Brady: 'Everyone Wants to Win' for Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians
If there were any doubts about the relationship between Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach Bruce Arians and quarterback Tom Brady, those doubts no longer exist.
"He’s a great man, he’s a great leader, he’s a great person, he’s a great friend [and] he’s very loyal," Brady said Thursday. "He’s just got a great way about communicating effectively with everybody around here. Everybody has a great affection for him for the person he is. There’s nobody that ever would say anything bad about B.A."
Brady explained that to learn more about Arians prior to the start of the season, he watched NFL Network's 'A Football Life' documentary about his new head coach. The film took a look at Arians' decorated and well-traveled coaching career.
With the regular season over and the Bucs deep into the playoffs having advanced to Super Bowl LV, Brady says he's learned even more about who Arians is as a coach and said he "loves" what he's learned,
"He puts a lot into it, expects a lot out of it, has high expectations for us every day in practice [and I am] just really excited for him to be recognized in the way that he is," Brady said. "I know he’s a two-time Coach of the Year, but [he has] just done an amazing job this year with the team in really adverse situations. I love playing for him.”
Arians, age 68, will be the second-oldest head coach in a Super Bowl and the oldest head coach to make his first appearance in the Super Bowl as a head coach.
Twice as an assistant coach Arians has been part of a Super Bowl-winning staff, both times with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but this is his first time as a head coach in the big game. Brady expressed how badly he and the rest of the Bucs want to win the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs for Arians.
"He’s just so endearing to everybody and I think everyone wants to win for him," Brady said. "I think that’s what you want to do for a coach – you want to get out there and you want to win for him."
Throughout his coaching career, Arians has been known to take risks and one of his more recent risks included bringing Brady to Tampa Bay. Brady turned 43 prior to the start of the season, but Arians knew what he could do for this franchise.
“You can’t hit a home run unless you’re going to swing for one," Arians said. "You can’t do anything special in life sitting on a fence. The question back then was, ‘If there was a quarterback that was a free agent, who would you want?’ Of course, it was Tom Brady, not thinking he’d become a free agent. Once he did, it was a pursuit that we wanted to make and [we] knew he had some interest. That’s how you live life. Do you sit and live in a closet trying to be safe, [or are] you going to have some fun?”
While it might have been viewed as a risk by some, Brady felt differently about the situation and the decision by the Bucs to go after him.
"I’d like to think that I wasn’t that much of a chance after a lot of years," Brady said. "Becoming a free agent and then having the opportunity to continue my playing career. I love the opportunity that presented itself here, which is ultimately why I chose here. I really love the coaching staff, I loved the players that they had."
Of course just coming to Tampa Bay, winning a lot of games, and making a historic postseason run is nice and all, but Brady understands there's more work to be done. And winning for Arians is on the top of his mind.
"The fact that we’re still playing feels really good for me and [I] understand that we’ve put a lot into it," Brady said. "Hopefully, we can go finish the job – that would be the best part about the season. It’s always been a goal to win the last game of the year. We’ve got an opportunity to do it – it’s certainly not going to be easy."
