Bruce Arians: Tom Brady gets 'way too much credit' for offense
"You don’t call out superstars."
That was Colin Cowherd’s response to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians saying that Tom Brady gets "way too much credit" for the team’s success on the offensive side of the ball.
Arians, who stepped down as the Bucs head coach last month and will now move into a front-office role with the organization, recently appeared on a radio interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. He was asked about Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who was a top candidate for the head coaching opening in Jacksonville.
Of course, Doug Pederson was named the Jaguars’ new head coach and Leftwich is set to return to Tampa, where he will coordinate its high-powered offense once again this season. When Arians was asked about Leftwich’s impact on the Bucs offense, he was not shy about saying it’s not Brady who makes the unit go.
"I get credit and Brady gets way too much credit for what Byron does with our offense," Arians said. "One of the reasons I hope he gets all the credit he deserves this year is to get a coaching gig. You know, he had about four or five teams real interested last year."
Cowherd took exception to the quote, claiming that is now eight times that Arians has either marginalized or criticized Brady since the two joined forces in Tampa Bay back in 2020.
"The more Bruce talks, the more it proves there is turbulence here," Cowherd said on Thursday’s edition of "The Herd." "[Tom] Brady is the singular reason the Tampa Bay mess in the last decade has been interesting."
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Hear what Colin Cowherd has to say about Bruce Arians' comments on Tom Brady, including why TB12 "deserves a majority of the credit for turning a losing franchise into Super Bowl winners."
The Buccaneers were 7-9 in Arians’ first season at the helm, in which Leftwich was also the team’s offensive coordinator. Brady’s arrival instantly turned the team’s fortunes around as they went 11-5 the following season, which concluded with a Super Bowl victory.
Tampa Bay has posted a 29-10 record in games that Brady has started under center over the past two seasons. The team won 26 games combined over a four-year span before Brady arrived.
"Tom Brady deserves the majority of the credit for turning a losing franchise [that] had good coaches and players, but never had a legitimate Hall of Fame quarterback," Cowherd said. "They get him, they win a Super Bowl in a pandemic, they vie for a Super Bowl this year, and they’ll be an NFC favorite with the Rams next year."
FOX Bet currently lists the Bucs at +750 to win Super Bowl LVII, trailing only the Buffalo Bills, who come in at +650.