Two decades after Cleveland days, Arians and Bowles at top of their games
By STEVE KING
Two former Browns assistant coaches had a major role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ stunning 31-9 domination of the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55 in Tampa on Sunday night.
And I couldn’t be happier for Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and his defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles.
I like to see good things happen to good people, and they are both good people.
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Arians, who was offensive coordinator under Butch Davis in Cleveland, is as good of a communicator as there is in the NFL, and he used that ability to develop a great rapport with Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady. They took what they had learned from two very different NFL journeys, and what they liked and disliked, and combined it into a plan/philosophy that, after some struggles through the first three-fourths of the regular season, enabled the Bucs to win their final eight games, including four in their postseason run.
To do that, both men had to check their egos at the door, which is no problem they are selfless and very team-oriented.
Bowles, who worked with Arians in Cleveland as secondary coach, put together a defensive plan, and orchestrated his guys to carry it out, that completed stymied quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the high-powered Kansas City offense. No one — absolutely no one, not even the biggest fans of the Bucs — ever thought in their wildest dreams that the Chiefs would fail to score a touchdown and would get held to just nine points.
But aside from all that, and really more than that in the bigger picture, is that the performances of Arians and Bowles are living proof that, even when things don’t work out in your favor, you can never give up. Another lesson is that you’re never too old to blossom.
Arians waited forever to get a head-coaching job. At 68 years old, he’s the best he’s ever been. And the 57-year-old Bowles just finished his second season with the Bucs after getting fired as head coach by the New York Jets. He is also at the top of his game.
