Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich, Todd Bowles And Arians’ Absence From One Buc Palace
September 16th, 2023
Coaches are family.
Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians is in the final year of his contract as senior advisor to the general manager.
If Arians has been around One Buc Palace the past few months, he’s been incognito. Last year, his first year after retiring from head coaching, Arians was seen often at practices, sometimes on the sidelines working with quarterbacks.
Shoot, Arians was even working directly with the Bucs offense last year in their scrimmages in Nashville with the Titans.
And the whole country knows Arians got into a back-and-forth with Marcus Lattimore of the slimy Saints last year on the sidelines in the middle of a Week 2 game.
Since Arians’ hand-picked offensive coordinator Bryon Leftwich was let go in January, Joe hasn’t seen Arians at One Buc Palace. Joe likes to joke that Arians was so involved with the draft, on the same weekend the draft was held, Arians had to take a break and on Day 2 of the draft he was spotted walking through the crowd with Rondé Barber at a concert at the Ice Palace.
As Joe discussed on the “Ira Kaufman Podcast,” it feels like Arians is miffed that Leftwich was fired and, as a result, Arians has kept his distance.
This is Joe connecting the dots, not a verifiable fact.
Arians is unhappy that Leftwich lost his job. And again, Joe hasn’t spotted Arians at One Buc Palace since Leftwich was let go, despite Arians still being on the Bucs’ payroll.
Arians just launched a new podcast with Melanie Collins of CBS titled — you’ll be shocked — “No Risk It No Biscuit.” It doesn’t appear it will be a typical “Let’s break down the games” kind of a pod. It’s more Collins prodding Arians to just talk ball and tell stories. Arians, of course, is a helluva storyteller.
There, Arians spoke at length about how he takes it personally when an assistant coach is fired. In all of his stops as a head coach, both college and the NFL, Arians brags he never once fired an assistant.
“I probably learned it from Coach [Bear] Bryant,” Arians said of not firing assistants. “I hired you. It’s my job to make you better. If you are not doing your job, I’ve got to fix it. I’m not just going to throw you away just to save my face or not get fired.
“Now I have been fired a couple of times and someone else got to keep their job. It was just not in my makeup. I think I learned it from Coach Bryant. He might reassign you but you never lost your job. He would give you a raise and move you over here.
“There were some owners that wanted me to fire some people. ‘No. I will make them better. I hired them. I hired them for a reason. They are damn good. We ain’t firing nobody. That’s family.’
“And if you know me, family is big.”
Joe admires Arians’ passion for defending assistants. What struck Joe was that Arians admitted on the same pod he had to fire friends and former co-workers when he took over the Cardinals. At the time, the Cardinals’ coaching staff had several former Steelers assistants that Arians had worked with in Pittsburgh.
Arians admitted that was tough, but he said he already had picked who his Cardinals assistants would be so there was no room at the inn, so to speak.
If Arians feels slighted in some way because Leftwich got canned, how is what Bowles did any different than what Arians did when he arrived in Phoenix? Shouldn’t Bowles be allowed to have his own staff?
Joe understands some folks think Arians is upset with Bowles for moving on from Leftwich. Joe has a difficult time swallowing that because Bowles goes way back with Arians to their Temple days. Bowles played for Arians at Temple. Talk about family. Bowles has been a part of Arians’ football “family” life a whole lot longer than Leftwich. Still, families, happy families, disagree all the time.
Arians, in the video of the pod, looks great. He appears well-rested and has slimmed down.
Joe just hopes the reason Arians has not been around One Buc Palace is that he’s enjoying retirement at his rural Georgia lakehouse with daily rounds of golf. Not because he has a beef with his former player and long-time assistant for how Leftwich was launched.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:08 am
Sad story. Arians should know better than anyone that the business is turnover. Much respect for Bowles doing some of the right things (not including ST coach) knowing it would alienate his mentor and friend.
Wish coach Arians would support Bowles instead of undermining him. Makes Bucs fans sad.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:18 am
Much respect to the ole ball coach!
That being said, stepping down and naming Bowels as his replacement at HC was a middle finger to the fans and players…
September 16th, 2023 at 1:47 am
Agreed with Tye. Bailing last second was a horrible move. He backed Licht into a corner, set Bowles up for failure, and hindered TB12’s last year.
His goal was to get “his guys” hired. Success does that on it’s own. Now he’s pouting. In the article he’s trying to say he’s a strong character guy but his actions point to the opposite. Great football mind. Got us a SB. Grateful for that. Like Gruden, the person may be a little suspect.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:51 am
I would love to sit down with BA for a long off the record chat.
Some real mysteries I would like to know more facts about. Not just about Leftnut. But also about other things that many, including Joe speculate about.
Go Bucs
September 16th, 2023 at 1:55 am
I like his perspective. I don’t buy the Leftwhich as a scapegoat thing. Not for a second. He had a top offense for many years.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:44 am
Arians certainly didn’t like Leftwich being fired, but I very seriously doubt he’s holding any grudge. That doesn’t seem like him at all.
More likely, it’s this: Arians is a coach, through and through. He’s not a front office man. Now that there’s a new offensive coordinator–and more importantly, a new offense–it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to be meandering around practice, potentially undermining what Dave Canales is trying to teach.
It also had been reported that Arians had health issues last year, and wouldn’t have been able to coach the whole season even if he hadn’t retired.
I really truly think Arians is totally over the Leftwich firing and is enjoying his retirement.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:58 am
I have zero doubt he’s mad about it. Arians was trying to pull off the greatest scam in football history, to take a complete zlitch like Leftwich, and make him a headcoach. And if Leftwich wasn’t so stupid, that would have happened. Every report says the Jags offered Leftwich the job there last summer, but Leftwich is such a moron, and thought he was so good and his talents would be in such demand, that he told the Jags to take the job and shove it unless he got to hand pick his own GM. The Jags said, no thank you.
That’s where Arians anger is misplaced, he should be mad at Leftwich for screwing up his plan, not Bowles. As for last year, it was obvious what changed – Arians wasn’t there yelling at Leftwich to open things up and to mix things up.
With that said, if Arians wanted Leftwich to keep his job, he should have insisted on being on the sideline like he was in the Bucs opened the year 2-0. Once he left the sideline, the team went 6-9.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:59 am
Probably right. Dave Canales’ offense is about as different as “no Risk It No Biscuit” as night and day.
September 16th, 2023 at 3:11 am
For those that care, I went back and watched the ALL 22, every play of the game vs the Vikings…
Some observations…
Mayfield did a much better job in the 1st half than I thought he did watching TV. Yes, he missed a wide open TD to Ko, but mostly did just fine. Watching it live I thought he was awful that first half, but I stand corrected. In the 2nd half he played well, as we know, but really, he was about the same the entire game, he just got better results in the 2nd half. So that makes me feel quite a bit better about him.
The offense was really about him getting rid of the ball fast most of the time, and Baker seemed to be reading and reacting pretty quickly, and was throwing to the right guys based on what I could see (the ALL 22 isn’t always zoomed out far enough to see everything). The offensive line seemed to play pretty well most of the day.
R. White is absolutely not an issue in the run game. For the most part there was absolutely no holes, and on a few plays, he got something by being patient. People saying stupid stuff, like Tiki on TV, saying he needs to run into the back of his offensive lineman on every play are morons. I think, in the whole game, there was like one run in the 3rd quarter where I thought he might have been better not to wait, every other time he waited, he made the correct call as there was literally nothing there, and yet he ended up getting an extra half-yard, yard, or more. Also there’s a lot of group blocking that White is waiting for to be setup, if the line can better get their timing down, that might be a heck of a play.
As for Tucker, I stand by what I’ve said all along. He’s just a guy. No idea why people are excited about him. He should be fine as a backup, and if he was to start he’d be OK for a game or two. That’s about all I see. Maybe that changes. Not bad, just doesn’t stand out in any way.
Cody – Needs to put on weight / muscle. He was fine, but does get pushed around a bit, but still holds up. I’m guessing next year, after a full year in an NFL building, he’s going to be more what we hope he is. But those who want him to dominate this year, it might be a bit early. Again, nothing bad, he got it done, but he wasn’t a people mover.
Luke – Seemed fine for the most part. Didn’t really stand out in any way, which is generally a good thing.
Godwin – that 4th down catch on the wide ALL 22 angle makes it look even more impressive than the TV angle. He covered a lot of ground to get to that.
September 16th, 2023 at 3:20 am
Continued…
Defensive thoughts from watching the ALL 22.
Note: lots of talking on the defense, lots of communication, guys moving around even as the ball was hiked. It cost them on that long TD pass where Neal was out of position, right as the ball was snaped him and Winfield flipped sides of the field and it seemed to catch Neal flatfooted. As for all the chatter, I assume that lessens as the season goes along. Hopefully.
And that PI on the Bucs in the Vikings endzone was complete horses— – literally nothing there, nothing happened. Ridiculous call.
The team did in fact blitz a lot more than it felt like watching it on TV. And, as we did think watching TV, the Vikings ate up the zone defense for tons of yards.
Kancey looked fantastic in his few snaps. Wow, what a difference maker he might end up being. Get this guy healthy and lets see what he can do, but he’s got some bigtime explosion. Him and Vita side by side is gonna be yuge.
Devin White played a great game, was everywhere, really didn’t make any bad plays that I noticed.
Zyon is really really fast, and he’s going to block a kick this year. Mark it down.
David is just insane to still be that good at his age. A future HOF’er for certain.
Davis – not sure what was going on with him on some plays, where he seemed to not be running at full speed. I doubt it’s an effort thing, I’m thinking maybe he played that game with his injury, and in game he made it worse.
Vita mostly looked great out there.
September 16th, 2023 at 4:10 am
It would seem pretty childish if Arians gave his best coach buddy the cold shoulder after elevating him to head coach. Even if he didn’t want ole lefty fired, he wouldn’t want “his guy” to fail and never get a head coaching job again. But…. If Arians is doing that, he’s taking a big hit to who he is. I just honestly think mama told him to step aside because of health issues and last year was his transition year.
September 16th, 2023 at 4:54 am
Rod, what you said about Leftwich wanting GM duties in Jacksonville is not accurate. That GM was making some atrocious moves, releasing and trading star players like Jalen Ramsey. Leftwich wanted ANOTHER GM, not to be the GM.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:19 am
It seems to me Arians stuck around to help Leftwich succeed because Bruce knew Lefty was an in competent boob. Once he was rightly fired what’s the point of Bruce sticking around? Canales runs a totally different scheme, and let’s face it, there’s enough coaches already. Nice of Bruce to be loyal, and bring minorities like Leftwich along. What I have a problem with is he’s not helping the cause if the person just isn’t good enough to do the job. Many livihoods are on the line constantly in the NFL. Better to fire some people who are incapable then to have a whole staff fired at the end of the year.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:25 am
@RodMunch, thanks for this recaps and insight.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:29 am
Rod said Leftwich wanted to hand pick his GM not be the GM. I only read that he wanted a different one not that he wanted to pick them. It could be true that he wanted input but I don’t remember hearing that much detail.
Interesting breakdown on that all 22 Rod. Thanks for sharing.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:53 am
Rod … Excellent analysis; thanks for the insight. Wondering now if maybe Davis’ toe injury happened early in the game & he tried to play through it.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:57 am
The fact that Leftwich has no job proves Arians is the only one that thinks Leftwich is “damn good”. He can pout all he wants. I haven’t seen him out talking up or defending Byron, so what’s up with that?
September 16th, 2023 at 6:21 am
I think we the viewer can sometimes, correction most times miss contextual situations whereas we’re performing poorly offensively and the first thing we want to do is blame the obvious. You can’t blame Tom Brady for our offensive struggles because he’s the GOAT, right? And I’m not saying we should, simply building a point here on why Leftwich was a good fire. NO ONE ELSE in the NFL, the experts that understand schemes and game film better than us armchair peeps, saw through his struggles last season and hired him to their coaching staff. Perhaps Byron wasn’t going to take anything less than an offensive coordinator position. Even college, well at least Norte Dame took a pass on him as well.
Tom Brady’s ability isn’t exactly versatile. He’s a pocket guy, brilliant at identifying what the defense is giving him and where the mismatches are, who also if I had to guess isn’t a big fan of pre-snap motion. We won’t know until we see Byron coaching again down the road.
September 16th, 2023 at 6:43 am
Also think that move to emphasize the run and focus on the short passing game
that Leftwich and Brady wanted to run started the gradual stepping away of Arians
from the Bucs.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:09 am
Wish he was still our coach. This dink and dunk is bullcrap.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:12 am
BA killed the Bucs. Bowels should have been fired the day after the Rams loss. Neither BL or Bowels are any good and the fact that BA’s decision was based off loyalty and friendship versus what is best for the team just proves what a selfish egomaniac he is. The guy maybe come off as the happy drunk uncle but drunks have mean streaks as well. Someone wrote already, BA gave the Bucs the middle finger when he QUIT/faked retired on them.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:19 am
NE fan, GTFOH ffs smh NO ONE HERE wants a NE fans point of view, go back to your team.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:20 am
Now Todd just has to get rid of Armstrong and he’ll have a better staff
September 16th, 2023 at 7:37 am
Tell ya what Mike C, Bucs go 3-0 and I will disappear for good. GO BUCS!!!
September 16th, 2023 at 7:43 am
Boy, whatever the reason was that the Jags did not hire Leftwich, they sure dodged a bullet.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:44 am
Just listened to the podcast, Coach still hates Refs. lol
September 16th, 2023 at 7:48 am
Arians is shockingly overrated. Bucs won the SB because of Brady and his influence on the offense. Bumbling Bryan was NEVER good enough. Just too stubborn to be an OC. Great coordinators are flexible and willing to change from week to week to get the win. Byron simply does not have the acumen for this. That’s why he’s jobless.
September 16th, 2023 at 7:50 am
NE fan , you have no reason to be here than to troll buc fans.. go away to your loser patriots
September 16th, 2023 at 7:58 am
Bucs in the AFC would be a laughing stock.
September 16th, 2023 at 8:08 am
Rod
Not that this will please you coming from an old man in a “nursing home” lol.
But that first post gets mad props from me! This is not a place where people admit their first take might not have been spot on. I like to admit my mistakes…such as thinking JW was the right pick.
BTW I agree with virtually everything you said about FOOTBALL. I respect that you take the time to look at the ALL 22 and don’t just didn’t fill a post with insults and hyperbole. That was a solid effort this morning!
I’m wondering if what you noticed in Davis performance might have been the beginning of his turf toe?
September 16th, 2023 at 8:09 am
LMAO
“Bucs in the AFC would be a laughing stock.”
Perhaps. But nowhere near the laughing stock of NE Fan posting on JBF.
BWAAAHAAAHAAAHAA
September 16th, 2023 at 8:11 am
Gotta laugh at this one from a Jets fan on another website:
“Paul Azar
Jets should try out the Democrat Party’s thousands of illegals in NYC and see if anybody can play QB.”
September 16th, 2023 at 8:15 am
NE Fan Says:
September 16th, 2023 at 7:37 am
Tell ya what Mike C, Bucs go 3-0 and I will disappear for good. GO BUCS!!!
——————–
Is that a promise you’ll keep? I doubt it severely.
———————–
Thanks Rod for the excellent video analysis! I listen to Bucs Radio cos I don’t like the boob tube idiot announcers. However, I don’t see the visuals ‘cept on highlights. That’s why I read these blogs: to get more informed and educated. Appreciate it.
September 16th, 2023 at 8:17 am
I also read the blogs for the laffs, too. 🙂
September 16th, 2023 at 8:18 am
Charles, the Masshole Governor let in 20,000 illegal immigrants. I’ll bet there was a very intense background check before the flood gates opened. Closing down university dorm/conference ctr to create a shelter for them. GET OUT you PAYING college students.
September 16th, 2023 at 8:20 am
Oralbuc, that’s a promise, I will vanish from the Bucs like Brady did. “PATRIOT for LIFE!!!”
September 16th, 2023 at 8:21 am
Lefty had to go, and BA couldn’t possibly be pissed about it. It was that obvious. BA taking a back seat gives Bowles & Canales the space they need to do it their way. Good move.
September 16th, 2023 at 8:30 am
there is no way that everyone knows lefty was a completely incompetent OC…meanwhile his mentor BA views him as a crafty chess playing OC…if such was the case, wouldn’t BA at least be able to get his guy a gig elsewhere in the league…after all it’s a boys club and BA is a seasoned vet and connected throughout…
maybe BA is having trouble digesting the facts about lefty…if i’m correct, even lefty admitted he was terrible last year…
———–
and nice observations post by rod munch
September 16th, 2023 at 8:34 am
NE Fan Says: “Charles, the Masshole Governor let in 20,000 illegal immigrants.”
Yeah but I hear the most athletic illegals were released in New York City where they can contribute the most.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:04 am
@ROD MUNCH
Well done and thank you. I enjoyed your all 22 breakdown. I re-watched the game is well, and you validated everything I wittnessed and then some.
The way it’s been generalized that we were terrible in the first half is just contextual off. I’m still of the belief that Evans should have had at least 1 of his 3 drops that occurred during the game. We hit that deep ball to him in the first half and it’s a different ball game…maybe. Just had a hard time getting into rhythm, and making in-game play adjustments with that crowd noise, almost seemed impossible (I was at the game, it was the loudest experience I’ve ever witnessed). Given the newness of everything and truly breaking in a new offense in a very difficult stadium to play-in, I’d say we did fine, with an even better outcome. I just hope this week with home field that we can open things up a bit more and build from Week 1.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:15 am
What hoops do you have to jump thru to SEE the All-22 video? I love that stuff
September 16th, 2023 at 9:19 am
According to Rods analysis the Bucs should have won 42-0. He saw nothing wrong. That Bowels guy really got it going now. Snuck by the current WORST team in the league. Congratulations!
September 16th, 2023 at 9:57 am
NEfakefan. You ain’t even a real Patriot fan your crush on Tom Brady is what made you watch football from jump!!! I told y’all that this guy wasn’t even a Patriot fan. Lol 🤣🤣
September 16th, 2023 at 10:04 am
Oneilsuckyall, surprised to hear from you. You don’t usually make you presence know until the Bucs loose and you complain how Trask is being held back and should be the starter and how Jamais should have never been traded.
September 16th, 2023 at 10:12 am
“Mike Evans is gonna hold out!” “Tristan Wirfs isn’t gonna be as good at LT!” Look, I understand the constant need to gin up content. But it’s nonsense like these takes and this article that makes one hold their nose coming to this site just to check Bucs news. Isn’t Arians on record saying his presence last year may’ve undermined Todd’s perceived authority in the building & with the team, & that’s why he was gonna bail this year? This article posits that he’s pissed at the person he promoted to the head job for then doing his job and firing an ineffective coordinator. Way to massively disrespect both Todd & Bruce in one fell swoop with such asinine reasoning.
September 16th, 2023 at 10:14 am
Hopefully Bowles told him to stay away. Too many cooks…
Has Warren Sapp been around, since badmouthing Devin White?
September 16th, 2023 at 10:27 am
Good piece Joe. The guile of Kangol to think EVERYONE will buy his crap.
September 16th, 2023 at 11:23 am
@Rod mad respect. I saw the same. 😏😆.
Bowles didn’t hire Leftwich so he didn’t fire an asst he hired. 🤷🏿♂️
September 16th, 2023 at 11:28 am
So if Kangol was still on the payroll and he believes in “coaching up” his assistants instead of firing them, why didn’t he coach up Leftnut when the entire world could see that he was failing as an OC ? He most certainly cannot use the ” Bowles wants to run the ball more ” excuse. If Mr. Coach Triple B is “family” to Kangol, how could he possibly let that debacle of last year happen with the offense. Keep digging BA, keep digging.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:08 pm
I’m thinking the interview Leftnut did with Curtbone TV was contrived and intended to paint him in a good image to salvage his reputation and career. It was designed to make him appear humble. I don’t recall Leftnut being humble at any of his post game interviews. It was designed to make him appear that he failed at his job but not for the lack of effort. After all coaches can have an off year, right ? Since that interview the brilliant young coaching prospect with a SB ring and 3 years with TB12 still isn’t working in football. Last year the entire team demeanor seemed out of sorts. The coaching staff dysfunction manifested itself in the play and effort of the players. Suddenly and mysteriously with the disappearance of Kangol we now have what appears to be a well coached team with the same head coach. Todd Bowles went from Zero to Hero. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in Palm Springs last year.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:08 pm
I really couldn’t care any less about him. Especially after he told the team and fans he was returning to coach the team and at the last second pulled the no I am not BS. If anything he is responsible for last years total mess. Don’t care if I never hear from him again.
September 16th, 2023 at 12:33 pm
NEfakefan. I guess the Patriots fans rejected you so now you are back on the bucs fan site. Lol 🤣🤣🤣 Go root for your sorry Patriots o I forgot your master and your crush is not playing football anymore lol 🤣🤣!!!
September 16th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
BA recommended, installed and backed a loser. He should be embarrassed.
Like holding on to draft pics, organizations fail for not correcting your mistakes,
September 16th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Everybody outside of Tampa Bay knows Leftwhich was fired to cover up one of Tom Bradys poorest seasons as a pro. Brady was terrible last year. Even he knew it. He was the direct cause of us losing at least 3 games I watched. Leftwhich was the sacrificial lamb..period.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
Thankfully the Glazers saw the light. In my opinion they had to see what was really happening behind the curtains and if not then the learned from past mistakes. They had already once promoted a “brilliant ” offensive mind to head coach ; Dirk Koetter. How did that work out ? This time it was a clear and obvious choice. They already had the right candidate in house. Todd Bowles offered them a perfect blend of Tony Dungy and Mike Tomlin.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
NE Fan promised he was leaving with Brady so his word doesn’t count for sh!t anyways. Just a troll.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:24 pm
All the stupid penalties, mistakes and lack of effort have vanished along with the disappearance of Kangol Hat. Surely that must stick in the craw of the Hat. Score: Triple B – 1, Kangol Hat -0.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:29 pm
NE Fan – Rewatching the game without commentary, and they don’t show down and distance and score, and while the Bucs offense felt out of sync in the first half, they were clearly the better team. I will say for the Vikings, Kirk make a lot of plays by himself, really hung onto the ball until the last possible second and was pinpoint accurate most of the time, he kept them in the game despite the turnovers.
The only legit TD the Vikings got was when Neal did that late switch with Winfield as the ball was snapped and was just caught flat footed. Absolutely not an effort issue, just seemed like the Bucs were working on a lot of stuff, talking a lot on defense, which seemed to settle down as the game went along.
Watching the game last Sunday, I felt like the Bucs barely scraped by, but that was not the impression I got with the film.
Now it could be it’s just that the Vikings are not that good of a team, and it’s worth noting Baker’s history is filled with him looking promising for a stretch then flaming out – and I have absolutely not been a Baker fan to be clear – but he looked good last week, a lot better than I thought he did watching him live, and he deserves props for that. We’ll see if he can keep it up or not.
September 16th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Bowles didn’t hire Lefty, so Arians being upset with Bowles makes no sense. If I was Arians, I’d be more pissed off with Leftwich for screwing up what I’d built and left him with and not upset at all with Bowles.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
Bucco, no nice, where did you learn your manners Jeff’s Grandpa or oneilsuckyall?
September 16th, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Glazers told him to fire Lefty
He refused then screwed everyone.
You can’t make crap better.
Lefty has no job and probably won’t because he is awful.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
WOW ! While riding my mower a thought came to mind. Suppose it wasn’t Leftnut that committed sabotage, at least not entirely ? Accepting that both the HAT and Leftnut were angry with Triple B getting the job, suppose the Hat said to his loyal and indebted protege, “Don’t worry Byron, we’ll get the Glazers.” Perhaps the HAT said to Leftnut; If Todd wants to run the ball more that is EXACTLY what WE are going to do. You just do as I say and this will make us look good and Todd won’t suffer TOO much because he is known as a defense guy. Perhaps Byron realized as the season progressed that he WAS BEING PLAYED. That would possibly explain why he was so surly with the media. Perhaps Byron IS ASHAMED and has been humbled. Perhaps after his one and only media appearance he has made the wise decision to lay low and keep his mouth shut. Keep digging BA, keep digging. All the arrows are flying right toward YOU. There is nothing unusual about this theory. This same story and script has been around forever. If Byron had been hired as HC then the HAT could remain around on the payroll as consultant and keep raking in the dough and build on his legacy. The HAT miscalculated. His legacy tree is producing lemons not peaches.
September 16th, 2023 at 2:59 pm
Citrus:
There is no conspiracy here. Bruce Arians wanted Todd Bowles to get the job. Pretty confident this was set up when Arians negotiated with the Glazers in late 2018 for the job. (Folks, billion dollar companies negotiating contracts for tens of millions of dollars don’t make hires/moves in a matter of hours.)
Arians even said one reason he stepped down when he did was so Bowles had a quarterback to work with.
September 16th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
OK, you get the last word.
September 16th, 2023 at 3:20 pm
Any coach that leads the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory will forever be a favourite in my heart
September 16th, 2023 at 4:50 pm
I can’t even speculate on what happened with Arians and the organization but it is my belief whatever it was happened after the Saints game early in the season. Arians went from being on the sidelines to not even going to the games at all. Saw him several times on game day nowhere near the Bucs.
September 16th, 2023 at 5:50 pm
BA won us a Super Bowl with the best QB ever to play the game. It’s greatly appreciated now go ahead and move along, play golf, bocci or whatever. Don’t really care one way or the other.
September 16th, 2023 at 6:33 pm
If this is true, it is on Arians for not getting his boy Byron ready for the spotlight. I don’t blame Todd for dumping Byron, but is there a chance the Glazer fam had a say in the offensive firings due to the atrocious loss to Dallas at home?
September 16th, 2023 at 8:01 pm
I think the reason that Arians does spend much time with the Bucs…is that the offense is total different. It’s not Arians system…so he probably doesn’t have much to add.
September 16th, 2023 at 8:44 pm
Arians gave us a Superbowl. Grateful for that. He left in the middle of the night and left the BUCS in a terrible position. Character guys don’t do that. He put it to the franchise and put it to them good. So I really don’t care what he thinks of r what he’s doing now.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:01 pm
More of e theory than a story, but I get your point, Joe.
Personally, I don’t think the Leftwhich firing bothers Arians…because Bowles didn’t hire Leftwich, Arians did. That kind of blows a hole in the theory.
No, I think Arians which wanted him to avoid stress and spend more time with her over the summer. Clearly it helped him feel better.
As I understand it, he had health issues last year, so he needed to take it easy. Get healthy again.
A podcast is low stress. More power to him. As much as I wish he were still our head coach, he has earned what he’s got.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:02 pm
“No, I think Arians which wanted him to avoid stress”
meant
“No, I think Arians wife wanted him to avoid stress”
Sometimes my fingers type out of habit instead of what I want them to.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:04 pm
Bucnjim Says
“I can’t even speculate on what happened with Arians and the organization but it is my belief whatever it was happened after the Saints game early in the season. Arians went from being on the sidelines to not even going to the games at all. Saw him several times on game day nowhere near the Bucs.”
NFL banned him from the sidelines during the season.
And then he had a couple health scares.
September 16th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
@Rod Munch
Yeah, I thought Kirk was really good too. If we had a good OL, I would have loved to have him here.