Bruce Arians won his first Super Bowl title as an NFL head coach in his seventh season, becoming the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl at 68 years and 127 days. Arians is the second-oldest head coach to win a NFL championship as George Halas remains the oldest coach to win a title at 68 years and 331 days when the Chicago Bears won the NFL Championship in 1963.
"This really belongs to our coaching staff and our players," Arians said hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl LV. "This is your trophy. I didn't do a damn thing. You guys won this game. You came together as a band of brothers and you made it happen."
Arians has already previously squashed all talk of a possible retirement prior to the Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl. After the victory, he confirmed he'll be back next season for an attempt at repeating as champions, as the Buccaneers will try to become the first team since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004 to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
"No, I ain't going anywhere," Arians said. "I'm coming back to try to win two, and we'll see after that."
The Buccaneers became the first team in NFL history to score 30-plus points four times in a single postseason. They are the first team in NFL history to defeat three former Super Bowl MVPs (Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes) -- and they did it in consecutive games. That's a testament to Arians believing in his staff and making sure Tampa Bay was at their best in December and January. The Buccaneers finished the year on an eight-game winning streak, not losing since Week 12.
Arians deferred credit to defensive coordinator Todd Bowles after the victory, making sure he earned praise for holding the Chiefs' offense to single digits under quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the first time (54 starts). The game plan will go down as one of the best in Super Bowl history.
"I have to give him credit. I think he got a little tired of hearing how unstoppable they were," Arians said. "I thought he came up with a fantastic plan just to keep them in front of us. Patrick wasn't going to beat us running. We'll let him run all day. We just kept chasing him around and see if he could make some plays."
