Bruce Arians has never been shy about his desire to develop coaches and help put them in positions to succeed. He did it throughout his entire coaching career and then, with his retirement, did the same. By shifting into a front office role this offseason, he gave Todd Bowles – his longtime assistant and friend – a chance to lead a Bucs team primed for another playoff run.

Arians has an eye for good coaches, which has been proven time and again. And in an appearance on Pardon My Take earlier this week, he was asked about players he has recently coached who might develop into good coaches themselves some day.

“I think Blaine Gabbert would be a good coach. He’s been through it, knows it in and out,” Arians said. “Defensively, Lavonte David would be a hell of a coach.”

Bucs LB Lavonte David and HC Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Those are two interesting picks by Arians. Gabbert’s career has been a long and interesting one, and because of that, he’s seen it all. Arians’ love for Gabbert as a quarterback is no secret, so it’s not surprising to hear him pick the 2011 first-round pick as someone who would be a good coach.

Meanwhile, it’s also no surprise to see David’s name come up here as well. The longtime Buc has always been a lead-by-example type of player whose smarts and instincts have been a big part of his success. Perhaps the 32-year-old will consider coaching whenever his playing career wraps up – whenever that might be.

Arians was asked by the Pardon My Take hosts whether he thought quarterback Tom Brady would be a good coach. His answer?

“No, no, no. He’d be way too demanding,” Arians said. “That’s like working for Peyton [Manning]. They’re workaholics, man. They’re workaholics.”

Arians famously employs a more laid-back style with his coaches. Of course, they get their work done and prepare as well as anybody in the league, but he has famously said that he’ll fire any of his coaches who miss their kids’ activities, whether it’s a football game, recital or anything else.

“If you miss a football game, a recital, anything to do with your children, I’ll fire you,” Arians told NBC Sports’ Peter King in 2019. “Because I missed a lot of mine. And those years don’t come back. There’s plenty of time in this office to work. You can come back at midnight if you want to.”

It is hard to imagine Brady following the same philosophy. But Brady’s future is in broadcasting, which is something Arians thinks the seven-time Super Bowl champion will be great with.

Former Players All Over the Bucs’ Staff Who ‘Will Be Head Coaches’

Arians also made sure to make mention of the coaches on his former staff – now Bowles’ current staff – who were former players and should be future head coaches. He made it clear in the past that Bowles should get another chance to be an NFL head coach. The former Jets coach now has his new opportunity with the Bucs.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and OC Byron Leftwich – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

He has also long maintained that offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich will be a future star in the coaching profession. In fact, he was “pissed off” when Leftwich didn’t get any interview requests for head coaching jobs after the 2020 season. The 42-year-old coordinator then seemed close to getting the Jaguars’ vacant head coaching job this offseason, but that didn’t pan out. Jacksonville instead hired Doug Pederson.

It makes sense, then, that Arians would show some love for Leftwich, as well as another assistant coach, when talking about future head coaches in his appearance on Pardon My Take.

“Now, we’ve got a bunch of players on our staff – former players on our staff that I think will be head coaches. Bryon [Leftwich] should’ve been a head coach last year. Larry Foote will be a head coach some day.”

Foote, the former Steelers, Lions and Cardinals linebacker, got his coaching career started with Arians in Arizona. In 2019, he joined the Bucs’ staff as the team’s outside linebackers coach. And after the coaching change this offseason, he’ll serve as the inside linebackers coach in addition to being Tampa Bay’s co-defensive coordinator with Kacy Rodgers.