A major coaching change could be in store for the Buccaneers after Super Bowl 2021.
CBS’ Jason La Canfora reported that if the Buccaneers win, Bruce Arians could step aside to allow Todd Bowles become the Bucs head coach.
Both Arians and Bowles have been members of Tampa Bay’s coaching staff since 2019, during which time the Buccaneers have gone 7-9 and 11-5 in the regular season.
Arians, 68, has a lengthy resume, both in the NFL and NCAA. The New Jersey native began his coaching career at Virginia Tech as a graduate assistant and was a member of the Mississippi State, Alabama, Temple, Chiefs, Saints, Browns and Steelers coaching staffs before his first head coaching gig. He took over in Indianapolis as interim head coach after Chuck Pagano’s leukemia diagnosis in 2012 and served as the Cardinals’ head coach from 2013 to 2017.
Arians has a 76-47-1 regular season record as a head coach.
Arians previously said “hell no” when asked about the retirement possibility, though.
“Hell no. I’m going for two. If the Glazers will have me back,” Arians told reporters this week,
Bowles, 57, previously served as head coach for the Jets from 2015 to 2018, and briefly as the Dolphins’ interim head coach in 2011. He has a collective 26-41 record with no postseason appearances.
Bowles’ defense allowed the ninth-fewest points per game and the fewest rushing yards per game in the NFL during the 2020 regular season.
The Buccaneers are three-point underdogs against the Chiefs in Super Bowl 2021. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.