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LOOK: Bruce Arians text to players on retirement revealed

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•03/30/22•

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Julio Aguilar/Getty Images.

It’s official. Bruce Arians is out, Todd Bowles is in as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach.

Arians is retiring from coaching after a nearly 50-year career on the sidelines, starting at college in 1975. He won Super Bowl LV with the Buccaneers in 2021 and decided now’s the time to hang up his headset. Bowles, the defensive coordinator last year, is now taking charge.

The decision came Wednesday, and before the news broke, he sent a text to his players explaining everything.

“I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication to this team,” Arians wrote, in part. “It has been a hell of a ride coaching you guys these past three seasons. Winning the Super Bowl a couple seasons back was the last real thing I had hoped to accomplish as a head coach.

“That was a special season, and any of you that were here for that know just how much sacrifice and self discipline it took to accomplish that goal. We couldn’t have had this great success without each of you sacrificing and buying in to what we were trying to do here.”

Bruce Arians: ‘I want Todd and the rest of your coaches to have every chance to succeed’

Arians continued with his text explaining his reasoning for retiring. Given everything that happened this offseason, including Tom Brady’s return, he said that sealed the deal.

He also reminded the players he’s not leaving the organization entirely.

“With Tom coming back, the guys we’ve been able to retain, and the new free agents we’ve added, I know that this team is built for continued success,” Arians wrote. “That’s why I know that now is the time. I want Todd and the rest of your coaches to have every chance to succeed — and I know they will.

“Now, before you start thinking this is goodbye, it isn’t. l’Il still be around the offices and available to cuss you out when you screw things up on the practice field. I look forward to connecting with many of you in person when the offseason program starts to heat up.”