NFL.com: Bruce Arians is NFL’s fifth-best coach, but also underrated
Jun 29, 2016, 3:34 PM
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Bruce Arians has not been a head coach in the NFL for very long, but in the short time he has led teams, the man has experienced a considerable amount of success.
He guided the Indianapolis Colts to a 9-3 record as the interim boss in 2012, and then in three seasons with the Cardinals he has posted regular season win totals of 10, 11 and 13.
His up-front style and aggressive mentality has won him plenty of fans all across the league, and according to NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison, he is the fifth-best coach in the entire NFL, behind the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, the Packers’ Mike McCarthy, the Seahawks’ Pete Carroll and the Patriots’ Bill Belichick.
Arians won with Andrew Luck as a rookie. He won with Carson Palmer as a veteran. He made do with Drew Stanton. Arians’ ability to relate to his players (all of his players: black, white, vet, rookie, Hall of Fame-caliber or special teamer) helps explain his 34-14 record in Arizona, as well as his Coach of the Year tenure — as an interim coach — in Indianapolis. He’s won two of those things now, which puts him fifth on our list.
At this point the only thing Arians hasn’t won is a Super Bowl, though he did take the Cardinals to the NFC Championship Game last season. However, without a Lombardi Trophy, it would be very difficult to rise any higher in the rankings.
Still, for Arians to rise up the rankings as quickly as he has is a notable achievement, though really not at all surprising. Known to be one of the game’s better offensive minds, the Cardinals last season boasted the No. 1 offense in the NFL in terms of yards per game as well as the second-best mark for points per game. The team established franchise single-season records for points, touchdowns, touchdown passes, total net yards, first downs and first downs passing.
But while Arians seems to be getting proper acclaim, the NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger placed him No. 2 in terms of the most underrated coaches in the league.
“He waited a long time before he was a head coach; he was an assistant for a long time, a young college coach at Temple,” he said. “But when he got a chance to do it his way, this guy knows how to inject speed into his team.
“Think about the speed that he has on offense, what he’s doing on defense right now — this is going to be a very competitive team. He hand-picked Carson Palmer to come in and be his quarterback. He’s got a vision and he’s going to add speed to it. Bruce Arians, he’s going to be back in the playoffs again this year.”
Baldinger said Pittsburgh’s Tomlin is the most underrated coach in the NFL