As an N.F.L. head coach, Arians was 80-48-1, a .624 winning percentage. In eight seasons leading the Indianapolis Colts, on an interim basis, the Cardinals and the Buccaneers, four of his teams qualified for the postseason. The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl title during the 2020 season, Arians’ second in Tampa.
Arians, whose departure was first reported by The Los Angeles Times and NBC Sports’ Peter King, was criticized for his handling of wide receiver Antonio Brown during his Tampa tenure. Arians said Brown, who joined the Buccaneers in 2020 after serving an eight-game suspension for his role in a dispute at his home and for sending threatening texts to a woman who had accused him of sexual misconduct, would be given no second chances. But Brown continued to make waves by, among other things, apparently misrepresenting his vaccination status. When Brown was not cut, Arians was questioned about whether he backtracked on his commitment to take a hard line.
This season, Brown stormed off the field in the middle of a game against the Jets and left the team. Brown and Arians offered differing explanations for the episode.
Arians began his coaching career in 1975 at Virginia Tech before moving to Mississippi State, Alabama and Temple, where he was the head coach for six years. His first N.F.L. coaching position was with Kansas City in 1989, as the running backs coach.
He was a tight ends coach with the New Orleans Saints before returning to college coaching, later becoming the Colts’ quarterbacks coach when Peyton Manning arrived in 1998. After three seasons, he moved to Cleveland, where he was the offensive coordinator of the Browns, then spent eight years with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the team’s two Super Bowl championship runs.
Arians retired from the Cardinals after the 2017 season, citing health issues, before returning after a year away to lead the Buccaneers. Brady joined the team a year later, in 2020, after leaving the New England Patriots as a free agent. Arians said winning Super Bowl LV that season, his first championship as a head coach, “was really the last item I wanted to check off my career bucket list.”
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