Bucco Bruce Arians No. 8
July 18th, 2021
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians
If Joe were to tell you a guy coaching at a high level for decades just won his first Super Bowl but he’s not a top-five coach, you’d scratch your head, right?
Well, that’s what happened to Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
Though Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has Arians ranked in his top-10 of NFL coaches, he only saw fit to put Arians at No. 8.
8. Bruce Arians (Buccaneers)
Season: 3rd with Buccaneers, 8th as HC
Career record: 76-47-1 (.617)
Playoff record: 5-2 (1-0 in Super Bowl)He came onto the scene late, and he doesn’t pretend to be the sharpest or toughest coach in the game, but boy does he get results. Adding Tom Brady in 2020 gave him an ageless QB and legendary locker-room presence, but he deserves credit for the acquisition as much as the way he slowly but successfully enabled Brady to take over his offense. A model staffer willing to delegate responsibility (see: Todd Bowles), his seemingly reckless but dedicated approach has Tampa Bay primed for a potential repeat.
For Joe, No. 8 is low. Arians has a far better resume than Sean McDermott at No. 5 and Sean McVay at No. 6. And what have those guys won? Hell, McDermott has yet to get to a Super Bowl.
To be fair, both of those coaches, like Arians, took over horrible teams and made them winners pretty quickly.
Joe would have listed Arians over McDermott and McVay just by Arians’ long resume alone.
July 18th, 2021 at 12:04 am
I was gonna rank Cody Benjamin at his job but I’ve never heard of him
July 18th, 2021 at 12:22 am
Oh no….another list where the bucs player or coach isnt ranked #1. The horror, the gall. Any list where the bucs are not 1st then the author must be an idiot. Im sure cody benjamin of CBS has surely heard of medicated pete and all of his accomplishments.
July 18th, 2021 at 12:22 am
Below the Sean’s? Keep the off-season slights coming…will come in handy in the motivational dept. ( Sean McVay literally fanboyed Belichick BEFORE the Super Bowl…laid an all time egg for an offensive “genius”).
July 18th, 2021 at 12:55 am
Pfft! Reid just got out coached again and they have him #1? Gimmee our guy every time.
July 18th, 2021 at 1:00 am
Arians is a great coach, but let’s be real. Tom Brady has a way of making his coaches look like geniuses.
Look what he did for Belichik, and look at Belichik w/o Tom Brady.
They called Bill Belichik a “genius” when Brady was there.
But w/o Brady, he has been revealed as a mere mortal.
In fact, if Belichik does not win this year, look for him to get run out of New England, the way he was run out of Cleveland.
July 18th, 2021 at 2:16 am
That’s just horse manure!! You can keep your young pretty boy coaches I’m rolling with no biscuit all day!!!!!
July 18th, 2021 at 2:27 am
Sorry one more thing.. What is this guy implying about Bruce not being the smartest or the toughest? Seems to me he’s saying he’s stupid and undisciplined but by golly somehow he gets results. That’s just disrespectful! Oh he came on the scene late rrrrppppt!! What? Who is this clown. What a freakin wiseguy. this writer needs to put some damn respect on Bruce’s name! He’s not your child or your contemporary fool!! This guy should make a list of the most popular baby’s names in 2021 and keep his mouth shut.
July 18th, 2021 at 3:53 am
The two Sean’s over Arians and Carroll is just plain ignorant. Reid over Bill is one of the dumbest things that I have read in a long time.
July 18th, 2021 at 6:18 am
Cody Benjamin, another idjut in a long list of maroons who don’t know sh!t.
July 18th, 2021 at 6:34 am
For someone who’s supposedly not into stats Joe, you sure do seem to get irritated a lot when fellow media folk throw out their own rankings’ OPINIONS.
Personally think that the mark of a truly great head coach is ‘consistent performance over time’, as a HC of course. BA has officially been a HC for 7 years (5 Cards, 2 Bucs). Over that time he’s had 4 winning teams & 3 teams that either broke even or had a losing record. His teams have won 1 Super Bowl. Not a bad body-of-work over 7 years, but not a Bill Belichick or Andy Reid resume either.
But then again, Bruce has grown to be a very different type of HC than either of them (and probably different than most HCs). Surrounds himself with a large staff of superb assistants & is well-known for letting them ‘do their thing’ without his micro-management. And when they make mistakes (hello BL) he helps them learn from those mistakes so they can grow. It’s admittedly taken me awhile to appreciate HOW he coaches, but the RESULTS speak for themselves IMO.
July 18th, 2021 at 7:41 am
Andy Reid has always approached the big game and then he won it, yet he is 17-15 in the playoffs and 1-2 in the Super Bowl. This guys full of spit. McDermit is barely above 500 but he’s better than Tomlin, BA, Carrol etc… Wow
July 18th, 2021 at 7:48 am
@Webster. Medicated Pete is a genius compared to this supposed analyst. Reid is average at best as an in game coach. Tomlinson disrespected also in the joke of a ranking . Mcvay has at least started his coaching career of well. McDermitt hasn’t done squat.
July 18th, 2021 at 7:58 am
Once again, TBBF will provide the additional information fans wish to know.
Reid
Billicheck
Harbaugh
Payton
McDermott
McVay
Carroll
July 18th, 2021 at 7:58 am
Media hacks can put all the lists together they want. There’s not a coaching staff in the league I’d take over ours. Great mix of young/old. And they’ve proven they can get it done, even in the most difficult situations.
July 18th, 2021 at 8:23 am
Jameis regressed under Bruce Arians. That’s an indisputable fact. Then he lands the GOAT and wins his first super bowl as a head coach. Does he get credit? Sure, but there’s better coaches than him.
Belichick, Payton, Reid, Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are all certainly better coaches. Pete Carroll is probably better. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan have way more upside long term and I’d take them over Bruce. Mike Vrabel and Frank Reich are probably his equivalent coaches. I like McDermott a lot but Josh Allen carried that offense last year
July 18th, 2021 at 8:59 am
I really hope JW is the starter this year, ought put to bed whether he was poorly coached here
July 18th, 2021 at 9:39 am
If Joe posted some stupid ranking by some idiot natty analyst wouldn’t be so much of a head scratcher, though.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:45 am
Joe’s point was Arians over McDermott and McVay. And he’s right. Two-time coach of the year Super bowl winner shouldn’t be lingering below those guys particularly right after he just won his Super bowl.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:49 am
Chris@apple…I agree 100%. Arians is a great recruiter of talent, Belecheck is not thus the reason he is in trouble last, this, and next year. Belecheck got good players because they were always in it within that division and with TB12. Definitely not because of Belecheck
Arians slipped Brady away, scary thing was that if we lose Brady to injury his solution in Gabbert? If he wins with him he is the greatest coach ever.
And to all the Andy Reid fans…Get lost, that guy is arrogant, he totally went into the superbowl not changing anything on their offense, thinking he was gonna win easily. He like Belechek did have/had a very good QB, without him he has very little. The blueprint is out now on how to beat the Chiefs, don’t let the little QB play backyard football and make him throw short. He will get impatient and have that poor QB rating he has had in both super bowls he has played.
July 18th, 2021 at 10:10 am
From coaches down through the players, no one on the team gets the credit they deserve. Too many years languishing in the dank cellar has distorted the perspective of those reporting on the team. It’s just a matter of time and increasing exposure before everyone on the outside comes to understand what we Buc’s fans know. This team is awesome.
July 18th, 2021 at 10:43 am
One advantage we admittedly have is we sucked for so many years that we had high draft picks. We could never have drafted Wirfs, Winfield of White winning 11-13 games every year
July 18th, 2021 at 11:29 am
Joe very tru. Results are what make BA better than Mcvay n dermot. And let’s not forget the QBs BA has developed and worked with.
July 18th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Ditto on “defense rules”. It is a clear and concise take, so I don’t have to write my own.
July 18th, 2021 at 12:11 pm
I don’t care any rank. But who will you choose to coach the current Bucs?
I certainly select Arians and the current staff!
July 18th, 2021 at 12:14 pm
The current BA would get more rings than Bellichick if he coached the Patriots. He is not smarter but he is more flexible and let TB get more responsibility
July 18th, 2021 at 12:32 pm
AGAIN…a simple question.
What has Bill Belichik accomplished as a head coach without Tom Brady.
Answer: NOTHING!
One winning season at 9-7 in seven years of NOTHING.
BB is a great DC but a poor HC and administrator. He could build killer defenses and make no mistake…I TOTALLY RESPECT BB’s defenses…but without Brady he is offensively impotent. As JW might say…just check out BB’s sheet.
July 18th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
BTW I look forward to D.R.’s counter.
He can make his excellent point that defense wins championships and BB IS the defensive mastermind. And he’d be right.
But then I’d bring up his point about complementary football. Without Brady BB was not able to produce a single team that played complementary football.
July 18th, 2021 at 2:06 pm
To be fair Bill was married to Tom for most of their careers, so hard to tell how either of them would have fared without the other. Bill’s days in Cleveland are not a fair comparison as Bill was still learning the ropes.
True, Bill is mostly a defensive guy, but he took a keen interest in the young Brady and the offense in the early 2,000’s. Bill ended up being as a complete head coach as anyone in the NFL.
Having said that, Bill benefited tremendously from having Brady as he would build superior defenses at the expense of spending next to nothing on the offense and let Brady bail him out, which Brady did again and again.
July 18th, 2021 at 2:31 pm
Beej
I dont think u understand how the draft works. For instance winfield was a 2nd round pick. Whats to say if the bucs had the 27th pick in the 1st round that they would not have picked winfield then? He clearly performed like a 1st round pick and i dont want to hear you dont draft a safety bs. The bucs were suprised when godwin was still on the board in the 3rd round. Every team had atleast 2 opportunities to pick him. Have u seen some of the wideouts picked before him? Plus all the trade up/trade down teams do throughout the draft. Who is to say the bucs would not have moved up 6 spots for wirfs if they had won 10 games the year prior? Hell they moved up 1 spot for him last year. You bring up white but i bet you were probably one of those who said you dont pick a mlb at 5 guys. Its not where you pick but who you pick.
July 18th, 2021 at 4:06 pm
westernbuc Says:
July 18th, 2021 at 8:23 am
Jameis regressed under Bruce Arians. That’s an indisputable fact. Then he lands the GOAT and wins his first super bowl as a head coach. Does he get credit? Sure, but there’s better coaches than him.
Belichick, Payton, Reid, Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are all certainly better coaches. Pete Carroll is probably better. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan have way more upside long term and I’d take them over Bruce. Mike Vrabel and Frank Reich are probably his equivalent coaches. I like McDermott a lot but Josh Allen carried that offense last year
Ummm what did jameis exactly regressed from with BA? He was the same player he’s always been give my a break smh.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:35 pm
my rankings:
1 Bellichek
2 Peyton
3 Reid
4 Harbaugh
5 Carroll
6 Tomlin
7 Arians
8 Mcdermot
9 Mcvay
10 Shanahan
11 Lafleur
12 Vrable
13 Rivera
14 Mcarthy
15 flores
The rest
Arians would be #3 if he had won it with Jameis. No questions asked. Arians is the perfect coach for this team. He doesn’t have to re-invent the wheel. The DC is set, The QB is set, and the team is loaded with talent. I consider Arians a good head coach. If he is able to win it again next year and then be successfull without brady and bowles………..he goes to the top.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:37 pm
StPete, I’d hate to play chess against you. Move-countermove-checkmate is about all I’d get. There was a day (I think) when defense could win championships with just a marginal offense.
Two examples: 2000 Ravens & 2002 Bucs. 2000 Ravens (12-4 on season & SB win) ranked #1 in defense, giving up only 165 points on the season, but their offense led by Trent Dilfer & Tony Banks ranked #14 scoring 333 points. That offense had 26 giveaways, but that defense had 49 takeaways (yup, 49). They romped in the playoffs, with their defense getting 12 more takeaways & giving up only 23 TOTAL POINTS in 4 games.
Our 2002 Bucs meanwhile (also 12-4 on season & SB win) ranked #1 in defense, giving up only 196 points on the season, while our offense led by Brad Johnson ranked #18 scoring 346 points. That offense had 21 giveaways, but our defense had 38 takeaways to compensate. They did well in the playoffs, with their defense getting 13 more takeaways & giving up only 37 TOTAL POINTS in 3 games.
Personal opinion, but I’d say that dominating DEFENSE won those two championships. I wouldn’t say the same thing though about our Bucs 2020 championship. Our defense wasn’t dominating for most of the season, but they did do a good job of COMPLEMENTING our offense. On the season we ranked #8 defensively, giving up 355 points in 16 games (just think, the 2000 Ravens and 2002 Bucs TOGETHER only gave up a total of 361 points in TWO seasons … less than 1 TD more than what our 2020 championship team surrendered on the season.
To be fair StPete, rules have changed, BUT … offenses are MUCH better nowadays IMO. And because of that, BALANCE between offense & defense capabilities appears to be much more important. Our Bucs have that IMO, and although it took us awhile last season for everything to gel, once it did, Katie bar the door. I’m really hoping that’ll transition nicely to this year, but at the same time believe that each year stands on its’ own. Everything has to be earned, and every game is a dogfight. That’s what makes it fun (other than that, there’d be no suspense & football would be boring).
July 18th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
Shanahan, Mc Vey, and La Fluer are really good coaches that overthink things at times. They all will be winners and great HC in this league for a long time. Don’t judge one stupid play call against tampa, inept offense in a SB, and the inability for Grappalo to connect a deep ball in the SB as their entire resume.
July 18th, 2021 at 9:51 pm
BTW StPete, I didn’t intentionally disregard the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady thing. To me that’s a similar story to the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes marriage and Sean Payton/Drew Brees marriage. Would one be great without the other? I don’t know the answer, because that scenario has never been played out (nothing to base an analysis on IOW).
Regardless though, there’s no question in my mind that Bill Belichick is an accomplished HC. So is Andy Reid and so is Sean Payton. And so is Pete Carroll and a number of others.
But ranking right up there with them is Bruce Arians. And I for one am glad that he’s our HC. He’s building a coaching tree & a core of young players here that hopefully will endure the test of time. That’s what we’ve been missing for far too many years.
July 19th, 2021 at 11:23 am
Hard to put Arians higher as prior to this year he had a losing record in the playoffs.
McVay has never had a losing record and has a higher career winning percentage.
Mcdermott and Arians are on the same level