"Bruce put this in motion even before he made the decision to come back" - NFL analyst claims Tom Brady had no part in Arians' retirement
Bruce Arians' sudden decision to step away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coaching role has the rumor mill churning. The announcement comes not too long after Tom Brady returned from retirement to rejoin the team. Arians is effectively giving up a shot to chase another Super Bowl, although he will still be with the team in the front office.
Some analysts are offering theories that the quarterback pushed the coach into retirement. However, former NFL player and current analyst Keyshawn Johnson offered up his take that does away with any conspiracies.
Johnson said:
"Coach Arians put this in motion even before Tom Brady made the decision to come back. When Brady retired he already had kind of started thinking about this because Byron Leftwich was going to get shut out as a head coach and so was Todd Bowles and they can they have this feeling and then all of a sudden Tom comes back and then he says, 'you know what, this is the right time to do it.' So this was nothing that was you know, a Tom Brady is forcing Bruce Arians out type situation, not at all."
Johnson is firm in his belief that the head coach was already thinking about this before Brady decided to return.
Keyshawn Johnson notes succession plan in place led by Bruce Arians
Johnson notes that the coach saw that Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich would be shut out of head coaching opportunities around the league. That meant he wanted to wait a bit, so neither was out of a job if the Buccaneers went in a new direction with a new head coach.
The bond between Todd Bowles and Bruce Arians is unbreakable ♥️ https://t.co/7Vjki8Xl6Z
Brady's return allowed the head coach to head to the front office and ensure no one on the coaching staff had to be let go. Bowles getting shut out of a job worked in his favor as he now coaches a Super Bowl contender.
There are countless rumors and theories about what could have happened with this situation in Tampa Bay. If we believe Johnson, then there is no need to accept anything other than what the team is telling fans.