NFL

Super Bowl LV: 'Hell no, I'm not going anywhere!' – Bucs coach Arians bringing it back after triumph

By Sports Desk February 08, 2021

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians has no plans to retire after capturing his first Super Bowl crown, insisting he will return to try and claim back-to-back Lombardi Trophies.

Arians became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl after Tom Brady led the Buccaneers past defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Sunday's Super Bowl LV.

After retiring in 2017, Arians returned to coach the Buccaneers in 2019 and he capped his comeback by delivering a first Super Bowl championship to Tampa since the 2002 season.

Having upstaged Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers and Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs en route to glory, the Buccaneers became the first team in history to win three games against former Super Bowl MVPs in the same postseason, per Stats Perform.

Asked if he might retire after tasting Super Bowl success, the 68-year-old Arians told reporters: "Hell no, I'm not going anywhere. I'm coming back, trying to get two then we will see after that.

"This football team, I love these guys. We have a great staff, great team. Hopefully [general manager] Jason [Licht] and I can get together and keep most of them and try to repeat."

Having retired following four years in charge of the Arizona Cardinals until 2017, Arians spent a year as a television game analyst in 2018.

Arians is also a prostate cancer survivor and when asked if he had ever imagined winning a Super Bowl title, he replied: "Not really. I think I would've been smoking something illegal to really imagine this.

"I can't thank Jason enough, the Glazer family for giving me this opportunity, and my coaching staff, they are outstanding. I don't do anything, they do it all.

"We have great, great players. Jason, again, gets all the credit for the roster. I just try to get out of the way and not screw up."

Looking ahead to defending their crown, Arians added: "We need to keep our guys here and try to hit another home run in free agency. Just with our guys and maybe an outside guy. Jason will hit another home run in the draft.

"We don't have many weak spots, if we get the guys we need back, we just need great athletes in the draft."

Brady was the star of the show at Raymond James Stadium, where the evergreen 43-year-old superstar clinched a record-extending seventh Super Bowl championship in his first season with the Buccaneers.

He threw three touchdowns to be crowned Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time in his illustrious career.

With the memorable victory, Brady joined MLB first baseman Johnny Mize (1950s New York Yankees) and NHL goaltender Johnny Bower (1960s Toronto Maple Leafs) as the only players to win four championships aged 37 or older, per Stats Perform.

Brady also followed in the footsteps of Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to win Super Bowls with two different teams, while he became the first player to win Super Bowls in three different decades.

"It was a slow and steady progress, every game and every week," Arians said after being asked when he knew Brady was ready in Tampa after arriving from the New England Patriots.

"Really the second half of the Chiefs game, we made a nice comeback, but the 31 points we put on Atlanta in the second half, we started attacking more and haven't stopped attacking since."

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