The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will entrust Bruce Arians to return them to the postseason, something he's all too familiar with during his quarter-century in the National Football League.
On Tuesday, the Buccaneers announced the hiring of Arians as the 12th head coach in franchise history; he and the team agreed to a four-year contract through 2022 with a fifth-year option in 2023. Arians succeeds Dirk Koetter, who was relieved of his duties on December 31 after three seasons at the helm. He returns to the field after one season as a broadcaster for CBS, but his NFL experience is extensive and marked with success, especially during his five-plus seasons as a head coach.
"Bruce Arians is one of the NFL’s most well-respected coaches over the past two decades and we are excited to have him leading our team. Throughout this process, we focused on finding the right coach with a proven ability to elevate our players and lead our team forward. Bruce has played a large role in the development and career success of some of our league’s best players and we look forward to seeing him continue that work here with our franchise," said Buccaneers Owner/Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer.
Arians served as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach from 2013-17 before electing to retire at the end of the 2017 campaign. During those five years, the Cardinals posted a record of 49-30-1, making Arians the winningest coach in the history of a franchise that began play in 1920. Including his 12-game stint as an interim head coach in Indianapolis in 2012, during which his team went 9-3, Arians has an all-time head coaching record of 58-33-1 and an exceptional winning percentage of .636. He was named the NFL Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in both 2012 and 2014, first with the Colts and later with the Cardinals.
The Buccaneers, looking to break an 11-year postseason drought, have found a leader whose NFL tenure suggests he can do just that. Arians has been on an NFL coaching staff for 25 seasons, and 15 of those have ended in the playoffs. That includes three trips to the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers – in the 2005, 2008 and 2010 seasons – the first two of which resulted in league championships. Arians was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator for the latter two of those Super Bowl seasons.
Arians' Arizona teams made the playoffs in two of his first three seasons at the helm; the franchise was postseason-bound in just three of its previous 30 campaigns. He also experienced three postseason trips in four years with Kansas City (1989-92), two with the Colts in a three-year stint in Indianapolis (1998-2000) and one during three years in Cleveland (2001-03). The Browns' postseason foray in 2002 stands as the team's only playoff trip in the 20 years since the franchise returned to play in 1999.
Overall, the 25 NFL teams for which Arians has worked as a coach have compiled a regular-season record of 238-153-2 for a winning percentage of .598.
Arians' coaching background leans towards the offensive side of the ball, but his teams in Arizona fared extremely well on defense. The Cardinals ranked in the top 10 in points allowed in three of his five years at the helm and in the top 10 in yards allowed in four of those five seasons. The Cardinals allowed the sixth-fewest points and the third-fewest yards in the league during his head coaching tenure while producing the fourth-most takeaways.
Of course, Arians is taking over a Buccaneers team that fared better on offense in 2018, ranking first in the NFL in net passing yards and third in overall net yards. In Arizona, Arians assumed a squad that had finished last in the NFL's offensive rankings the previous year and led them to a 12th-place finish in his first year. In 2015 and 2016, the Cardinals ranked in the top 10 in both yards and points scored, including a 2015 campaign in which the team posted the most yards and the second-most points in the NFL.
Tampa Bay has committed to 25-year-old quarterback Jameis Winston in 2018, and Arians has experience working with a young and promising passer. The Colts hired Arians as their quarterbacks coach in 1998, the same year they selected Peyton Manning as the first-overall pick in the draft. Manning threw for 3,739 yards and 26 touchdowns as a rookie, then drastically cut down his interception rate in his second year and made the Pro Bowl in each of the next two seasons under Arians.
Similarly, the Steelers hired Arians as their wide receivers coach in 2004, the same season the franchise selected quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th-overall selection. While Arians wasn't Roethlisberger's position coach for his first three seasons, he did take over as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator in 2007. Roethlisberger made the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2007, throwing a then-career-high 32 touchdown passes against just 11 interceptions. Roethlisberger hit a career-high with a 104.1 passer rating that season and finished at 97.0 or better in three of Arians' five seasons as the coordinator.
Arians began his coaching career in 1975 as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech, where he had played as a quarterback in a wishbone offense. He was hired by Mississippi State three years later as a wide receivers and running backs coach, the first of his two stints with the Bulldogs. After three years at Mississippi State and two at Alabama, he was hired as the head coach at Temple in 1983. He spent six years in that post before the Chiefs gave him his shot at the NFL in 1989.
After four seasons as the running backs coach in Kansas City, during which he tutored Christian Okoye, among others, Arians returned to Mississippi State as the offensive coordinator from 1993-95. He bounced back to the NFL as a tight ends coach in 1996, then spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Alabama before returning to the NFL for good in Indianapolis in 1998.
With Arians, the Buccaneers have turned to a former NFL head coach to take the reins for the sixth time in franchise history, following the hires of Leeman Bennett in 1995, Ray Perkins in 1997, Sam Wyche in 1992, Jon Gruden in 2002 and Lovie Smith in 2014. Arians is the Bucs' first head coach to have previously held that position with two other teams, counting his interim stint in Indianapolis.
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Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians walks on the field before the Cardinals face the San Diego Chargers in an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
Bruce Arians, head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, accepts the AP Coach of the Year award, presented by Lenovo, on stage at the 4th annual NFL Honors at the Phoenix Convention Center Symphony Hall on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2015. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision for NFL/AP Images)
Former NFL player Ray Lewis, right, presents the AP Coach of the Year award, presented by Lenovo, to Bruce Arians, head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, on stage at the 4th annual NFL Honors at the Phoenix Convention Center Symphony Hall on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2015. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision for NFL/AP Images)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians talks with quarterback Carson Palmer (3) during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians speaks after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. The game ended in overtime in a 6-6 tie. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians walks into the stadium prior to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Dallas Cowboys, Thursday, August. 3rd, 2017 in Canton, Ohio. (Logan Bowles via AP Images)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) talks with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on the sidelines after completing a pass to wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) for a touchdown of the NFL football game against the Cleveland Brownson Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers won 14-3. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians watches his team play during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Cardinals won the game 25-14. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians waves to the crowd after a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday Dec. 31, 2017 in Seattle. (Gene Lower via AP)
Indianapolis Colts interim coach Bruce Arians during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
El quarterback Andrew Luck (12), de los Colts de Indianápolis, recibe las felicitaciones del entrenador interino Bruce Arians, tras de que completara un pase de siete yardas para touchdown con Reggie Wayne en la segunda mitad del partido contra los Chiefs de Kansas City, en Kansas City, Misurí, el domingo 23 de diciembre de 2012. Los Colts ganaron 20-13. (Foto AP/Ed Zurga)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians smiles before a game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday Dec. 11, 2016 in Miami. The Dolphins beat the Cardinals 26-23. (Gene Lower via AP)
Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2016 file photo, Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians smiles as he paces the sidelines prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Oakland Raiders in Glendale, Ariz. John Elway, Bruce Arians and Tom Coughlin have been added to the NFL’s powerful competition committee, a person familiar with the appointments tells The Associated Press, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, left, greets Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians prior to an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, left, speaks with Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn before the first half of an NFL preseason football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians takes a selfie with a fan prior to an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, right, and Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians talk on the field before an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians huddles at midfield with Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera before the start of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016. The Panthers won 30-20. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians watches as players warm up before an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians speaks after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Seahawks won 22-16. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians gestures as he speaks at a press conference after an NFL football game against Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham Stadium in London, Sunday Oct. 22, 2017. The Rams won the match 33-0. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians speaks after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Rams won 32-16. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals won 27-24. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is hugged by quarterback Drew Stanton (5) after Seattle Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh missed a field goal at the end of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians looks onto the field during an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally)
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) and Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians meet after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals won 23-0. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, right, greets Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Rams won 32-16. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden and Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians meet mid-field after an NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec 17, 2017. The Redskins defeated the Cardinals 20-15. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians listens to reporters questions after an NFL football game against Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec 17, 2017. The Redskins defeated the Cardinals 20-15. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
