Three months after the Buccaneers’ second Super Bowl parade, Bruce Arians is not backing off the pledge he made at that time. The third-year Bucs HC not only wants to pilot a Bucs title defense but coach the team beyond 2021.
In 2019, Arians said he would retire if the Bucs won a Super Bowl. Now, the 68-year-old leader wants to finish out the five-year contract the Bucs gave him and could potentially coach beyond 2023.
“Oh yeah, that’s the plan. I don’t have any plans on retiring,” Arians said of finishing out his contract during an appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast. “It’s just, when do I not want to go back to work? When I’m not excited about going back to work then I’m cheating somebody. I’m cheating the Glazer family, I’m cheating my players. Right now I can’t wait to get back to work.”
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Tampa Bay deviated from its usual approach to contract structures this offseason, doing so in order to keep its Super Bowl squad together. The maneuvering involved a Tom Brady extension, which is packed with void years that stand to affect future Bucs payrolls. The Bucs are firmly in win-now mode, but Arians also dispelled the notion he would walk away when Brady does. Brady is signed through 2022.
“I don’t know when that’s going to happen,” Arians said of his own retirement, “but no, I’m not tied to any players. … I could get extremely excited about having another young quarterback and going to war with one,” Arians said. “I’ll be honest with you. I’d be excited to take Blaine Gabbert to war because I love Blaine Gabbert. I think he is the most underrated player in the NFL. So yeah, when its not fun, then it will be time.”
Arians is the third-oldest head coach in the NFL, after Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick, but he did retire after the 2017 season. A three-time cancer survivor, Arians spent 2018 in the broadcast booth. But he has made his comeback one of the best in NFL coaching history, ending a lengthy Bucs playoff drought and giving the franchise its second championship, and wants to continue this chapter beyond 2021.
He seems like a cool dude. Definitely one heck of a coach. Wherever he goes, teams win.