Bruce Arians VIP
July 6th, 2021
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
Joe doesn’t think the following gets talked about enough.
Think of the job Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians did last year. It is tremendous.
Joe thinks one reason Arians isn’t getting enough run is he is constantly deflecting credit, claiming he does very little while propping up his coordinators.
The image of Arians at practice as the Kangol-hat-wearing, doddering grandfather tooling around in his Bucs-red golf cart seems more like a football junkie with strong connections on vacation than an intense coach (which he is when he steps out of the golf cart).
Arians’ job performance, however, is not lost on Adam Rank of NFL.com. Rank listed Arians atop what he believes are the “VIP’s” of the Bucs.
Head coach: Bruce Arians. I’m not sure we can be friends if you weren’t happy for my guy Bruce last season. … … He had this long, storied career as an assistant coach, but for a while, it looked like he would never get a chance to serve as a head man. When Chuck Pagano’s cancer diagnosis forced Arians into the big chair, he was selected as Coach of the Year. An honor he doubled down on two years later as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. After hanging up the whistle following the 2017 campaign, Bruce was amazing as a game analyst for CBS, but he just couldn’t stay away from the sideline. And now he’s out there living his best life. Swigging beers in a victory parade. Getting inked up. I don’t know, man — I don’t think there’s anybody out there enjoying himself more. And Arians seems like the perfect leader for this collection of talent on the field.
Even this writeup, while attempting to give Arians his props, paints Arians has as a guy half-retired just enjoying the ride. Joe doesn’t think that’s remotely accurate.
Who picked the Bucs assistants? Those assistants took a bunch of players conditioned to lose and to underachieve and turned them into champions.
Who decided that to go no-risk-it-no-biscuit and go all out to sign park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady?
Who decided it was Brady who was going to learn his offense, and not try to teach 10 other starters Brady’s offense?
Who decided to rehab Byron Leftwich’s career? The last we saw of Leftwich before he came to the Bucs, he failed to develop a first-round pick of a quarterback and was canned as his team finished with the first pick in the draft.
Arians did all of that and it was a masterstroke at every decision.
There is no doubt in Joe’s mind that Arians is the best coach the Bucs have ever had.
Yeah, Joe typed that. In two years he took a team that was a laughingstock and turned them into champions.
Name a better job by a Bucs coach? You can’t.
July 6th, 2021 at 11:07 am
Joe, but what about the sheep?
July 6th, 2021 at 11:07 am
1 Thing for sure is BA has become the Gold Standard for Bucs Coaches in their 47+ year history.
Sorry J Grud, BA is “THE MAN”
GO BUCS!!!!!
July 6th, 2021 at 11:10 am
All he needs to be a true pimp is spinner rims on that golf cart
July 6th, 2021 at 11:26 am
Joe…if Arians and Co. lead the Bucs to a second Superbowl this year, I don’t think there can be any doubt or argument from anyone that Arians is the best HC, and Licht is the best GM we have ever had.
July 6th, 2021 at 11:48 am
Brady is about done with Tampa Joe. He hasnt commented liked or said anything about Bucs since liking a happy birthday to left tackle Donovan Smith on June 23. I am a Brady fan and he coasted his last year in New England. Brady wants to play for Saints but that ain’t happening so he will just play golf and be the ambassador for his new venture in cyrpto
July 6th, 2021 at 11:50 am
Dungy could build a champion but couldn’t win one (here)
Gruden could win a championship but couldn’t build one (anywhere)
BA built a champion and won a championship … maybe 2
July 6th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Sure…Brady made the difference….made it happen….but I really don’t believe it happens without BA…..his leadership deserves credit for the Championship.
July 6th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
Sure blame BL for not getting Rosen to play like Joe Montana in the 7 games he was OC smdh. Too comical. BTW…..Arians, Christiansen, BL and Brady all on the same team could not get Rosen to be worth a crap this past season and he was in his 3rd year.
July 6th, 2021 at 12:40 pm
If you think any quarterbacks coach/OC should totally skate any responsibility for a first-round pick of a quarterback to fall flat on his arse, then you and Joe have a fully fundamental difference in an understanding of what a coach should do.
Seems you think a position coach is only paid to chew gum and swap dirty jokes with his players.
Now that is comical.
July 6th, 2021 at 12:44 pm
No question. He’d be the lone Bucs coach with two titles.
July 6th, 2021 at 1:23 pm
@Joe … “There is no doubt in Joe’s mind that Arians is the best coach the Bucs have ever had.”
No question in my mind either Joe. I really liked a lot of the things he did when he first got here in 2019, but that first year with Winston as our QB was BRUTAL. Bucs lacked the leadership on the field that they’ve so desperately needed for many, many years. And the giveaways just crucified both the offense AND the defense.
Signing Brady (a true Field General IMO) lit the fire, but it was a team effort to stoke that fire & keep it growing. BA has turned out to be the perfect HC to keep this whole thing under control yet getting stronger & stronger with each passing day.
July 6th, 2021 at 2:30 pm
@MedicatedPete:
Along with spinnerz, add a cool cane and a pewter feather in his hat. LOL.
July 6th, 2021 at 3:13 pm
What about a cape Pete?
July 6th, 2021 at 4:51 pm
It is fair to question Leftwitch for Rosens devolopement but I think you have to be careful not to take that narritive overboard.
The fact should be taken into account that it was not Byrons offense that the Cardinals were running. He was not the guy who gave a thumbs up to draft Rosen and he wasnt the guy who constructed the offense around him.
Byron was an assisant and likely had a limited role in all the decisions. When the Cardinals decided to fire their OC midseason they pretty much put the majority of the blame on the OC. At the same time they promoted Leftwitch is a sign that they were plaesed with his work as QB coach.
At the end of the day Arizona drafts Rosen with a top pick and then fires his OC midseason. That is a ridicilous turn of events and reveals a dysfunctional orginization. Then they cut the same rookie QB the next offseason while cleaning house……That to me is about near an impossible situation for Byron to come out looking good from.
July 6th, 2021 at 7:53 pm
@ joe…no whats comical is you think all 1st round qbs are the same. For every ben rothlesburger there is a insert any horrible 1st rd qb here. That is on the person who drafted said bust. A coach can do so much. Why did the cardinals draft a qb the very NEXT year? Because the new front office and coach felt rosen was HORRIBLE. Why did he not work in miami? Because he was HORRIBLE. Why did the bucs with all this “coaching talent” allow him to leave when they could have protected him? Because they too saw he was HORRIBLE. So 3 teams with 3 different front offices and 3 different coaching staffs in 3 years came to the conclusion that he is HORRIBLE yet you blame BL. None of the other coaches get any blame? Funny, Arians said he would only take this job if BL was available in order for him to call plays. That means he understood that BL is not the blame for rosen being HORRIBLE. You are a funny dude hombre
July 6th, 2021 at 8:08 pm
Here is another funny fact. After having rosen one year, the cardinals realized they needed a new qb and drafted one. Miami after having rosen for one year, they realized they needed a qb and drafted tua. The bucs after having rosen for 6 weeks realized they needed another young qb to groom behind brady and they drafted one in the SECOND round. That should tell you all you need to know about the greatness of rosen but it probably wont. Go ahead and blame BL jerry senfield. Too funny
July 6th, 2021 at 8:21 pm
Never wrote that.
July 6th, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Hands down, Arians is our best coach ever and is a walking hall of famer.
July 6th, 2021 at 10:27 pm
Lol, how did you get blamed for that one Joe,,lol
July 7th, 2021 at 1:02 am
Arians is the Best in the NFL and best coach the Bucs have had. Dungee and Gruden were both great coaches but Arians has the best of them both and the wisdom to get out of the coordinators’ way yet do his job on Sundays. He is the leader with the right stuff that everyone wants to play for. He’s also as down to earth as they come. Licht deserves all the credit for this team and getting the right head coach.
July 7th, 2021 at 4:51 am
BA is the Gold Standard already for the NFL’s Tampa Bay franchise
The team imploded under Gruden starting the very next season, the Meshawn Johnson crap is just one example. Overall the team began to unravel into a 7-9 record. It was not fun, as a fan of the team watching all this happen.
The leadership led by BA is not going let happen what Gruden allowed.
All BA has to do, to do better than Gruden is win 8 games with the defending Champions lol lol just 8 games. That should happen by mid season. Then the Bucs will be in Uncharted Waters with Capt BA at the Helm, guiding his first mate Cutthroat Brady to execute his assault on the National Football League, to capture again the spoils of the Lombardi trophy treasure.
Oh and hey Tom next Febuary, please toss the Lombardi to at least 5 boats lol lol
Oh excuse me, sorry Karen lol lol
Siege the Super Bowl, You Big Bad Azz World Champion Bucs!!!!!!
July 7th, 2021 at 8:35 am
BA has made a leap few football coaches master although in fairness there are a few in the NFL…as much as it pains me to say it one of them in our Division in N.O.
B.A. is truly exceptional though. It’s one thing for example to build a great business and become successful, it’s entirely different trying to franchise it and sell it nationally depending on OTHER people’s management and local vision.
Doc Webb is a St. Petersburg legend for his postwar Super Store Webb City. They sold everything!!! A forerunner to the “Marts” K and Wal. But Sam Walton found the right people to franchise the idea and grow it exponentially.
And so we shop at WalMart not Webb City.
BA has figured out how to franchise his talent. What will be truly interesting in years where I may be gone is how the BA coaching tree is viewed.
Any over/unders on how many BA assistants go on to further success as HC’s?
July 7th, 2021 at 10:16 am
BA didn’t really become great until he stopped force feeding his no riskit no biskit down Brady’s throat. When he finally comprised and worked things out with what Brady did best within the offense. I’m sure Brady liked it because he got to be more aggressive but still he’s an old dog set in his ways. Plus BA stopped waiting until half time to make adjustments. You all can say what you want but that’s what I observed. Now at the end of the year I felt BA deserved the Coach of the Year award, but just like Brady got snubbed he did too.
July 7th, 2021 at 7:45 pm
David 99….BA….stopped force feeding his no riskit no biskit down Brady’s throat.
That’s silly. Never happened. TB12 always aways had/has options based on what the D is giving. He can go long, intermediate or dump off to a RB. There was no force feeding….rather, TB12 was able to finally master BA’s rather co,mplex, and new tyo TB12, offense after the first half of the season….which was TB12’s OTAs and pre-season, essentially, because of Covid…it finally clicked. And plenty of long passes continued to be made WHEN that was read correctly as the best option.