in his decision in his statements announcing his departure, with Brady’s return apparently playing a big role in that.
“I wanted to ensure when I walked away that Todd Bowles would have the best opportunity to succeed. So many head coaches come into situations where they are set up for failure, and I didn’t want that for Todd,” Arians said in a statement released by the team. “Tom’s decision to come back, along with GM Jason Licht and his staff doing another great job of keeping the core of this team intact during free agency, confirmed for me that it was the right time to pass the torch to Todd.”
Marca
