Buccaneers' Bruce Arians Retires from Coaching; Todd Bowles Named Replacement

Bruce Arians is stepping down as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and taking on a role in the front office as a "senior consultant for football," he told Peter King of Pro Football Talk. 

Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will take over as the team's head coach. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Bowles will receive a new five-year contract as head coach.

It's been quite the offseason in Tampa Bay. Brady retired on Feb. 1, only to un-retire about six weeks later, all while trade rumors swirled.

Given that Arians is stepping down just weeks after Brady reversed his retirement decision, there naturally will be speculation that the veteran quarterback tried to force Arians out and only returned to the Bucs once it became clear Arians would step down.

But Arians denied that there was any tension with Tom Brady that pushed him toward stepping down as head coach. 

"No," Arians told King. "No. Tom was very in favor of what I'm doing. I mean, I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him. Great relationship off the field."

Instead, he said that retiring was something he'd considered in each of the last two offseasons, and that Brady's return made him comfortable that the Bucs would be in good hands and he could step away while the team maintained its current coaching structure:

"Succession has always been huge for me. With the organization in probably the best shape it's been in its history, with Tom Brady coming back... I'd rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [crappy] job. I'm probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So, I control the narrative right now. I don't control it next February because [if] Brady gets hurt, we go 10-7, and it's an open interview for the job... I got 31 [coaches and their] families that depend on me. My wife is big on not letting all those families down."

Arians said in the statement released by the team Wednesday evening that he "began conversations with [general manager Jason Licht] and the Glazer family a few weeks ago about a possible succession plan."

He also said the decision wasn't about his health:

Under Arians, the Bucs went 31-18 in the past three seasons, reaching the playoffs twice and winning the Super Bowl in the 2020 season. 

His replacement will bring a lengthy resume to the table for Tampa, however. Bowles served as the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins for three games in 2011 and four years as the head coach of the New York Jets (2015-18). He was 26-41 in his coaching career. 

He's also served as the interim defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles (2012) and the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals (2013-14) and Bucs (2019-21) during his NFL coaching career.