Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians retires from coaching

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, the man that led the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-17, has retired from coaching, the team announced Wednesday.

NBC Sports’ Peter King first reported the news.

Arians will now take on a role in the Buccaneers’ front office as a “senior consultant for football,” per King. His successor will be defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who held that same position under Arians in Arizona from 2013-14 before becoming head coach of the New York Jets.

Arians explained his reasoning for the decision to King.

“Succession has always been huge for me. With the organization in probably the best shape it’s been in its history, with Tom Brady coming back … I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [crappy] job. I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So, I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it next February because [if] Brady gets hurt, we go 10-7, and it’s an open interview for the job … I got 31 [coaches and their] families that depend on me. My wife is big on not letting all those families down.”

In a statement, Arians thanked Cardinals president Michael Bidwill.

Professionally, I have been blessed to work for many great organizations. I’d like to thank Michael Bidwill for turning my dream of being an NFL head coach into a reality in 2013. I would especially like to acknowledge the entire Glazer family for bringing me to Tampa Bay in 2019 and providing all the support and vision a coach could ask for. None of this success would have been possible without their complete buy-in and backing.

The 69-year-old Arians got his start in NFL head coaching when filling in for Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in 2012 on an interim basis.

From there, the Cardinals hired him in 2013 and won double-digit games for the first three seasons of Arians’ tenure. That included a 2015 season with a 13-3 record that took Arizona to the NFC Championship.

Arians, of course, retired originally when he left Arizona at the end of the 2017 season before coming out of retirement in 2019 to join the Buccaneers. Arians went on to win the Super Bowl in 2020 and Tampa Bay is coming off a 13-4 regular season last year.

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