Brian Billick: “How Quickly Can Bruce Arians Learn The Tom Brady Offense?”
March 18th, 2020
After his legendary career in Canada and following his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl berth, 37-year-old quarterback Warren Moon was traded to the Minnesota Vikings from the Houston Oilers.
Brian Billick was on the Vikings staff and later called plays for Moon, before Billick moved on to becoming a Super Bowl-winning head coach for the Ravens.
Yesterday on CBS Sports Radio, Billick remembered early meetings with Moon and how the team wanted to work with him to find common ground on the playbook.
Billick recalled that Moon was super eager to do whatever coaches wanted, but he also demanded an extreme level of specificity. It was sort of like, per Billick, ‘I’ll make that play happen, but you better have every element of it refined.’
Billick looked back on that experience and likened it to how Bucco Bruce Arians will handle adapting to Brady.
Anyone wondering how quickly Brady will adjust to Arians’ offense has it backwards, Billick explained.
“No, no, no, how quickly can Bruce Arians learn the Tom Brady offense? Because that’s exactly what they’re going to do,” Billick said. “Although [Brady] would translate [Arians’ offense] fairly quickly. I imagine it will be somewhere in between the two in terms of things that Tom’s comfortable with doing that they’ll adapt to in Tampa Bay. Bruce Arians is an excellent coach, and he knows that you’ve got to do it the way your quarterback wants to do it.”
“Tom, to a degree, will obviously want to adapt to whatever it is Bruce Arians want to do. But I got a hard time imagining Bruce Arians isn’t gonna spend a lot of time with Tom going, ‘Now what do you call this? Because we can change.’ Just so Tom doesn’t have to go through too many gymnastics in learning this new offense.”
Joe agrees with Billick, and Arians addressed some of these principles in his book.
One thing that concerns Joe is the possibility of a shortened offseason because of the sad and frustrating coronavirus pandemic.
March 18th, 2020 at 4:39 am
Though I am not 100% comfortable with the Brady deal I’ll concede the price is right and I hope BA and Licht turn their attention to Suh. My concern with Brady is exactly as stated above. Will BA have to adjust to Brady and that can only include multiple changes throughout the Offense. While I am an optimist and hope this drastic move produces WINS I fear a lengthly transition time resulting in Win Now Fans becoming frustrated. Might not hurt to focus on Pass Protection, Running Game, and an Etleman type receiver.
March 18th, 2020 at 4:41 am
They’ll definitely have to tweak the offense a bit…But ultimately, #12 is one of the best at managing a football game and making the smart decision; I’m sure Brady won’t have a problem finding the middle ground between no riskit no biscuit and making the smart play…
Getting Deon Lewis or Devonte Freeman in here may not be a bad idea…
March 18th, 2020 at 4:46 am
devonta freeman…why the heck was he cut loose…
swap him out for ogenbawale possibly
March 18th, 2020 at 4:46 am
What’s the O/U on Brady jersey sales the first day they release the new unis? Glazers already counting that merch money they don’t have to share with the league.
March 18th, 2020 at 4:47 am
rojo, freeman…
and maybe a duke johnson type, or a big back like dillon out of bc
March 18th, 2020 at 4:48 am
forget gurly…
his treads are balded out already
March 18th, 2020 at 4:52 am
i gotta get a pewter color rush brady authentic jersey to slosh up with mustard and brew 🙂
March 18th, 2020 at 4:54 am
A shortened offseason with the entire offense adapting to a new system as well as as a suspect OL trying to protect a 43 year old QB. Doubtful that Evans gets 1,000 yards but obviously a slam dunk Lombardi trophy as the Bucs become the first team to win it in their home stadium. Only question now is what cannon fodder QB of the future is in the works and long will it take to incorporate him? For the Bucs, Brady pads his bank account and becomes the sacrificial GOAT. On the bright side, it will all be displayed in prime time so I don’t have to shell out for Sunday Ticket.
March 18th, 2020 at 4:54 am
dammmmm…
jameis = a lot of wasted years…
what a shame…
wish him well…he worked hard…he was no ASJ
March 18th, 2020 at 4:56 am
Aw, Billick stole my line! I used that here last night about BA learning in the Brady system.
The Bucs no longer have the fourth best QB in the NFC South. They are instant contenders there, and if the D is on par with where they were the last six games of the season, this team will get Vegas odds of 10 or 11 wins or better.
Winston is a distant, bad memory. Thank God!
Let Winston go hurt someone else’s team.
March 18th, 2020 at 5:00 am
this can be an 11-12 win team…
and a contender…
but get it straight folks…
playoffs — yes…
but superbowl, you’ll have to wait for that until 2021…
we aren’t superbowl read yet…
but we will contend
March 18th, 2020 at 5:01 am
Adam from ny. Put this in perspective. Winston took away over $25 million from his team and for that, it doesn’t matter how hard one works. Results are needed, and Winston was an embarassment and a disgrace. Winston was coddled and wanted to be paid for his effort.
No one gets rewarded just for effort in any job. Some are lucky to get multiple chances, like he had, to produce. They get fired when they can’t produce. The only thing Winston has is playing a kid’s game, and he can’t get winning done.
March 18th, 2020 at 5:01 am
typo*
we aren’t superbowl ready yet…
but we will contend
March 18th, 2020 at 5:04 am
yes hethrew…
and he thought he was “ballin” too… 🙂
jameis was a crazy dude, but what i’m saying is he gave it his all, and he should at least be commended for that…
some guys give 70-80%…he gave 110%
March 18th, 2020 at 5:22 am
@ ny
I like Jameis, his effort on the field was never an issue; as you said, he always gave 110%…the main problem was he never learned to manage a game… turnovers happen in football but the bonehead stuff ultimately doomed him here in Tampa…
March 18th, 2020 at 5:29 am
I really thought Jameis was about to turn a corner…
Saddened but interested to see a true field general type qb
March 18th, 2020 at 5:38 am
one buc55:
yes it’s called “a low on field iq”
March 18th, 2020 at 5:39 am
he could be driving a zamboni in a couple years…
then again, so could i
March 18th, 2020 at 5:40 am
“hey yo, whatcha do for a living guy?”
“i drive the fuggin’ zamboni for the lightning pal”
March 18th, 2020 at 6:20 am
Tom has produced, year in year out, with far inferior talent and won Super Bowls. This is a “plug and play” QB.
I’m still in disbelief though! I guess it’ll set in when they make it official today.
March 18th, 2020 at 6:23 am
You can rack up huge gains in the passing game without going deep…..it’s called hitting receivers in stride…..Even Evans has shown that when you do that he can rack up yardage.
Don’t laugh, but I look for Scotty Miller to become a star in the Brady offense and we will finally use our TEs as they should be.
March 18th, 2020 at 6:32 am
Can’t wait for the next JBF/Ira podcast
March 18th, 2020 at 6:34 am
With all due respect Tampabaybucfan….
I agree with everything you said except this simply is not a TE friendly offense… Again, it’ll be interesting to see how BA and Byron adjust the offense to what Brady likes to do…
(Assuming he actually signs and we don’t get left at the altar again)
March 18th, 2020 at 6:48 am
I bet Brady already has the playbook, making a list of adjustments of what he likes and what he doesn’t.
Sign SUH (hopefully team friendly), get a R Tackle and a RB to compliment Rojo please.
Wonder if OJ is on the Jugs machine as we speak.
March 18th, 2020 at 6:54 am
Jameis had a great arm but held onto the ball way too long. He was indecisive and felt the need to make a play on his own – way too many times.
Brady is quick and decisive. He may not have as strong as arm as he used to but he can still make all the throws. The OL does not need to protect him like they did with Jameis. Brady loves to throw to his TE, RB and will throw underneath to the WRs on the run. He has a quick release which drives the defenses crazy. It will be his offensive system not BAs. TE will be valuable again.
March 18th, 2020 at 7:11 am
How quickly can the entire offense learn Brady’s offense?
March 18th, 2020 at 7:19 am
Your a moron if you think this will be the same exact system as last year
March 18th, 2020 at 7:27 am
@OneBuc55 Says: “…this simply is not a TE friendly offense…”
It will be now. We have the personnel for it, with OJ & Brate (if they keep Brate). It was BA who took the TEs out of play. Brady likes his TEs, so Bruce will add them back in.
March 18th, 2020 at 7:44 am
I agree TE’s will be used again. Brady is smart enough to use them. He’ll look at a defense and know who should be open. Tom cane to Tampa because we have weapons that any QB should be able to succeed with let alone a Tom Brady. We’re automatic contenders with Brady at the helm.
March 18th, 2020 at 8:15 am
AlabamaBucsFan Says:
Very true, but casual fans interpret this fact as “a poor OL.”
March 18th, 2020 at 8:53 am
their was going to be tweeks to the offense no matter who was our QB…..BA probably tweeked his offense for JW…..
BA, BL and brady well all meet in the middle…..brady will get production outta OJ and brate….
GO BUCS!!!!
March 18th, 2020 at 9:10 am
If Jameis is smart he’ll put his ego aside and take the paycut to stay in Tampa as a back up…look what sitting behind Drew Brees for a year or 2 did for Teddy Bridgewaters career…
Protecting the football is every QBs main duty…Everyone can see Winston has the arm but his problem is understanding the importance of consistently making the smart decision with the football and managing the game; this is important no matter how suspect the protection is…
Sitting behind the Goat for a few years and picking his brain may really help Winstons career in the long run; if he really wants to last in NFL…
March 18th, 2020 at 9:19 am
This is going to set us back for years to come mark my words . This hold team is old besides the DBS . No running game and no defense but no excuses superbowl or bust ….
March 18th, 2020 at 10:24 am
Everyone is anointing the Bucs.
Great.
They will be the 2020 Browns if there is a season.
March 18th, 2020 at 10:30 am
“One thing that concerns Joe is the possibility of a shortened offseason because of the sad and frustrating coronavirus pandemic.”
THIS!!!! This is the fly in the ointment. There will be no offseason with players in locker rooms. I’m far more worried at this point whether we’ll even get to have the August preseason and perhaps delaying the start of the season…shortening the season and the preseason.
I respect Billick a lot…he’s been around and it’s good to know he and he believes Arians is smart enough to recognize a highly successful vet QB has a lot to bring to the play designs and playcalling.
Arians will have plenty of time to work with Brady on that aspect but the challenge for both of them is how to imprint their offense and winning culture on the team if there is not time to do it.