Shortly after Bruce Arians revealed Wednesday night that he’s stepping down as the Buccaneers’ head coach, many began to speculate about what led to the shocking decision, with some circling back to a report from the past.
Rich Ohrnberger, a former NFL player turned sports host, alleged back in February how the relationship between Arians and Tom Brady “was souring,” and if that factored into the quarterback’s decision to retire after 22 seasons. At the time, Ohrnberger claimed that Brady and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich “felt undermined” when Arians — who was reportedly rehabbing his Achilles in the early mornings — “would later come in and take the red pen to work they’d done” on game planning.
Ohrnberger – who also had a February report about Brittany Matthews’ game-day accessibility that was swiftly shut down by Patrick Mahomes – appeared to react to Wednesday’s series of events, dropping a curious GIF after retweeting the Los Angeles Times’ original story about Arians.
Some Twitter accounts appeared to applaud Ohrnberger for his previous efforts, with Pro Football Talk quote-tweeting his message and saying, “Rich was all over it.”
“You were right from day one,” one user tweeted to Ohrnberger, while another replied, “Nice call on the Tampa Bay stuff.”
Though it’s unclear what happened behind closed doors in Tampa, the move by Arians to the front office comes a few weeks after Brady un-retired. The seven-time Super Bowl champ — who has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason — was told about Arians’ decision “either the same day or a day after the quarterback announced he was ending his retirement,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Arians told Pro Football Talk and the Los Angeles Times how Brady’s return impacted his decision to change course professionally.
“Tom was kind of the key. When Tom decided to come back … and all of these guys back now, it’s the perfect timing for me just to go into the front office and still have the relationships that I love,” he said Wednesday.
Brady, 44, and Arians’ relationship has been a hot topic this offseason, with the 69-year-old coach calling alleged discord between the two “bulls—t.”
“It seems like there’s one (story) every day now,” Arians told the Tampa Bay Times in February. “Everybody is speculating he’s going somewhere else. That doesn’t bother me. This other bull—t, the relationship thing, that’s so far-fetched.”
Regardless of whether tension existed or not, Brady did tip his hat to Arians on Wednesday night in an Instagram tribute.
“Thank you, BA for all that you have done for me and our team. You are an incredible man and coach, and it was a privilege to play for you,” Brady wrote, among other accolades, to which Arians replied, “Thanks brotha.”
Arians and Bowles are expected to address the media Thursday.