Bucs had Bruce Arians take physical due to health concerns

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finalized a deal on Tuesday to make Bruce Arians their new head coach, and they tried to handle things thoroughly before doing so.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, the Bucs had Arians take a physical before moving forward with him as their head coach.

The Bucs had some concerns about Bruce Arians’ health — enough to require a physical — but that hurdle has been cleared, per sources. There’s also been a hangup with the language in his Arizona contract that has caused a delay. But again… it’s all moving toward finality.

— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 8, 2019

Arians was hospitalized twice in 2016, once during training camp and the other time in November during the season. That led to rumors he was considering retirement, which did occur after the following season.

Hiring a 66-year-old coach who had health issues is risky, which explains why they would do their due diligence first.