Bruce Arians expands on relationship with Tom Brady in farewell presser

Bruce Arians did not discriminate.

The former Buccaneers coach, who announced his surprising retirement from coaching and ensuing move to a front office position with the team on Wednesday, held his farewell press conference Thursday. Many questioned the timing of his decision to retire — just two weeks after Tom Brady, with whom he won a Super Bowl, decided to unretire and return to the Buccaneers.

While Brady was retired — which lasted all of 40 days — reports emerged claiming a rift had grown between Arians and Brady down the stretch of last season and contributed to his reason to retire. Arians dismissed the reports at the time as “bulls–t.”

Now that Brady is back, and Arians is subsequently gone, skepticism over the nature of that relationship has re-emerged.

According to Arians, Brady, and the sometimes combative relationship they shared, was no different than any of his other Buccaneer teammates.

“We have a great relationship,” Arians said Thursday, when asked to describe the nature of his relationship with Brady, “I mean, all of the players — there are a few of them here — every one of them’s gotten cussed out, including him. So that’s just part of me, you know? That’s nothing new, but we have a great relationship.

“As soon as he retired, I think we texted every week. ‘Where you at? What are you doing? When are you gonna come play golf? When are you getting back down this way?’ And so … people gotta write s—, and it couldn’t be further from the truth.”

After Arians announced his decision, Brady shared the same sentiment.

“Smart, tough, and loyal are a few of the words to describe your style,” Brady captioned an Instagram post thanking Arians on Wednesday. “I will always remember the conversations we had when you recruited me two years ago and all of the things we discussed came true. We all benefited from your leadership and guidance and I’m so proud of everything we accomplished. You were a huge part of the decision to join the Bucs and I’m forever grateful.”

Ex-Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who served as defensive assistant under Bruce Arians, is taking over as the Buccaneers’ head coach.

“He is the most influential coaching figure and father figure that I have ever had in this league,” Bowles said Thursday, adding that it was a bittersweet feeling when he got the news from Arians.