Bruce Arians
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head Coach |
| Team | Arizona Cardinals |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | October 3, 1952 |
| Place of birth | Paterson, New Jersey |
| Alma mater | Virginia Tech |
| Career highlights | |
| Awards | 2012 AP NFL Coach of the Year |
| Team(s) as a player | |
| 1972–1974 | Virginia Tech |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1975–1977 1978–1980 1981–1982 1983–1988 1989–1992 1993–1995 1996 1997 1998–2000 2001–2003 2004–2006 2007–2011 2012 2013–present |
Virginia Tech (graduate assistant) Mississippi State (RB/WR) Alabama (RB) Temple (head coach) Kansas City Chiefs (RB) Mississippi State (OC) New Orleans Saints (TE) Alabama (OC) Indianapolis Colts (QB) Cleveland Browns (OC) Pittsburgh Steelers (WR) Pittsburgh Steelers (OC) Indianapolis Colts (OC/interim HC) Arizona Cardinals (head coach) |
Bruce Arians (born October 3, 1952[1]) is an American football coach who currently serves as the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He also served as interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts during the 2012 season when their head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia. He guided the Colts to a 9–3 record over his tenure, which lasted from October 1 until Pagano's return on December 24. He has also been a head coach at the collegiate level. Arians was the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2007 to 2011 after being promoted from wide receivers coach, a position that he had held with the team since the 2004 season.
For his 9-3 record as the 2012's Colts interim head coach, Arians was named 2012's AP Head Coach of the Year.
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Playing career [edit]
Arians attended and played college football at Virginia Tech. As a senior in 1974, Arians was the starting quarterback in a wishbone offense for the Hokies football team. That season he completed 53 of 118 passing attempts (44.9% completion pct.) for 952 yards with three passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. He rushed for 243 yards and eight touchdowns.[2]
Coaching career [edit]
College [edit]
Arians began his coaching career in 1975 as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech. Arians then held an assistant coaching position at Mississippi State University (running backs and wide receivers) from 1978–80 before heading to the University of Alabama to coach the running backs from 1981–82 under Paul "Bear" Bryant.
Arians was also the head coach at Temple University from 1983–88. He also held positions with Mississippi State (offensive coordinator, 1993–95) and Alabama (offensive coordinator, 1997).
NFL [edit]
At the end of the college football season in 1988, Arians was hired in the NFL as a running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was during this time with the Chiefs that he worked with the coach who brought him to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bill Cowher. He also spent one season as the tight ends coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1996.
Following this stint was when he made a name for himself when he got the job as the quarterbacks coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 1998. He was the first quarterback coach of Peyton Manning when he arrived in the NFL. Afterward, he was hired as offensive coordinator (2001–2003) for the Cleveland Browns under Butch Davis. In 2002, he helped the Browns finish 9–7 (2nd in the newly aligned AFC North) and to a wild card playoff berth where they lost to the Steelers (36–33) in the first round. It was during his tenure with the Browns that he first worked with Chuck Pagano who served as the Browns secondary coach from 2001 to 2004.
After the 2003 season, he was hired as the Steelers wide receivers coach and in 2007 was promoted to offensive coordinator of the Steelers, a position he held until his contract expired after the 2011 season.[3]
On January 28, 2012, Arians agreed to become the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts, replacing Clyde Christensen.[4] On October 1, 2012, Arians was named the interim head coach of the Colts following coach Chuck Pagano's leukemia diagnosis.[5] Arians led the Colts to a 9–3 record, part of one of the biggest one-season turnarounds in NFL history. The nine wins are the most by an interim head coach in NFL history.[6] After winning only two games in 2011, the Colts returned to the playoffs. Pagano returned to the Colts as head coach on December 24, 2012, with Arians returning to his role as offensive coordinator.[7] Arians missed the Colts wild-card game loss against the Baltimore Ravens due to being hospitalized with an illness, which was described by doctors as an inner ear infection or a virus; Arians had missed practice on January 3 due to the flu.[8]
On January 17, 2013, the Arizona Cardinals and Arians agreed on a 4 year deal that would make Arians their head coach.[9] On February 2, Arians was named AP Coach of the Year, making him the first interim head coach to win the award.[10]
Personal [edit]
He and his wife Christine have a son, Jake (35), who spent less than one season as the placekicker for the Buffalo Bills in 2001, and a daughter, Kristi Anne (32). He graduated from William Penn High School in York, Pennsylvania.[11] Earlier, he attended York Catholic High School,[12] where he was a standout scholastic quarterback. Arians is a prostate cancer survivor.[6]
Head coaching record [edit]
College [edit]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Owls (Independent) (1983–1988) | |||||||||
| 1983 | Temple Owls | 4–7 | — | — | |||||
| 1984 | Temple Owls | 6–5 | — | — | |||||
| 1985 | Temple Owls | 4–7 | — | — | |||||
| 1986 | Temple Owls | 0–5* | — | — | |||||
| 1987 | Temple Owls | 3–8 | — | — | |||||
| 1988 | Temple Owls | 4–7 | — | — | |||||
| Temple: | 21–45 | ||||||||
| Total: | 21–39 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl, Bowl Alliance or Bowl Coalition game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. | |||||||||
* 1986 team was 6–5 on the field, but had to forfeit their wins due to the presence of an ineligible player on their roster.
NFL [edit]
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| IND* | 2012 | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 2nd in AFC South | – | – | – | – |
| IND Total | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | – | – | – | – | ||
| ARI | 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | NFC West | – | – | – | – |
| ARI Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Total | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | – | – | – | – | ||
* Arians coached Colts for 12 games in 2012 as interim Head Coach while Chuck Pagano recovered from leukemia, Pagano returned by playoffs
References [edit]
- ^ Bruce Arians, Pittsburgh Steelers. Accessed November 25, 2007.
- ^ "Virginia Tech records and history" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-05-01.
- ^ Dulac, Gerry (2012-01-20). "Steelers' Arians retires from coaching". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ Schefter, Adam (2012-01-28). ESPN https://twitter.com/#!/AdamSchefter/status/163345698677469184
|url=missing title (help). Retrieved 2012-01-28. - ^ "Colts coach Chuck Pagano has 'serious illness,' will likely miss several games". Retrieved 2012-10-01. Text "breaking" ignored (help); Text "text" ignored (help); Text "IndyStar.com" ignored (help)
- ^ a b Associated Press (2013-01-03). "Bears get permission to talk with Bruce Arians". The York Dispatch. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
- ^ Martin, Jill (December 24, 2012). "Colts coach Pagano back on the job after leukemia treatment". CNN.
- ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (2013-01-06). "Bruce Arians in hospital, won't coach Indianapolis Colts". Retrieved 2013-01-06. Unknown parameter
|[ublisher=ignored (help) - ^ Baum, Bob (2013-01-17). "Cardinals hire Bruce Arians as head coach". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ^ Milner, Barry (2013-02-02). "Colts interim coach Arians wins top honors". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
- ^ McClure, Jim (2011-02-06). "York County, Pa.'s steel and green links to the Super Bowl". York Town Square. York Newspaper Company. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ^ McClure, Jim (2009-02-05). "Names of stars from York County with pro sports links just keep increasing". York Town Square. York Newspaper Company. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pete Carmichael |
Cleveland Browns Offensive Coordinator 2001–2003 |
Succeeded by Terry Robiskie |
| Preceded by Ken Whisenhunt |
Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator 2007–2011 |
Succeeded by Todd Haley |
| Preceded by Clyde Christensen |
Indianapolis Colts Offensive Coordinator 2012 |
Succeeded by Pep Hamilton |
| Preceded by Ken Whisenhunt |
Arizona Cardinals Head Coach 2013 |
Succeeded by - |
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- 1952 births
- Living people
- American football quarterbacks
- National Football League offensive coordinators
- Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches
- Arizona Cardinals head coaches
- Cleveland Browns coaches
- Indianapolis Colts coaches
- Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches
- New Orleans Saints coaches
- Pittsburgh Steelers coaches
- Temple Owls football coaches
- Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches
- Virginia Tech Hokies football players
- People from Paterson, New Jersey
- Players of American football from New Jersey
