Bruce, Arians yesterday, explaining why it was so
important for him to be able to leave it a time when he could
pass the torch to one of his guys.
Number of people have already asked. Why are you stepping
away from the chance to go to Hall of Fame?
And when another Super Bowl but that won't give it about
the Hall of Fame.
Secession is way more important to me. This has been my dream
for a long time guys. That know me.
They knew I wanted one of my guys to take over.
And that's more important to me than anything and have a place
where I could go
and be welcomed back when you were able to, assemble
the coaching staff upon your original hiring.
Was that a discussion that you and Todd had, was that
something that you had understood between the two of
you that, at some point, you would hope to give it
specifically to know, because I really thought he was gonna be
a head coach after the Super Bowl,
and then this past year.
So,
it's long overdue,
just that, you know,
watching the hiring Since this last year and Byron going
through, but he did, and Todd
very fortunate for me
that we could do it today.
And,
but yeah, we do have an unbelievable coach. Instead.
We've got at least four or five guys, and maybe six or seven,
young guys
thought I think will be head coaches in this league one day.
He was actively pushing for Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles
to get jobs elsewhere, which would have undermined the plan
to
hand pick one of those two men to become the next head coach,
and had the environment that he wanted, and it would be
welcoming. It will be welcoming. He will be allowed
to come back whenever he wants. It's not going to be like, it's
a completely different regime and they,
they they don't let him in the front door.
So there's a benefit there, but the idea that he is able to
ensure that one of his guys gets a chance and a good
chance. As you said earlier, not Kyle Trask. Blaine Gabbert
is the quarterback, but Tom Brady
for a year and lay the foundation have a better chance
to stick around Beyond 2020. To so
I understand it now, look, I in my mind
and maybe I just missed it. But I never associated with Aaron's
was someone who was hell-bent on walking away at a time where
he knew he'd be able
to hand the
reins to one of his assistants. In frankly. Frankly, Peter.
You got to wonder it, some love it. Whether the Buccaneers
are thinking boy. We'd rather. This was done back in January.
So we could have done
a more expansive search because maybe we want to see what else
is out there
and they were no Mike Tyson what ownership was kind of put
in a tough spot here when you think about it?
I think you're right to some degree.
But there's two reasons why I think they probably would have
settled on bowls. Regardless. Number one is that the Glazer
family
has hired more black coaches in their history owning the team
than any franchise.
In NFL history. They've hired for
black coaches going back to Tony Dungy
over the last 30 years.
And in their history and no team in the NFL, has hired more
than two full-time
black coaches, nine teams have
they're the only ones who've done more than two and they've
done for.
And secondly.
I was told the other day that
the the Bucks were more interested in a
smooth transition
rather than because think about this people don't understand
this
three or four years after Bill Cowher
stopped coaching. Whatever year that was 90. I'm sorry. 06 or
something. I think it was 06 was his last year. Yes.
Yeah. So this was maybe 10 or Haven't I,
I was talking to him once
and I said Jay, everything he getting back in and he goes
first thing. He said, was
oh, my coaches are
on other staffs now,
it would be. That's that would really be her. Not, not to
mention the fact that I like my life now,
but you know, all his coaches are gone. And so
imagine Mike.
If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Have a coaching search
and choose someone else which is entirely possible.
Then I believe that what would have happened is
the, the coaching staff you have. Now, they're going to
scatter to the wind and they will go on different teams.
Just like just like every other coaching staff would
when what I was told is that internally,
they really like their coaching staff.
They love Todd Bowles.
If they had lost Todd Bowles to another head coaching job
and Aryans told me, he thought he was going to get to Miami job.
But if they had lost Todd Bowles,
that would have been
a humongous loss for them. And they would have figured it out.
Every team always does. But that's why I think and
I understand your point
that the organization was put in a tough spot.
I think whether it was January 15th or March 30th, they were
going to pick Todd Bowles. One last thing about Bruce Arians,
before we take the brake too, because the general reaction to
the fact that he is leaving and is gone has been not
even a full shrug. The betting odds didn't change on any
metric for the Buccaneers people assume. They're just
going to pick up where they left off. But a point Sims made
yesterday that I think we need to underscore here. It's easy.
Take for granted
a coach who does the job well on game day and never screws
up. Because what do you always talk about the morning after
the games,
which coach engaged in horrible? Clock management?
Which coach May? Yeah,
a head-scratching decision on fourth down,
which coach iced his own kicker with a timeout.
I can't think of a time where Bruce Arians was that guy?
That we were saying?
What the hell is wrong with him? All
right, and and not that Todd Bowles is going to be one of
those guys,
but my point is
it's easy to take for granted the head coach
who has it all, buttoned up on game day
and doesn't have those unforced errors that, give us so much
fodder for scrutiny and criticism the day after games.
You know, the one other thing that I kept thinking about,
I kept thinking about how coaches age these days
and how when you look at
it seems logical that Bruce Arians who turn 70 later this
year. That's about the time that you would think, okay?
Time to go play golf or time, not to work, 16 hours a day
anymore.
Okay, but
life is changed. Look at Carol. He 70,
look at Bill. Belichick in two weeks.
He'll be 70 and Bill Belichick said, a long time ago. Yeah,
I can tell you, I won't be Marv. Levy, I won't be coaching in my
70s
or whatever. I'm
I'm paraphrasing that I forget exactly what he said, but that's
essentially what it was.
And I asked Josh McDaniels at the combine. So
now that you're gone.
Now that you can actually talk
how much longer for Belichick and he goes
I have no idea. He said, he said something to me, because
it looks like there's no end in sight.
But, but look, that's for some people,
okay, but for Aryans.
And, and, and this the point I was going to make
I think I'm right in saying that Chuck Noll was 59.
Yes. He retired.
Yes, a
Bruce. Arians got his first head coaching job when he was
60.
Now. That was the interim job
in Indianapolis in 2012.
And and in that year, what basically happened is,
they went nine and three under Aryans.
He he got a coat. Got a job
out of that with the Arizona Cardinals
and in his 60s
Bruce, Arians 195 games. His last two years. He went twenty
nine and ten obviously
helped by Tom Brady a lot,
but it's so interesting now to look at Chuck Noll.
I think when he retired, he was the fourth or fifth winningest,
coach of all time,
and he retired at 59 Aryans,
didn't Have his first coaching job until he was 60 and then he
195 games after that
when Chuck Noll was long since on a sailboat in the,
you know, along the Atlantic coast
and there are people in the Steelers organization. This was
as of 10 15 years ago, who were confounded by the fact that
after Chuck Noll left? No one ever even mentioned him as
a potential candidate to coach an NFL team. He was only 59
when he left and here's the ultimate contrast and then we
do have Take a break. John Harbaugh is currently 59
and he seems like he's just getting started and we talked
about his extension earlier this week.
I had a vision of
if you could get
all at the same time the same age
Bill Belichick Pete Carroll and John Harbaugh
Harbaugh would pick
one guy up in each hand spin around slamming together and
thrown 50 yards. In either Direction, That's the Way.
Harbaugh is going to be when he's coaching at age 70
and the World has indeed changed it. Bruce Arians look
like he could keep going as long as he wanted to, he looks
great. He looks rested looks healthy, and he looks like he's
raring to go and
again, and if L, go get him and get him involved in your
broader league-wide, efforts to improve diversity and inclusion
in
the coaching ranks, because I think he would have a few
pointed things to say to some of these owners and other
coaches.