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'Black Monday' claims another NFL coach, but this one's not a firing

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It turns out that not every coaching change on “Black Monday” is because of a firing.

By all accounts, Bruce Arians has done a pretty good job during his five seasons coaching the Arizona Cardinals.

He took over a 5-11 team, and won at least 10 games in each of his first three seasons.

In 2015, the Cards made it to the NFC Championship game.

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But largely due to injuries, Arizona struggled to a 15-16-1 record over the past two years, and that — combined with health concerns — reportedly has prompted Arians to step down from his only full-time head coaching job in the NFL.

On Tuesday, Arians denied a report from Pro Football Weekly that said he was retiring after the season, calling the report “fake news.”

The Cardinals knocked off Seattle on Sunday to give Arians his 50th win (regular-season and playoffs) in Arizona, making him the winningest head coach in franchise history.

Pro Bowl defensive back Patrick Peterson made it clear that although the team wasn’t going to the postseason, they had a common goal.

Given the abundance of injuries the team had to deal with this season, perhaps it was no surprise when future hall of fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald revealed that starting quarterback Drew Stanton played the last two games with a torn ACL.

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A longtime assistant and college coach, Arians filled in for Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in 2012 while his friend  successfully battled leukemia. Indianapolis went 9-3 for Arians, who became the first interim head coach to be named NFL Coach of the Year.

Two years later, Arians won the award again, leading Arizona to an 11-5 record and the postseason.

The 65-year-old is a prostate cancer survivor, and earlier this year announced he had won his battle with kidney cancer.

Before this season, Arians was happy to announce he was indeed cancer-free.

Between college and the NFL, from position coach to offensive coordinator to head coach, Arians has been on the sidelines, somewhere, every season since 1975 when he was a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech.

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Mike is an 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner who has spent nearly 30 years working in sports media.
Mike has spent nearly 30 years in all aspects of sports media, including on-air, 10 at ESPN and another 10 at Fox Sports Detroit. He now works as a TV agent, and lives with his family in West Bloomfield, MI.
Birthplace
Sudbury, Massachusetts
Honors/Awards
11-time Michigan Emmy winner
Education
Emerson College
Books Written
The Longest Year: One Family's Journey Of Life, Death, And Love/If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Tigers/If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Lions
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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