REPORT: Bucs Finalizing Deal To Hire Bruce Arians As Head Coach

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have just announced that they will in fact finalizing a deal with Bruce Arians to become the next head coach; as reported by Ian Rapoport. It would be a 4 year deal with a 5th year option. Todd Bowels continues to be the top target as DC. (View the original report HERE.)

Arians has a 49-30-1 record (.619 winning percentage) and is 1-2 in the playoffs. He has multiple double-digit-win seasons under his belt, and his worst season came in 2016 when his Cardinals went 7-8-1.

With the hiring of Bruce Arians, the Bucs most certainly made a splash hire, and it’s definitely a feather in the cap of Jason Licht. It remains to be seen if just simply hiring Arians will be enough to change the Bucs’ fortunes in 2019. The largest area to improve upon is a perennially woeful defense. The defense did improve slightly under interim DC Mark Duffner, but it wasn’t enough to turn the team’s season around.

On January 5th it was confirmed that the Bucs’ front office met with Arians in Tampa Bay and had him go through a full physical as part of the interview process. This is an interesting detail given Arians retired just a year ago due to health concerns, among other things. Obviously he came back with a clean bill of health.

There have been multiple reports stating that he will most likely bring in the majority of the staff he had while in Arizona. An offensive coordinator, for example, to hand off play-calling duties. It was also reported via Ian Rapoport that former Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles would be the defensive coordinator of choice for Arians.

The hiring of Arians makes a ton of sense given his proven track record and connections with the organization. He has a history with QB Jameis Winston dating back to his high school days. And Arians also worked with Jason Licht while he was in Arizona. In fact, Licht may ultimately owe his job to Arians because his connection with him helped bring him to Tampa Bay.

Stay tuned to BucsReport.com as Arians makes his coordinator and coaching staff selections official.

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