Bruce Arians Gives Health Update After Heart Surgery

Former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians underwent successful open-heart surgery Friday morning and is “doing great,” he told Pewter Report Saturday night.

The 73-year-old, Super Bow LV-winning head coach said his procedure was a “common one.”

Early last week, Arians revealed in an appearance on The Today Show that he was set for the surgery in Philadelphia on Friday. He was appearing alongside former Bucs tight end and Super Bowl winner Rob Gronkowski to promote a Super Bowl commercial about prostate cancer screening.

“I’m doing fantastic,” Arians said in the appearance. “I get my PSA checked every year. I keep looking for those double zeroes.”

Arians, a Bucs Ring of Honor member, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007 and had cancerous cells removed from his nose in 2013.

The entire Pewter Report staff is thrilled to hear Arians is recovering well in the aftermath of his surgery.

Bruce Arians Has A Special Spot In Bucs History

Pewter Report learned of the positive news regarding Bruce Arians’ successful surgery on Saturday, which was also the five-year anniversary of the crowning achievement of Arians’ career.

On Feb. 7, 2021, Arians’ Bucs made history by winning Super Bowl LV, giving the franchise its second Lombardi Trophy. Not only that, but Tampa Bay became the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in its home stadium.

That 31-9 victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs was the culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifice both for Bruce Arians and his family over a coaching career that spanned several decades. His career began in 1975 at Virginia Tech and included several stops in the college ranks before he found a permanent home in the NFL.

Arians worked with a young Peyton Manning as the Colts’ quarterbacks coach from 1998-2000, then he worked as the Browns’ offensive coordinator from 2001-2003. From there, he was the receivers coach for the Steelers from 2004-2006 before becoming their offensive coordinator in 2007. He served in that role until 2011, and it was during that span in which he became a Super Bowl-winning coordinator.

The next stop for Arians was a familiar one, as he returned to Indianapolis in 2012 as the team’s offensive coordinator. But he would soon get his first shot as a head coach, albeit under tough circumstances. He served as the Colts’ interim head coach that year while head coach Chuck Pagano was undergoing treatment for Leukemia, and Arians did an admirable job, going 9-3 in his interim role on his way to NFL Coach of the Year honors.

Then, nearly 40 years after his coaching career began, he became a full-time NFL head coach when he was hired by the Cardinals in 2013. He was 49-30-1 with one NFC West title and two playoff appearances over five seasons in Arizona. He retired after the 2017 season, but after one year off working in broadcasting, the stage was set for him to reunite with Bucs general manager Jason Licht and begin to forge an unforgettable legacy in Tampa Bay.

Bucs NT Vita Vea, former head coach Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: USA Today

Arians’ arrival in Tampa began a culture shift for a franchise that hadn’t been to the playoffs in over a decade and hadn’t won a playoff game in nearly two decades. After a 7-9 debut season in 2019, Arians and the Bucs got new life in 2020 when Tom Brady signed as a free agent. That year, of course, saw Tampa Bay turn a 7-5 record into an 11-5 finish, which broke the playoff drought.

Then, after hard-fought road wins over Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay, Arians and Co. dominated Kansas City in Super Bowl LV. And after a franchise-best 13-4 record in 2021 that secured the franchise’s first division title since 2007, the head coach wound up retiring in March of 2022, giving way to Todd Bowles.

Arians’ 31-18 record as the Bucs’ head coach gave him a .633 winning percentage, which is by far the best mark in team history. The following season, on Jan. 1, 2023, Bruce Arians saw his name go up in the Bucs Ring of Honor inside Raymond James Stadium, cementing a legendary legacy. While his time in Tampa was relatively short, there’s no doubt he left an impression.

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