National Football League

Bruce Arians: Brady's return helped him retire from coaching

Updated Jun. 12, 2022 7:39 p.m. ET

Bruce Arians knew he probably wasn’t going to coach in the NFL beyond the 2022 season.

The coach, who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a championship following the 2020 season, turns 70 in October, and he felt the time to walk away was nearing. He also knew he had a great coach lined up as his successor in defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

But when Tom Brady announced his retirement in February, Arians didn’t want to hand the reins to Bowles without also giving him a proven quarterback. He attended the combine, thought of trade scenarios, anything that would help the offense.

"I was going the other way," Arians said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. "I was thinking [Brady] wasn’t going to play. I was thinking about who are we going to get? Who wants to trade? There wasn’t anybody to draft. That was obvious. Me, to the public, I was fine with the two we had: Blaine (Gabbert) and Kyle (Trask). Because I’ve seen Blaine win with a good team behind him. Had Tom not come back, I probably would still be coaching. I couldn’t give Todd that situation."

When Brady announced his return on March 13, Arians knew the offense was in safe hands without him. He contacted Brady, who was vacationing in Italy, as well the Tampa Bay front office, to let them know his wish to move into the front office. Succession was key, and Arians wanted his hand to remain in it rather than watching from afar.

"Let me stay and do what I want to do and have a big hand in it," Arians said. "It doesn’t look like a big hand, but to me it’s a big hand because I’m here. I’m on the field, I’m coaching. ... I’m going to go to practice and see little things and go to [offensive coordinator] Byron [Leftwich] and say, ‘Look at this.’"

Another opportunity to win a Super Bowl is always on the table with Brady under center, and for Arians it would also strengthen his case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But Arians is standing on a principle. He wants his coordinators and assistants to be taken care of. He wants them to win and if they do, he will have something to do with it by remaining in the organization.

"This is everything," he said. "It’s the golden dream for me. I get to watch it. I know what’s going to be said. You just want to make sure our guys are taken care of. And if we win another Super Bowl, I still get to be a part of it."