It’s been an emotional couple of days for Bruce Arians. On New Year’s Eve he set the Cardinals franchise record for wins as a head coach. On New Year’s Day, Arians announced his retirement.
"We built this program on three words: Trust, Loyalty and Respect." #ThanksBA pic.twitter.com/P2PHvt82YK
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 1, 2018
It was widely speculated that Arians would retire at the conclusion of the season, but the coach says that he didn’t make the decision until the Cardinals had secured Sunday’s victory.
“I probably truly didn’t know until that kick [Sunday] went through that I was going to retire.”
Arians told his players in the locker room following the win that he would be walking away from coaching. His players kept the official decision quiet until he made the announcement on New Year’s Day.
“And they lied to you because of that. There’s really no greater feeling in the world to know your players have your back.”
Arians’ health was likely a major factor in his decision as he is a prostate cancer survivor. He also largely sites a desire to spend more time with his family.
In 2012 Arians took over for Chuck Pagano as interim Head Coach for the Indianapolis Colts. The following season he signed with the Cardinals. As Arizona’s Head Coach he would accumulate a record of 50-30-1 (including 1 playoff win).
Arians may not be the only Cardinal to walk away from the team this offseason as Larry Fitzgerald has also been contemplating retirement and a bruise and battered Carson Palmer could possibly retire also.
