Bruce Arians steps down as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach

On Wednesday night, Bruce Arians stepped down as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after three seasons. He will be moving into a front-office role with the team for the next season and former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will take Arians’ spot as the head coach. Arians will likely finish his head coaching career with a 89-51 record. Pretty good.

Arians has had success with the Bucs. After a mediocre first season, Tom Brady joined the team and they immediately won a super bowl. Last season, they were one of the best teams in the NFL but lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.

Arians is 69 years old, so it’s not surprising to see this move happen. Also, there were murmurs that star QB Tom Brady didn’t like Arians and his fake retirement might have been a move to get Arians out as the head coach. Arians has been vocal about Brady being a normal football player and that he doesn’t deserve any favoritism. At this point in Brady’s career, however, he has probably earned some extra amenities that other players haven’t.

Regardless, while the Bucs’ success was probably more due to Brady, Arians is considered a good coach. His successor, Todd Bowles has been a great defensive coordinator in the past but is yet to have success as a head coach. He was the head coach of the New York Jets from 2015-2018 but had an overall record of 24-40. Not great. Obviously, this Bucs team is much more talented than those Jets teams but the point remains, Bowles is unproven.

The Bucs will largely have the same team as last year and as long as Brady is there, they will be a Super Bowl contender. This move didn’t change their Super Bowl futures, and they still sit at +800 with Bovada. That is tied for the third lowest odds in the NFL.

While in most cases, this Arians move would be a surprise, the rumors of Brady not liking him made it somewhat expected. He is still with the team as a Senior Football Consultant, but Arians will not be as involved as he once was. Arians is very well respected and will likely be a Hall of Famer when he officially retires. This doesn’t change the Bucs’ outlook too much and expect them to be involved when the playoffs start next year.