When Bruce Arians was asked who influenced his coaching style, he mentioned some advice he got from Bear Bryant.
Bryant died in 1983. Patrick Mahomes’ dad was 12 years old then, still nine years from making his major league baseball debut.
To say it has been a long journey for Arians is an understatement. His first job in coaching was as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech in 1975. He didn’t get a shot to be an NFL head coach until he was 60, and that was only as an interim for the Indianapolis Colts when Chuck Pagano battled leukemia.