Bruce Arians addresses perception that he takes shots at Bill Belichick

Bruce Arians has been open about the fact that he does things a lot differently from Bill Belichick, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach insists people have misinterpreted some of his remarks.

Arians has seemingly boasted about giving Tom Brady freedom he never had in New England. In an appearance on Showtime with Ray Lewis this week, Arians was asked to shed some light on Brady’s motivation for winning a seventh Super Bowl. He found a very diplomatic way to say Brady wanted to prove he could win a title without Belichick. Arians also had high praise for the Patriots coach.

“I think his competitive spirit is so strong that he wanted to do it. He wanted to show people,” Arians said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “I’ve never said anything bad about Bill Belichick; I know everybody tries to say I do. His record speaks for itself. He is probably the greatest one ever. But I think [Brady] wanted to try a different way.”

There’s no question Brady wanted to prove he could win without Belichick, and he did just that. What’s more debatable, however, is whether or not Arians has taken swipes at his fellow coach.

Arians made some comments during the postseason that clearly seemed critical of Belichick. A lot of people feel he basically lucked into having Brady as his quarterback and is now trying to take credit for handling the 43-year-old better than Belichick did. The reality is the Bucs had a much more talented roster than New England, which is one of the main reasons — if not the main reason — Brady chose Tampa Bay.