The Tampa Bay Buccaneers apparently had some help in wooing Bruce Arians out of "retirement."
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Bucs general manager Jason Licht enlisted the help of Chicago Cubs coach Joe Maddon, the former Rays manager who lives in the area during the MLB offseason, to convince Arians he should return for the Bucs job.
Per Stroud, Maddon helped sell Arians on living in Tampa. After an interview, Arians signed a four-year contract to coach the Bucs.
Arians and Maddon are both native Pennsylvanians, growing up about 100 miles apart, and met about four years ago when Licht introduced them during Cubs spring training in Arizona.
The similarities between Arians and Maddon eclipse merely growing up in the same state. Both ooze swagger, manage aggressively and aren't afraid to think outside the box. Arians, 66, and Maddon, 64, each found success as coaches later in life, despite the widening gap between the players they're guiding and their own age.
The Bucs hope Arians can add to the comparison with Maddon, who led the downtrodden Cubs to a curse-breaking World Series championship in his second season in Chicago.
