Bucs coach Bruce Arians says he told his staff he would fire them if they miss their kids' events because 'Those years don't come back'

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Bucs coach Bruce Arians says he told his staff he would fire them if they miss their kids' events because 'Those years don't come back'

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bruce arians

Chris O'Meara/AP

Bruce Arians doesn't want his coaching staff missing their kids' games or recitals.

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians says he tells his coaching staff that he'll fire them if they miss one of their children's events.
  • Arians said he missed too many of his kids' events while coaching, saying, "Those years don't come back."
  • Arians said the rule was inspired by an offensive coordinator he once worked under who let Arians sneak out of the office to see one of his son's games.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Being a coach in the NFL often means working long hours, from early mornings to late nights, studying and preparing.

New Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, however, makes an exception for his staff: their children's events. In fact, Arians enforces going to kids' events.

Arians told NBC's Peter King that he told his staff he would fire them for missing their kids' events because he missed too many himself.

"I told my coaches in our first meeting, 'If you miss a ballgame, a recital, anything to do with your children, I'll fire you.' Because I missed a lot of mine. And those years don't come back," Arians told King.

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"There's plenty of time in this office to work; you can come back at midnight if you want to. But don't miss that recital, don't miss that game. Those things mean so much to your children and it means so much to you. The games I did get to see my son play, I know he felt different, and I don't want those guys to ever miss that."

Arians also discussed the rule during an interview on SiriusXM NFL radio, saying: "Those kids are not going to be there forever. They're going to grow up and be gone."

Arians said on SiriusXM that he developed the rule because of an experience he had when he worked under Marty Schottenheimer with the Kansas City Chiefs. Schottenheimer had a strict rule about leaving the office.

Arians wanted to go to one of his son's games on a Thursday and offensive coordinator Joe Pendry came up with an idea to let Arians slip out of the office.

"I said, 'You know Marty doesn't allow us to leave the office,'" Arians said, recalling the conversation. "[Pendry] said, 'Well, I'll tell him you went jogging. Just, when you get back, throw some water on your face.'"

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Many NFL teams are similar to what Arians described with the Kansas City Chiefs. Former defensive coordinator and current Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia said that he almost lost his job offer from Bill Belichick for wanting to talk to his wife before taking the job. Sports Illustrated's Tim Rohan reported that the Patriots said if Patricia couldn't answer right away, "he wasn't that committed."

Read more: Bill Belichick once changed his mind on hiring an assistant when the coach wanted to check with his wife first

Arians, of course, is demanding, too, but his exception for family time is noteworthy.

Watch Arians discuss the rule below:

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