Speak about strolling the stroll.
Bruce Arians, an simple straight shooter who for years has championed variety for the NFL teaching ranks extra passionately than some other white coach within the league, stepped down as Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and handed the torch to Todd Bowles, a Black man prepared for one more shot.
This succession, one other stunner on this offseason of main surprises, is so becoming in that it displays the progressiveness that Arians, 69, has been so unselfish in pushing for. Bowles, the Bucs defensive coordinator the previous three seasons, simply grew to become the sixth minority coach in a league that has a shameful observe report in offering alternative for individuals of shade.
Arians led the trouble, combining with GM Jason Licht, for the Glazer household to advertise Bowles.
But to view this transaction primarily on the intersection of benevolence and racial progressiveness can be such an injustice.
“This isn’t a diversity hire,” Tony Dungy informed USA TODAY Sports activities. “This is the other side of the coin. This is, ‘I’ve seen this guy develop. This is the best person for the job.’ This is not a diversity move. This is a result to show what diversity can do. This is the fruit of doing the right thing.”
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As Arians famous through the Bucs information convention on Thursday, his hope was that Bowles wouldn’t be the one to succeed him as a result of his pupil would have landed a head teaching job elsewhere prior to now. But like Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and a number of other different notable Black assistants throughout the league, that chance by no means materialized for Bowles.
“Sometimes, the timing isn’t right,” Bowles mentioned diplomatically on Thursday.
Effectively, the timing is definitely in his favor now. Bowles, who was 24-40 with one successful season throughout a four-year stint as New York Jets coach from 2015-18, takes over a workforce that has Tom Brady returning and is positioned once more as a professional Tremendous Bowl contender.
Arians, who stays aboard as senior soccer advisor – “Cool title, whatever the hell that means,” he mentioned – has been fascinated by stepping apart because the finish of the season. And for years, he envisioned his successor would come from his workers.
But it’s the timing that has produced shockwaves because the Bucs’ possibilities had been rejuvenated after Brady decided to come back after a 40-day retirement. It was pure to suppose that Arians can be wanting to win one other title with TB12 again as his triggerman. I imply, who wouldn’t take that shot?
Arians, whom Bucs proprietor Joel Glazer introduced will probably be inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor, fooled us all with this one.
“When Tom got here again, it was, ‘Now it’s straightforward,’ ” Arians said of finalizing a decision that Bowles didn’t find out about until Monday. “There’s no better time to pass the torch than now.”
Dungy knows. When he retired as the Indianapolis Colts‘ coach after the 2008 season, with Peyton Manning in his prime, he left successor Jim Caldwell with a team primed to make a Super Bowl run. Caldwell took the Colts to Super Bowl 44 in his first season.
“This is something that I think Bruce always wanted to do,” said Dungy, who incidentally became the Bucs’ first Black coach in 1996 before winning Super Bowl 41 with the Colts. “I can relate to it. I wanted to turn it over to Jim when the team was still good and had a chance to compete for the Super Bowl, which is what they did. I think that’s all going through Bruce’s mind.”
Bowles, 58, a classy leader lauded for his football smarts, has essentially grown up in football with Arians. He played defensive back for Arians at Temple and the two remained close over the decades, as Bowles had a 10-year playing career before starting his climb up the coaching ladder.
“I’ve gone from son to nephew to cousin to brother with him,” Bowles said of Arians.
Arians called Bowles “the brightest guy I ever coached” and recalled telling his former player he should pursue coaching.
“He goes on to play 10 years and win a couple of Super Bowl rings,” Arians said. “Shows you what I know as a talent evaluator.”
That it’s come full circle also says something about the loyalty that Arians has exhibited to his “guys,” as he has often described the several coaches on his staff who once played for him in college or in the NFL. Arians has made no bones about intentionally creating opportunities for coaches with untapped potential, which includes the classic case of recruiting Leftwich, one of his former backup quarterbacks with the Pittsburgh Steelers, to join his staff with the Arizona Cardinals. It took several years for Arians to convince Leftwich, who had retired from playing, to come off the golf course and embark on a coaching career.
Of course, Arians has also worn his disgust with NFL opportunities for minority coaches on his sleeves. He was incensed during the hiring cycle this year when Bowles and Leftwich were passed over for head coaching jobs, just as he was steamed the previous year with the same result.
Now that Bowles, who built the Bucs defense into a championship-caliber unit, has landed another head coaching shot, it’s not hard to grasp how the significance of the hire goes over with Arians and others who have pushed for opportunities for minority coaches.
As Dungy put it, Arians undoubtedly was motivated to reward a worthy candidate while leaving the team in good hands. Yet it’s also a win for diversity. Bowles will hardly downplay that victory.
“It means a lot,” Bowles said. “Being a person of color, you want to get hired off of your ability. But as a kid, to see some people like us in these places and in these jobs, it gives hope to a lot of people. You don’t coach for that reason, but being a kid growing up and going around neighborhoods and speaking to people, you understand the impact that it has on their lives.
“We’re just trying to be the best coaches we can be. You’ve got to credit Bruce for giving everyone a chance. Everyone on this staff understands the difference in diversity and how to be a good coach, but you’d better be a good coach first. I think he did a good job creating both and getting both in this building.”
Now Arians leaves on his own terms in more ways than one – able to proudly walk the walk.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Bruce Arians’ handoff to Todd Bowles is fitting capstone to career
