Report: Former Virginia Tech QB Bruce Arians Expected to Consult in Hokies' Search for New Head Coach

The 72-year-old former head coach won Super Bowl LV as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mar. 1, 2022; Indianapolis, IN; Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians talks to the media during the 2022 NFL Combine. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

More information about Virginia Tech football's search for its head coach of the future has surfaced. According to On3's Pete Nakos, sources told On3 Sports that former Virginia Tech quarterback — and Super Bowl 55 champion head coach — Bruce Arians "is expected to consult and lend his expertise to the Hokies' hiring committee."

Sources have told @On3sports that the Super Bowl champion head coach and former Virginia Tech QB Bruce Arians is expected to consult and lend his expertise to the Hokies' hiring committee.

Intel: https://t.co/qXEtIAxZSu pic.twitter.com/CIjCcmOczY

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) September 22, 2025

Arians started for the Hokies in 1974, accumulating 14 touchdowns (three passing, 11 rushing), seven interceptions, 952 passing yards and 243 rushig yards.

His total of 11 rushing touchdowns stood as the Virginia Tech single-season record for a quarterback for more than four decades. For 42 years, no other Hokie signal-caller matched his blend of power and mobility in the red zone. The record finally fell in 2016, when Jerod Evans, at the helm of Justin Fuente’s high-powered offense, reached 12 rushing scores during his lone season in Blacksburg.

Following his stint in Virginia Tech, Arians remained with the program as a graduate assistant until 1977. From there, he moved to Mississippi State to be the Bulldogs' wide receivers and running backs coach. In 1981, Arians went to Alabama and maintained the latter role before landing his first head coaching position with Temple University.

Arians stuck around the Owls from 1983 to 1988, before moving to the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL as their running backs coach. Arians then returned to Mississippi State as the offensive coordinator from 1993 to 1995, before making one-year stops with the New Orleans Saints and Alabama for a second time — this time as the OC and quarterbacks coach.

Arians remained as a quarterbacks coach at his next stop: the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. He then transitioned to Cleveland to be their offensive coordinator before making the longest stint of his career. Arians found his roots briefly in Pittsburgh, serving as the team's wide receivers coach from 2004 to 2006 and as their offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2011. In 2012, Arians returned to the Colts as their OC but took over as interim head coach late in the season.

At long last, Arians received a head coaching opportunity the following year, taking over the head coaching job of the Arizona Cardinals. He retained that role for five years, before moving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where in his second year coaching them, he won the Super Bowl, defeating Kansas City, one of his prior stops.

Aians' inclusion in the process of findig the Hokies' next head coach is a significant step on the road to making the right choice. Though it is yet to be determined whether whoever turns out to be the Hokies' next permanent head whistle will turn out, Arians' inclusion represents a solid step for the committee in terms of determining who Tech's choice for 2026 should be.