Bruce Arians, potentially the Brett Favre of coaches, retired after the 2011 season, before landing with the Colts in 2012. He retired once again after 2017.
Now working with CBS, Arians recently said he’d consider emerging from retirement for one and only one job -- the one in Cleveland.
Regardless of whether Arians will be considered for the position (as noted over the weekend, the biggest question is the threshold matter of who will be making the hiring decision?), his interest underscores the reality that plenty of coaches, fired, retired, and/or currently employed, will want to work for the Browns, so that he can work with Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Over the next two months, plenty of off-the-record, behind-the-scenes discussions will occur, as the Browns reach out to potentially interested candidates, and as potentially interested candidates reach out to the Browns. At some point, the Browns will have to say yes to someone, an inherently stressful proposition since this means they’ll have to say no to everyone else.
As to Arians, it’s easy to say he’d only be interested in the Browns job, given that it’s the only job currently open. It’s safe to say he’d be interested in other jobs, if they come open. Most notably, the opportunity to work with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay would intrigue any quarterback whisperer, and Arians is one of the best.
It’s also safe to say the Cardinals may want compensation from whoever hires Arians, given that he retired with time left on his contract. That’s precisely what happened when Dick Vermeil emerged from retirement with the Rams to coach the Chiefs in the early years of the last decade.
