The Arizona Cardinals will join the growing list of NFL teams with coaching vacancies to fill this offseason. Bruce Arians, who has guided the Cardinals to 49-30-1 record over his five seasons in Arizona, announced his retirement on Monday.
The coach with the most wins in our history is officially retiring.
Thank you for everything. #ThanksBA pic.twitter.com/kIDuafOrAC
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 1, 2018
Prior to going to the Cardinals as a head coach, Arians spent more than a decade as one of the NFL’s top offensive coordinators, most of which coming in Pittsburgh, with brief stops in Cleveland and Indianapolis as well. Arians’ battles with health problems over the past two years contributed to his decision to step away.
According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals have requested permission to speak with Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as they begin their coaching search that they assuredly were expecting to have over the final weeks of the season. The Cardinals will be competing with the Giants, Colts, Raiders, Lions and Bears on the coaching market as the end of the season brought a significant number of coaching changes as the calendar turned to 2018.
The Cardinals’ next coach will have an interesting roster to take over, with some strong skill position players (the very welcome return of David Johnson will be a big boost) but major questions at quarterback.
