By: Khari Demos

In one of the surprise moves in an already topsy-turvy offseason, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians left his post behind, ending a coaching career that spanned 40-plus years throughout the NFL and college football.

Arians is most notably known for his time as the Bucs head coach, as he joined forces with Tom Brady to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl title following the 2020 season. He also guided the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-17, taking the team to the NFC Championship Game in 2015.

But some things people may have forgotten are his prior stints as an assistant coach. He was able to elevate some of the most talented arms in league history outside of Brady ”” Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, and Carson Palmer.

His NFL head-coaching life may have been short-lived, but so was the late great John Madden’s. But the big question now; is Arians a Hall of Famer? It’s something that needs to be discussed.

For starters, we should discuss Arians’ Super Bowl rings. Yes, he did claim one as head coach of the Bucs, but he also contributed to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most recent title teams (2005, 2008) as a wide receiver coach and offensive coordinator, respectively.

But his biggest selling point may be his work with some of the game’s best QBs. Arians worked with Manning as his QBs coach in his first three seasons in the NFL (1998-2000). After a shaky rookie year, the future Hall of Famer had two Pro Bowl seasons with Arians, which also included two second-team All-Pro nods, as Manning led the NFL in TD passes (33) and passing yards (4,413).

In both the 1999 and 2000 seasons, the Colts had top-five ranked offenses (4th in ’99, 3rd in ’00).

Wondering what Manning did after Arians left for Cleveland? He regressed a bit, amassing 42 interceptions over the next two seasons, and going 16-17 record-wise (including the playoffs).

While as OC of the Browns, Arians did not have a ton of offensive talent during his stint there (2001-03), but he was a major factor in the franchise getting back to the playoffs for the first time in since its return to the NFL in 1999. The Browns’ loss to the Steelers in the 2002 Wild Card round would prove to be Cleveland’s lone postseason appearance until 2020.

Arians would then join the division-rival Steelers, as they went 15-1 in their first season with him on the staff. The team ultimately lost in the AFC Championship game to the eventual-Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, but Pittsburgh would get it back with the Super Bowl XL win over the Seattle Seahawks.

As a WRs coach in Pittsburgh, Arians mentored Hines Ward to a Pro Bowl season in ’04, as well young future Super Bowl heroes in Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes. And once he took over as OC, that’s when the Steelers began to see the emergence of Roethlisberger into superstar territory.

In 2007, Arians’ first season as Steelers OC, Big Ben had his first 30-TD pass season. While working with Arians (2007-11), the Miami of Ohio product was named the ’07 Comeback Player of the Year and earned his first two career Pro Bowl nods.

Arians helped names like Willie Parker and Heath Miller become fan favorites while with the Steelers. He also groomed Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown to become Pro Bowl-level receivers. The former Temple head coach also was instrumental in Pittsburgh making a run to Super Bowl XLV ”” the proud franchise’s last appearance in the big game.

After leaving Pittsburgh to go back to Indy, the 2012 season may be Arians next-best achievement on his resume. With head coach Chuck Pagano having to step away from the team after four games due to his cancer treatments, Arians nobly stepped in as interim HC, lifting the Colts to a 9-3 record at the helm (11-5 overall) and a berth in the Wild Card round.

Arians was acknowledged as the 2012 Associated Press COY due to his contribution’s in Pagano’s absence.

Just like he did so many years prior for Manning, Arians was a key figure in Luck landing his first Pro Bowl selection and setting several NFL and Colts records for a rookie QB.

Then as head coach with the Cardinals, Arians had a record of at .500 or better in four of his five seasons with the team and won his second Coach of the Year honors there (2014). Arizona had two playoff berths under Arians and in 2016 won its first division title since going back-to-back in 2008 and 2009. The loss to the Carolina Panthers in the 2015 NFC Championship game was only the second conference championship appearance for the team since moving to AZ in 1995, and was just the fourth time in team history that the Cardinals made back-to-back postseason appearances.

BA’s 50 wins in AZ (including the postseason) are the most in franchise history.

Arians’ run in Arizona was notably coupled with the revival of Palmer’s career. The former No. 1 overall pick had a 91.1 passer rating and averaged 279.7 passing yards while working with BA. But the 2015 was Palmer’s finest ”” the Heisman Trophy winner led the league with a 76.4 QBR, had a 104.6 passer rating, 35 TD passes, 11 INTs, and 4,671 passing yards in leading the Cardinals to a 13-3 record.

Once BA got to Tampa, he had another reclamation project with Jameis Winston, and although people will remember that the fellow former Heisman winner threw for a league-high 30 INTs, he also led the league with 5,109 passing yards and 33 TDs. That cleared the way for Brady to come in, as he won his seventh ring with the team in his first year there, before claiming the Bucs’ first divisional title since 2007.

And even with the great Brady under center, Arians took him to heights he’s never been. The GOAT had never had back-to-back 40-TD pass seasons in his career before coming to Tampa and he also set a new career-high for passing yards last season (5,316).

Outside of that, BA also was the oldest HC in NFL history to win the Super Bowl (68). He also has the highest winning percentage in Buccaneers history (.651), nine seasons as an HC/OC where he had top-10 scoring offenses, and another seven with top-10 total offenses.

Now Arians’ regular season winning percentage is tied with Paul Brown for 18th all-time (.624). And his 80 career wins in the regular season are also intriguing, as he’s tied with fellow Super Bowl winners Jimmy Johnson and Brian Billick. But Arians has the nod over both in career winning percentage, as they’re both tied at .556%.

Billick may not get into the Hall due to such a short time working in the NFL, but Johnson did just get inducted in 2020, which was most likely due to his two Super Bowl wins in 1992 and 1993.

Speaking of the postseason, Arians’ postseason record may be another feather in his cap. BA’s .667 playoff winning percentage is tied for 15th all-time for NFL head coaches. That’s a higher figure than a bevy of HOF coaches ”” Hank Stram, Curly Lambeau, Bill Parcells, Marv Levy, Bill Cowher, John Madden, Tom Landry, and Dick Vermeil, to name a few.

Arians is also one of only 12 coaches all-time to be named AP Coach of the Year on multiple occasions, joining Don Shula (4), Chuck Knox and Bill Belichick (3), George Halas, Allie Sherman, Mike Ditka, George Allen, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, and Ron Rivera (2).

The biggest drawback to BA’s head coaching career would be the length of time. He only had eight seasons as a head coach, which would be on the lower end for an HOF coach. But that should not be the end all be all for Arians. Other Super Bowl era coaches have made it to the Hall after short tenures.

Madden, Johnson, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Walsh all made it in with 10 or fewer seasons as an HC. And although each may have a certain piece of their respective resumes that elevates them above Arians’, BA’s achievements aren’t that far behind.

Three Super Bowl wins in total, two COY awards, and holding respective wins and winning percentage records with two franchises that have losing records all-time in the NFL. When you stack it all up, Arians’ case is stronger than you’d realize.

The Bucs have already announced BA will be inducted into their Ring of Honor this coming season. And that honor could be coming at any moment for the Cards to do the same. So do those add to his already stellar resume? Yes.

But do they make him a sure-fire Hall of Famer? That’s up for debate. All I know is, if I had a vote, I’d have no problem sending Arians on his way to Canton.

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The Tennessee Titans drafted Jake Locker with their eighth overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. Locker was a part of the legendary 2011 draft class, which featured profiles like J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Cam Newton, Julio Jones, and Cameron Jordan. It’s safe to say in 2022 that Locker didn’t prove to be a star from the 2011 NFL draft.

Locker was an occasional backup QB in 2011 behind the legendary QB Matt Hasselback. Locker was then moved into the starting QB chair in the 2012 season. The QB that had lots of hype and intangibles didn’t quite show any real potential in 2012. He ousted a 4-7 record as the starter while throwing 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The injury bug haunted Locker in 2012, as he missed five games with a torn shoulder.

The Titans high draft pick really showed growth in 2013, as he unveiled a 4-3 record (as a starter) and threw 8 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. Yet, the Achilles of Locker rose again: he suffered a Lisfranc injury on November 10th, which ended his season.

Locker regressed in 2014, which would also be his last season in the league. Zach Mettenberger and Charlie Whitehurst were the mixed bags of tricks until December. Locker was then inserted, but his weakness followed him soon. He sputtered out with a 1-4 and suffered a serious shoulder injury in December, which ended his season and career.

Many fans ask the question: why did Locker retire after the 2014 season? Did Locker grow weary of his injuries and potentially life-long consequences of his constant significant injuries? Was Locker lacking a love of the game, just as Andrew Luck became less pleased with the risk/reward of playing football? Perhaps, Locker wanted to exit the NFL at a time when his injury history might overweight his lack of production in the league?

I honestly thought the combination of injuries and lack of talent shown by Locker drove him to early retirement. Although, I recently came to the conclusion that his decision was more based on the constant injuries he suffered in each season. Locker did actually show some playmaking ability in the 2013 season. He should have had some confidence in himself.

According to Sports Illustrated, Chip Kelly reportedly was interested in his services. If Locker really wanted to have a rich and long career in the league, I have a hard time imagining he would turn down a chance to play with Kelly. If Locker didn’t accumulate to a special player in Philly for a season, there wouldn’t be a change in the legacy for Locker. Yet, if he shined in Kelly’s offense, just as “Nick Foles” did for a short period, he would prove that he did deserve to be a starting QB in the league. Nonetheless, I believe he truly didn’t care about the league and his injury concerns weren’t worth the cost of football in his mind. In addition to his football life and sports perspective, Locker was also a deeply religious person.

If Locker really cared about people’s perspective on him “being a bust”, he certainly would have taken the quick golden ticket to Chip Kelly’s high-scoring offense.

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By: Andy Davies

The Jacksonville Jaguars will go into the 2021 season with a new head coach. Urban Meyer is the new man to take charge, hoping to be the guy to change the fortunes of a franchise that has struggled for many years. After drafting the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck in Trevor Lawrence this year with the number one overall pick, the Jags fans have rarely gone into a season this excited. The Jags have twice gone into a season on the back of reaching an AFC Championship game but with the addition of Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence, there is a real buzz around the organization and in the city of Jacksonville. However, Urban Meyer has never coached in the NFL. He is one of the most successful college head coaches of his generation. Can he translate this to the pros?

His Journey As A Player

Meyer was a walk-on in college as a defensive back for the University of Cincinnati, despite initially being drafted by Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves in 1982. Injury would deny Meyer the chance to make it as a professional player, but he showed signs of his coaching credentials whilst in college. He would go back to college, heading to Ohio State University where he studied sports administration. He would get a degree at both colleges, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Cincinnati and sports administration at Ohio State, which will have no doubt helped him massively during his time as a football coach.

He may not have made it to the NFL as a player but he showed signs of his credentials as a coach during his time in college. Meyer would often spend additional time in practice, learning how to run them and handle substitutions. These all prepared him for life as a coach. As a player, he was part of a Cincinnati team that finished 2-9, with Meyer saying that it “wasn’t a great experience. We weren’t very good”. This will help him be prepared for a Jaguars team that won just one game in 2020. His former coach in Cincinnati David Currey spoke of his coaching abilities.

“He was not a great player but you could tell he would coach for a living. He was a student of the game, always trying to learn about things”.

The Start Of Meyer’s Coaching Career

He started his coaching career in 1985 as a defensive backs coach for St Xavier High School in Ohio before becoming a graduate assistant for two seasons with Ohio State. He spent two years with Illinois State as an outside linebackers coach in 1988 and a quarterback and wide receivers coach in 1989. He would then spend eleven years as a wide receivers coach, spending six with Colorado State and then five with Notre Dame before getting his first head coaching job in 2001 with Bowling Green.

The Early Stages Of His Time As A Head Coach In College

Meyer only spent two seasons with Bowling Green but would leave the team with a 17-6 record in charge. Highlights of his time there was the 56-21 win over rivals, the University of Toledo Rockets. Whilst with Bowling Green, he transformer their fortunes. He joined with the team having gone 2-9 in 2000 to then go 8-3 in 2001 and 9-3 in 2002, before leaving for the University of Utah.

Utah hired Meyer and was an instant success, going 10-2 and winning the Liberty Bowl in 2003. They would go 12-0 and win the Fiesta Bowl in 2004. Whilst with the university, he coached safety Eric Weddle and quarterback Alex Smith, who went on to be the number one overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Smith would become an inspiration to everyone when he went on to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year during the 2020 season, returning the field after a life threatening injury in 2018.

Meyer openly claimed that he “made Utah competitive” during his time there. Morgan Scalley played as a defensive back under Meyer at Utah before going on to become a defensive coordinator with the college. He spoke of how Meyer changed everything.

“You could tell it would be different from the first session at the weight room. I never had butterflies going into a weight room and that had me going”.

Success With Florida and Ohio State

The Florida Gators then came calling in 2005, where Meyer would spend the next six seasons. He would coach notable players such as Cam Newton, Carlos Dunlap, Janoris Jenkins, Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, Tim Tebow and Trey Burton during his time in Florida as head coach. With an overall record 65-15 with the Gators, Meyer won Florida the Outback Bowl and the Sugar Bowl as well as winning two National Championships. He had a 5-1 record with Florida in Bowl games. Following a health scare, Meyer decided to leave the Gators after the 2010 seasons as he wanted to put focus on his family and “life away from the field”.

He soon returned to college football, becoming Ohio State head coach two seasons later. During his time with the team, he had an 83-9 record. He won one National Championship as well as a Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. His time there sadly ended in controversy, before leaving in 2018 due to health reasons. He spent time as a television analyst before accepting the Jacksonville head coaching position in January 2021.

His Coaching Style & The Spread Offense

Meyer is seen as someone who is competitive, fiery and resolute. His “juice” is said to fire his teams up, with his infectious personality an integral part of his head coaching success. During his time as an analyst, he often went through a breakdown of offensive systems, with one component of his style of coaching being his Spread Offense.

This is a scheme which features four receivers, resulting in the opposition defense attempting to cover these players. This system allows the run game to excel, with RPO and read option plays often used under this style of offense. In a modern day NFL, we are seeing plenty of college schemes being brought into the league. Meyer will look to bring this style of coaching into the NFL that worked so well for him in college.

Can He Transform The Jaguars?

This is not going to be an easy task for Meyer but as he showed in Utah, he is capable of turning a team around. Jacksonville has the talent on their roster but have never seemed to fulfil their potential. One of their aforementioned trips to the AFC Championship was in the 2017 season. Their defense named ‘Sacksonville” played a big part in their journey, where they had a ten point lead and were nine minutes away from reaching the Super Bowl. They would end up losing 24-20 in agonizing fashion.

The components of Sacksonville would slowly fall apart. Jalen Ramsey, Malik Jackson and Yannick Ngakoue all left in 2019, with both A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell leaving in 2020. Quarterback Blake Bortles was seen as the player holding back the team, being released in March 2019 as the Jaguars looked to Nick Foles, who won Super Bowl 52 MVP just a year earlier. He was seen as the missing piece in the jigsaw but only lasted one season in a disappointing spell with the franchise.

Head coach Doug Marrone guided Jacksonville to the AFC Championship and a 10-6 record in his first full season as head coach of the franchise. Despite this, he couldn’t guide them to more than six wins in any of the three seasons that followed before being fired in January 2021. Issues off the field started to develop, with the players arrested on their annual trip to London in 2018 after an unpaid £50,000 drinks bill. Meyer won’t stand for any negative behaviour with his aforementioned fiery, competitive and infectious personality is likely to keep the players in check.

And then of course, there is Lawrence. One of the best college prospects in many years, he brings a lot of expectation with Jags fans pinning their hopes on him being the man to bring the good times to this franchise. He had not lost a regular season game since high school and reached the National Championship in two of his three seasons with the Clemson Tigers, winning one of those two.

He played 40 games in college and threw for 758 out of his 1,138 throws, giving him a 66.6 completion percentage. Across his time with Clemson, he threw for 90 touchdowns and 10,098 yards. Jacksonville have a real talent on their hands and they need to do everything they can to ensure he fulfils his tremendous potential.

Along with Lawrence, they have reunited their number one overall pick with his Clemson team-mate in running back Travis Etienne, who recorded 70 rushing touchdowns and 4,952 rushing yards during his four seasons in the ACC. He will join a running back room alongside James Robinson, who impressed highly in 2020 during his rookie year with 1,070 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. Etienne is said to also be working out as a receiver, which gives variety to the offensive side of the ball. Former Detroit Lions wideout Marvin Jones has joined the team via Free Agency to add depth to a wide receiver room already including DJ Chark Jr and Laviska Shenault Jr. Second-round pick Tyson Campbell gives depth to the Jaguars secondary, as will 65th overall pick Andre Cisco. 45th overall selection Walker Little will add protection to the Jags offensive line. Myles Jack is a survivor from the Sacksonville era and alongside fellow linebacker Josh Allen, they have the potential to cause problems for the opposition.

Jacksonville have a long rebuild ahead and fans should not expect an immediate transformation. Doubts remain over new Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz and whether he can get back to his 2017 form. The Tennessee Titans’ defense is seen as their Achilles heels and the Houston Texans are a mess. They will likely see their quarterback Deshaun Watson leave, which will result in years of struggles and mediocrity. This is not the toughest division in the NFL and the Jags will want to capitalise on this, but the improvement will likely be in either year 2, 3 or 4 of the Urban Meyer Jacksonville era.

The post Urban Meyer’s career so far: can he transform the Jaguars? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Corey Hietpas

This coming August will mark two years since Andrew Luck announced his very surprising retirement. I can never fault players making the personal choice to walk away from the game on their terms, but I really want to see Andrew Luck playing again. He was easily one of my favorite players to watch on Sundays. Not only would I want this, but I also want to see the Captain Andrew Luck Twitter account back. If you’re unfamiliar, take a few minutes scrolling through some of the tweets from this account, they’re hysterical. Anyway, with Luck’s very early retirement came the obvious thoughts and questions of “Is Andrew Luck worthy of the Hall of Fame?”. It’s a great question and is one I want to attempt to answer by diving into the numbers more. First, it makes sense to look at Andrew Luck’s notable career stats. Then, the only way I know how to answer the Hall of Fame question is to compare his body of work to other Hall of Fame QBs that played during a similar or overlapping time as Luck.

Andrew Luck Notable Stats

Regular Season Stats:

86 games, 53 wins, 62% winning percentage

23,671 yards, 171 TDs, and 83 interceptions

89.5 Passer Rating, 61% completion percentage, and 7.2 yards per attempt

Awards and Accolades:

0 MVPs, 0 1st Team All-Pro Selections, 4 Pro Bowls

Playoff Stats:

4-4 record and 0-0 Super Bowl record

2,254 yards (282 per game), 12 TDs, 13 INTs, and a 73.4 Passer Rating

Hall of Fame QBs’ Notable Stats

The following Hall of Fame QBs played during a similar or overlapping time as Andrew Luck, so they are the most comparable due to the change in nature of the game from a run-heavy to a pass-heavy league.

1. Brett Favre (1991-2010)

Regular Season Stats:

302 games, 186 wins, 62% winning percentage

71,838 yards, 508 TDs, and 336 interceptions

86 Passer Rating, 62% completion percentage, 7.1 yards per attempt

Awards and Accolades:

3 MVPs, 3 1st Team All-Pro Selections, 11 Pro Bowls

13-11 Playoff record and 1-1 Super Bowl record

Playoff Stats: 

5,855 yards (244 per game), 7.4 YPA, 44 TDs, 30 INTs, 86.3 Passer Rating

13-11 Playoff record and 1-1 Super Bowl record

2. Peyton Manning (1998-2015)

Regular Season Stats:

266 games played, 186 wins, 70% winning percentage

71,940 yards, 539 TDs, 251 interceptions

96.5 Passer Rating 65% completion percentage, 7.7 yards per attempt

Awards and Accolades:

5 MVPs, 7 1st Team All-Pro Selections, 14 Pro Bowls

Playoff Stats:

14-13 Playoff record and 2-2 Super Bowl record

7,339 yards (272 per game), 7.1 YPA, 40 TDs, 25 INTs, 87.4 Passer Rating

3. Kurt Warner (1998-2009)

Regular Season Stats

124 games played, 67 wins, 54% winning percentage

32,344 yards, 208 TDs, 128 interceptions

93.7 Passer Rating, 66% completion percentage, 7.9 yards per attempt

Awards and Accolades:

2 MVPs, 2 1st Team All-Pro Selections, 4 Pro Bowls

Playoff Stats:

9-4 Playoff record and 1-2 Super Bowl record

3,952 yards (304 per game), 8.6 YPA, 31 TDs, 14 INTs, 102.8 Passer Rating

Decision

As much as I love Andrew Luck, he really doesn’t stack up to any of these recent QBs that were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The most comparable QB in terms of stats is Kurt Warner, but Luck doesn’t have as many MVPs or 1st team All-Pros, and he does not have the ridiculous postseason numbers that Warner does. Luck may have a case of bad luck in this scenario, as two of these QBs I’m comparing him to are considered top-10 all-time by most fans and analysts. Taking this into consideration, I still don’t think Luck has a good enough resume to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as his notable stats and awards come nowhere near these Hall of Fame QBs. He will always be one of my favorite QBs that I’ve had the pleasure of watching though.

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