Super Bowl Head Coaches Arians, Reid Have Winning Reputations

TAMPA, FL — Since Jan. 24's big win against the Green Bay Packers, giving the Buccaneers a shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Head Coach Bruce Arians has been arriving at the Bucs’ practice facility every day before sunrise.

"I probably get in around 6:15 or so. Pretty early,” Arians said.

Still, most of his coaching staff and players beat him in, he said.

“I think everyone is in here to try and get as much preparation as we can. There's a lot to study. Kansas City is a tough team to prepare for because they're very talented,” Arians said. “They have a lot of great things that they do on defense that really challenge you. It's been a lot of preparation. This whole time has been really hardcore prep. Now we ultimately have to be confident in what we're doing and go out there and get the job done."

Arians is no newcomer when it comes to preparing for a Super Bowl.

He was lured out of retirement in 2019 to coach the Bucs. Previously, he was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-27 and interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 when then-Head Coach Chuck Pagano was being treated for leukemia.
During that time, Arians was named AP NFL Coach of the Year, the first interim coach to receive the honor.

He led the Cardinals to two postseason runs, one division title and an NFC Championship game. He also received a second Coach of the Year award following the 2014 season with the Cardinals.

“I was a receivers coach in Super Bowl XL and the coordinator in Super Bowls XLIII and XLV,” he said. “But it's different just getting half of the side of the ball ready. We're so lucky this year we don't have to travel. For us, it was a matter of practice schedules and making sure our team was fresh, yet ready to play."

Having the hometown advantage is a huge factor going into Sunday’s game, he said.

"It's really, really amazing to just be in our facility, be in our locker room, on the practice field, same drive to work every single day. Being able to stay in that routine has been critical because normally you're jumping on a plane,” he said. “You're either at another team's facility or at a college facility and getting accustomed to that the first few days with different meeting rooms. That's been huge for us - just staying in our routines."

Coming out of the last year’s Super Bowl win in Miami, Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid takes a more nonchalant approach to Super Bowl preparations.

With 221 victories under his belt, he's sixth in line for winning the most games in NFL history.
Reid was brought on as the Chiefs’ head coach in 2013. In his eight seasons with Kansas City, he has led the Chiefs to seven postseason appearances, five division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Super Bowl title for Super Bowl LIV, the team’s first in 50 years.

He said he knows his players want to succeed, and he gives them leeway to do just that.

"I’m in a business where these guys want to be the best, that’s what they want to do," Reid said during a news conference. "They don’t want to be embarrassed — they don’t want to embarrass themselves or their families — they don’t want to do that. Then, the thing I’ve found with great players is they want you to give them one more thing, so they can even be greater, and that’s the way I approach it. Right or wrong, that’s how I approach it."

Reid was previously the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, a position he held from 1999 to 2012. He led the Eagles to nine playoff runs, six division titles, five NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl appearance.

He began his coaching career as an offensive assistant for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998 when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI.