Two-time AP NFL Head Coach of the Year Bruce Arians will step down as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals following the team’s final regular season game Sunday, according to multiple reports.
According to Pro Football Weekly, Arians is not being fired, but decided to leave as the Cardinals look to rebuild following two straight disappointing seasons of failing to reach the playoffs.
Arizona, currently holding a 7-8 record, has been decimated by injuries to key players such as quarterback Carson Palmer, All-Pro running back David Johnson, four-time Pro Bowl guard Mike Iupati and starting strong safety Tyvon Branch. These injuries, along with the team’s struggles on the field, have reportedly frustrated Arians, so much so that he is likely to bring his four-year tenure with the Cardinals to an end next week.
Arians has amassed a 48-30-1 record in his time with Arizona, the Cardinals recording double-digit wins in each of his first three seasons as head coach. Along with his football successes, which include two Super Bowl rings as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff, Arians is also a prostate cancer survivor, and this past summer had part of his kidney removed due to renal cell carcinoma.
Arians’s decision could reportedly affect wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s future, too. The 11-time Pro Bowler signed a contract extension with the Cardinals in November, but according to Pro Football Weekly, Fitzgerald has “has remained undecided as to whether to play another season, and the departure of Arians would significantly increase the odds that Fitzgerald would hang ’em up as well.”
• Josh Luckenbaugh can be reached at jluckenbaugh@washingtontimes.com.
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