When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers initially announced their head coach Bruce Arians would be stepping down to make way for Todd Bowles, something seemed off. It was just 17 days after Tom Brady unretired, which was a red flag for many.
Usually when a coach isn’t fired but chooses to step away, it’s either because they feel they don’t have the roster to compete or because they simply don’t want to coach anymore.
For Arians, he worked out a deal with the Buccaneers to stay within the organization, officially in a ‘special advisor to the general manager’ role. We still don’t know what that means either.
Typically, we’d guess that means he’s helping behind the scenes, helping Jason Licht come to conclusions on roster decisions, maybe some contract work, or some scouting. But that’s not what Arians appears to be doing at all.
GMs are usually seen but not heard on the field during practices, scrimmages, and games. Apparently, that’s not Arians’ style either.
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Bruce Arians just can’t quit his Bucs
According to JoeBucsFan.com, Arians continues to get involved as a coach, with a primary focus on instructing the quarterbacks, which makes sense since that’s his specialty. But it’s still very, very odd.
Not only is Arians still involved in coaching matters, he’s even getting emotionally involved, which again, is no surprise based on his history. In this case, he drew a flag during Thursday’s scrimmage with the Tennessee Titans. During red zone work, Arians was holding a play-caller sheet (again, strange), standing behind the line of scrimmage when he burst toward the end zone in anger, screaming because of a pass interference penalty.
Clearly, Arians is doing a bit more than advising his team’s general manager, but is all this extra hands-on work welcome? Or is he overstepping his boundaries in his new role?
According to JoeBucsFan, top backup QB Blaine Gabbert repeatedly sought out the guidance of Arians, so some players seem to enjoy it, but what about Brady? Is he fed up with Arians trying to tell him how to do his job?
Is it possible Brady needed a break from Arians? Could that maybe be a reason why TB12 needed to take some time away? That’s pure speculation, but it’s not hard to see the seven-time Super Bowl champ growing tired of Arians and his constant criticism.
Yet, Arians may be able to help the other QBs on the roster, such as second-year pro Kyle Trask, but Brady doesn’t need anyone to tell him how to be the GOAT. That won’t stop Arians from doing what he knows, which is coaching his players hard.
According to Joe, Arians was frequently seen talking with Brady on the practice field, and there were times when the QB would seek out Arians for advice too. One Buccaneers coach even went so far as to suggest Brady could be missing that aspect of Arians, how he’d constantly provide his .02 to Brady and others.
Like with any NFL locker room, it’s impossible to guess what goes on inside those walls. For now, the Buccaneers seem content to continue allowing Arians to do whatever he pleases, golf cart included.
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Arians doesn’t shoot down idea of his coaching return
According to Joe, “Arians looked like a guy who missed coaching”, and Joe mentioned he’d write a story about Arians becoming the Buccaneers’ play caller once again in 2023 if Byron Leftwich received a head coaching gig elsewhere. Arians didn’t take issue with either notion.
Maybe that decision depends on the future of Brady? The 15-time Pro Bowl QB is under contract for one more season with the Buccaneers. Would Arians enjoy a chance to develop another quarterback under center, whether Gabbert, Trask, or someone else? Or would he walk away from it all and stick to the golf course?
It’s tough to say, but for now, Arians doesn’t appear anywhere near being done with the NFL, and who can blame him?
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