Bucs reporter: Tampa Bay hiring Bruce Arians ‘makes too much sense’

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tweeted on Saturday that they have interviewed former Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.

The Bucs would seem like the right fit for the 66-year-old Arians, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times told 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Doug & Wolf Monday.

“I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen,” Stroud said.

Arians has expressed interest in the Bucs job, stemming in part from his relationship with general manager Jason Licht, who worked in the Cardinals’ front office when Arians coached in Arizona.

“It makes too much sense,” he said.

“I mean, we know the history that Bruce has with Jason Licht … Jameis Winston would go to his camps in Birmingham, and he’s written a book The Quarterback Whisperer, so that’s what the Bucs are looking for — and he checks all of those boxes.”

Licht took on the job in 2014 for Tampa and will already be on his third head coach for 2019 after firing former Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter following the season finale.

Since 2014, the Bucs have finished last in the NFC South four out of the last five seasons and have won a total of 27 games during that stint.

Arians had three double-digit win seasons during his five year tenure with Arizona along with two playoff appearances. The Cardinals hired him in 2013 after Ken Whisenhunt was fired following a 5-11 season.

“The quarterback whisperer’s” next challenge would be with Winston, who just turned 25 on Sunday. The 2015 No. 1 overall pick has thrown 43 interceptions since his rookie season when he earned his first and only Pro Bowl honors.

“If he wants to come out of retirement — and I think this is a big discussion between him and his wife obviously — then Tampa Bay would be more than glad to have him,” Stroud said.

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