Former Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians Says His Secret Health Battle Changed His Life: 'My Real Scare'

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After a game against the Minnesota Vikings in November 2016, then Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians spent the night in a hospital.

Arians, 64 at the time, experienced chest pain and discomfort during the medical episode but recovered and returned to the team a short time later.

While Arians — who later joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and led them to a Super Bowl win in 2021 — hasn't spoken much about that night, he now says it impacted his personal life and professional career and, ultimately, changed his life for the better.

"That was when I got my real scare," Arians, now 69, tells PEOPLE of the emergency six years ago. "We played the Vikings on a Sunday, and the game didn't go that well; there was a lot of stress involved."

"Later that night, I had to wake [my wife Christine] up," he recalls. "I had chest pains, and pains in my arm, and I said, 'Look, we got to go to the hospital and get just checked out… It was pretty scary."

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The father of two says it was during the hospitalization that doctors told him his cholesterol levels were high and had likely led to the pains he encountered after the game.

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While people need cholesterol to build cells within their body, having too much of it makes it difficult for blood to flow through vessels, increasing the risk of a heart attack or disease, according to Mayo Clinic. Too much bad cholesterol also boosts the odds of stroke, which kill at least one American every 3.5 minutes, per the Centers for Disease Control.

During his hospital stay, Arians' doctors told him he needed to make lifestyle changes, such as upping the amount of exercise he gets every week and eating healthier.

He says he took the advice seriously and increased his cardiovascular exercise. Arians also started cutting back on his salt intake and eating smaller portions for meals. He briefly tried going vegan but admitted that it didn't last very long. "I found out I couldn't eat just rice and noodles," he says, laughing.

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While he hasn't publicly addressed his health concerns until now, Arians, who is also on medication to manage his cholesterol, says he was inspired to with September being National Cholesterol Education Month.

He is also partnering with pharmaceutical company Novartis for their Coaching Cholesterol campaign that encourages others to get their cholesterol levels checked.

"I'm trying to help out and do everything I can to make men and women aware of getting checked, getting their blood test," he tells PEOPLE.

He adds: "I say, get a scorecard, go to your doctor, get a game plan on how you will attack it."

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"It's just a matter of teaming up with your doctor," he adds. "It's a silent assassin. It will sneak up on you and get you if you don't watch out."

After the 2016 hospitalization, Arians says he also made changes to mitigate his stress and began delegating more tasks to his coaching staff to use more of their ideas and "not try to do it all myself."

He says it was a change he carried with him when he joined the Buccaneers in 2019 and up until his retirement from coaching in 2021.

Arians is now a senior football consultant for the team and says he is looking forward to the upcoming season, especially after quarterback Tom Brady reconsidered his retirement earlier this year and decided to keep playing.

"It feels great to have Tom back in the building. That's for sure," he says. "And we've got a really, really good football team. Hopefully, we don't have the injuries. We've had some that we had last year, but I think this football team has got a chance to win the division — and win it all."