Former Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians reveals reason he retired in 2022

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians explained his decision to step down as head coach after a 13-4 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Senior Football Consultant Bruce Arians reacts to a play. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans will always love coach Bruce Arians for his contributions to the franchise. He brought the team a Super Bowl in his second year as Bucs coach in 2020 and then a 13-win season in his final year in 2021. For those reasons alone, Arians holds a worthy spot in the team's ring of honor.

His tenure didn't last long, though, as he ended up stepping down after the 2021 season to hand the reins to current head coach Todd Bowles, who still serves as the team's head coach now. The move was met with controversy at the time, especially given rumors that perhaps quarterback Tom Brady had forced him out, but Arians set the record straight during an appearance on former basketball coach Mark Gottfried's podcast, the Coach Mark Gottfried Show.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers senior football consultant Bruce Arians before the wild card game against the Dallas Cowboys. / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Arians had noted at the time that he retired for health reasons, and he maintained that when asked — and based on what he said, those issues may have been worse than it seemed on the surface.

"It got very, very hard for me to stand on the sideline.I tore my Achilles like, the third week of the season," Arians said. "So I had those high heels on, and back pain — I mean, I had to [have help to] get undressed after games. It got to the point where I was like, 'I don't know if I can physically do this. I'll do it for one more year.'"

Arians wanted to go for one more year after Tom Brady retired, unwilling to give someone else the job when the team's quarterback situation was unclear. But then, Brady came back for the 2022 season, and he felt comfortable enough to give his job to Bowles once that was in order.

"Tom was going to retire. I didn't want to hand it over to somebody without a quarterback," Arians said. "Tom decided to come back, so I said, 'Ooh, perfect.' I can step back and give this thing to Todd, knowing that he's got a shot — a better shot than he had in New York."

Arians still works with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a consultant in the front office, where he can see the job that his former defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay has done. And while Bowles' tenure may be controversial, the Buccaneers have managed to win the division every year Bowles has coached, and Arians is likely quite proud of that.

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