There has been talk this season about Bruce Arians not returning to coach the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, and one report from Monday indicated he and the team have already decided to part ways in the coming weeks. That report is now being shot down.
According to both ESPN’s Dianna Russini and Josh Weinfuss, no decision has been made about Arians’ future in Arizona.
I’m told as of now Head Coach Bruce Arians is not stepping away from the Arizona Cardinals job after the season. #Cardinals
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) December 26, 2017
According to a source, the Pro Football Weekly report that Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and the team will mutually agree to part ways after Sunday's game "is 100 percent not true." The decision will be Arians' to make. https://t.co/9B8HFZZO3A
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) December 26, 2017
Arians later sent a text message to Jarrett Bell of USA Today denying the original report.
“Never heard of the (reporter),” Arians wrote. “Nothing decided.”
While he has had numerous health issues in recent years and turned 65 this year, Arians said earlier this month that the Cardinals’ disappointing season only makes him want to keep coaching even more.
Both Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald could decide to retire this offseason, so it seems like the Cardinals are getting close to entering a total rebuild. It remains to be seen if Arians wants to be part of that or if the team wants to go in another direction, but most of what we have heard makes it seem like the Cardinals will leave that decision up to the coach.
