NFL.com’s Harrison: Arizona Cardinals’ Bruce Arians NFL’s seventh-best head coach
Jul 2, 2015, 11:11 AM | Updated: 11:11 am
Bruce Arians has led to the Arizona Cardinals to 21 wins in two seasons as their head coach, a total that ties a franchise record for victories in back-to-back seasons. It’s also the most wins in franchise history for a coach in his first 32 games with the team.
He was named the NFL Coach of the Year for his work last season — the second such honor of his career — and is generally regarded as one of the best in the business.
According to NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison, he’s the seventh-best head coach in the entire NFL.
Arians just won his second Coach of the Year award in three years — and he wasn’t even officially a head coach when he captured it in 2012 for his work with the Colts as Chuck Pagano’s temporary fill-in. Running his own ship in Arizona, Arians has gone 10-6 and 11-5 in the past two seasons, despite dealing with a flurry of injuries last year that would have deep-sixed many teams. The next step for Arians is to win in the playoffs.
The only coaches ranked above Arians are Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, New Orleans’ Sean Payton, Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New England’s Bill Belichick, all of whom have at least one Super Bowl victory on their resumé.
A clear sign of respect for Arians, though, is the fact that he is ahead of the New York Giants’ Tom Coughlin, who has won two Super Bowls.
The man Arians replaced in Arizona, Ken Whisenhunt, comes in at No. 21 on the list, while former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, now in his first season leading the New York Jets, is ranked 30th.
Elsewhere in the NFC West, the Rams’ Jeff Fisher is 15th and the 49ers’ Jim Tomsula is No. 32.
