Former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians in recovery and doing well following heart surgery

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning head coach Bruce Arians is recovering and doing well after undergoing heart surgery on Friday, reports Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

“Fixing an aneurysm I’ve been monitoring for a while,” Arians, 73, told the Times via text message. ”It’s gotten too large and needs sewed up. Great doc. I’m good.”

Arians has had a history of health issues as a three-time cancer survivor. In 2007, Arians was treated for prostate cancer during his tenure as offensive coordinator withthe Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, in 2013, Arians had skin cancer cells scraped off his nose while coaching the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2016, Arians dealt with a bout of diverticulitis, which caused inflammation of the colon and landed him in the hospital. Later in 2016, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). Coach Arians had part of his kidney removed in early 2017. After winning the Super Bowl during the 2020-21 season, Arians retired and took a senior advisory position with the team. During this tenure with the Bucs in 2022, Arians was diagnosed with myocarditis after experiencing chest pains. 

After all of his health issues and complications over the years, Arians now advocates for prostate cancer screening. The Super Bowl-winning coach made an appearance with former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski on “The Today Show” last month, advocating for prostate cancer screening when he initially revealed he’d be going in for heart surgery. 

Arians got his start in coaching on the college level in 1975. He eventually made the jump to the NFL in the late 1980s, but made his full-time transition to the league in 1998 as quarterbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts. With Tom Brady at the helm in 2020, Arians’ Bucs won Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9. Arians ended his career with a 129-80 record and 62.4% winning percentage as an NFL head coach.