With Chuck Pagano back to work with the Colts, Bruce Arians has returned to the offensive coordinator role he expected to fill this season.
His work while posting an 9-3 record over 12 games filling in for Pagano won’t be quickly forgotten, however. Arians is expected to draw votes for coach of the year, an award he told Zach Gelb of WHIP Radio that he would gladly keep for himself if he winds up being named the winner. Gelb also asked Arians if he was interested in pursuing any head coaching opportunities that might arise this offseason as long as they fit certain criteria.
“We’ll listen to see if it’s right for me and my family. I’m not just gonna run away to be a head coach, I’m not gonna do that,” Arians said. “I want to make sure they have a chance to win and see what the situation is, what city it is in. But definitely would listen, yes.”
It’s all hypothetical at the moment since we don’t know which teams will be looking and which teams will be looking at Arians, but his experience working with quarterbacks like Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning gives some hint of what kind of situation he’d like to be in as a head coach. It’s pretty much the same situation as any head coach would like to find himself in, albeit one that rarely comes available thanks to the high correlation of strong quarterback play and stable coaching situations.