Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians announces his retirement
Jan 1, 2018, 11:13 AM | Updated: 11:27 am
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians watches during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
After notching his 50th career victory as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach with a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Bruce Arians has decided not to return next season, the coach said in Monday’s press conference.
An emotional Bruce Arians announces his retirement as head coach of the @AZCardinals.#BeRedSeeRed pic.twitter.com/JQqWXNFEOx
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2018
The 65-year-old Arians has been the coach of the Cardinals since 2013, posting a 49-30 regular season record.
Arians was AP Coach of the Year in 2014 when Arizona went 11-5 and tied a franchise record for most wins in a season.
They would break that record in 2015, winning 13 games and making it to the NFC Championship game where the Cardinals would fall to the Carolina Panthers.
Arians was hospitalized twice in the 2016 season, once with diverticulitis in August and a second time in November for chest pain.
In February of 2015, Arians agreed to a new four-year deal that would keep him with the team through the 2018 season.
Arians has been coaching for nearly 40 years in college and the pros.
He began at Mississippi State as a wide receivers and running backs coach in the late 1970s. He went on to coach the running backs at Alabama from 1981-82 before taking his first head coaching job at Temple from 1983-88.
His first stint in the NFL would be next as running backs coach with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1989-1992. Another first would come next: His initial run as offensive coordinator in a return to Mississippi State from 1993-95.
One year as the tight ends coach of the New Orleans Saints and another as the Crimson Tide offensive coordinator later, he worked with Peyton Manning in Indianapolis as the quarterbacks coach for the Colts from 1998-2000.
Arians was the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns for three seasons from 2001-2003 and would then spend the next three years as wide receivers coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
His next three jobs in the NFL spotlight will be what he’s remembered for.
Serving as offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2007-2011, Arians was fired. He then spent one year with the Colts in 2012, winning his first AP Coach of the Year award after moving up from offensive coordinator to interim head coach in place of Chuck Pagano.
Next would come his five years with the Cardinals, which ties his time as Steelers OC as his longest run holding one position in the NFL.
