Two seasons after leading the Cardinals to their second ever NFC Championship game, head coach Bruce Arians‘ future appears to be up in the air entering the final week of the regular season. In response to speculation that the he could be moving on in 2018, the veteran coach stated that, “Nothing’s changed in the last month and a half.” (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com).
Arians made clear to Weinfuss and a pool of reporters after Tuesday’s practice that he would decide on his coaching future between “Monday and February”.
The longtime head coach and offensive coordinator has had health problems in recent years, so it’s fair to ask whether he plans on hanging up his clipboard after the 2017 season is over. However, it appears that the decision to return or leave would solely be up to Arians, according to Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com (Twitter link).
Jurecki heard from sources that “The Cardinals would like to have Arians back next year.” So if this is indeed the case, the front office will plan on giving their coach as much time as he needs to figure out whether he still has the desire to lead the team in 2018.
During his five-year tenure with the Cardinals, Arians has accumulated a record of 39-27, taking the team to the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015. Although, under his guise, Arizona has failed to reach the postseason in each of the last two years thanks in large part to uncertainty at the quarterback position.
Maybe Big Ben would be happy if they got Arians to come back to Pittsburgh as OC?
He might end up in Indianapolis. I think Arizona would be making a bad mistake letting Arians go.