Bruce Arians seventh in NFL.com head coach power rankings
Jun 21, 2017, 1:35 PM
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians yells during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Denver Broncos, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Bruce Arians has four seasons as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach under his belt, and in that time the team has posted a 41-22-1 record.
The 41 wins are the third-highest total in franchise history, leaving him just one behind Don Coryell’s 42 victories and eight wins shy of Ken Whisenhunt’s 49.
Of course, most don’t need the numbers to understand how good of a coach Arians is, as he is widely respected not only in Arizona, but nationally, too.
Normally near the top of most head coach power rankings, the Cardinals’ boss landed seventh in NFL.com’s list, which was compiled by Elliot Harrison.
Arians has been rated highly, including in this space, both for his diligent work in making the Cardinals contenders and for his brilliant effort as AP Coach of the Year filling in for Chuck Pagano in Indy in 2012. That said, Arians has his work cut out for him, coming off a season in which his football team dipped below .500 for the first time under his stewardship. Arians has proven to be a master motivator. That might be his most important asset with this veteran Cardinals roster.
Indeed, the 2016 season was the first in which Arians had a team post a sub-.500 record, and it came during a year in which the Cardinals were expected to contend for a Super Bowl title. They head into the 2017 campaign with less fanfare, at least outside of the organization.
If the Cardinals bounce back and reach the postseason, Arians’ star will regain some of the luster it may have lost last year.
As it is, Arians’ ranking is not a bad one, given that of the six coaches ahead of him — Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Kansas City’s Andy Reid, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy, Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New England’s Bill Belichick, who is No. 1 overall — all but Reid have won at least one Super Bowl title.
