Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians retires
Bruce Arians’ time as offensive coordinator for the Steelers was filled with exciting plays and baffling ones. And it’s those baffling plays that made Arians a frequent target of angry Steelers fans.
The Steelers announced today that Arians will be retiring. That means that Steelers fans won’t be able to blame Arians for the team’s losses anymore.
Arians’ days as offensive coordinator were a mixed bag. He will always be remembered as the guy who unleashed Ben Roethlisberger. Prior to Arians, Roethlisberger had been seen as more of a “game manager” than a franchise quarterback. Bill Cowher and Ken Whisenhunt consciously worked to keep Big Ben’s pass attempts low.
But when Bruce Arians took over, he let Roethlisberger throw the ball early and often. Roethlisberger broke most Steelers passing records, and his passing also led to the emergence of Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Heath Miller, and Emmanuel Sanders.
But on the flip side, Arians seemed to eschew the running game. He often called for pass plays when a running play would have been a safer option. And when he did call for running plays, they were usually predictable, and almost always to the right side of the field. If fans at home were able to predict where the ball was going, then the defense probably could too.
But perhaps the worst aspect of Arians’ play calling was his success (or lack thereof) in the red zone. Arians’ offense seemed to be highly effective over most of the field, but once the Steelers got inside the 20 yard line, the offense came to a screeching halt. Arians seemed to be content to settle for field goals when touchdowns should have been the goal.
This practice was particularly egregious to Steelers fans who had grown up watching Jerome Bettis successfully get the tough yards. Fans couldn’t understand why the team often struggled to gain one yard, and then inevitably settle for a field goal.
After each of the past two seasons, the Rooney family has said that they wanted to see Arians (and Tomlin) re-emphasize the running game and improve the team’s effectiveness within the red zone. And repeatedly the Steelers failed to do so. So while this is being called a “retirement”, some believe that the Rooneys may have encouraged Arians to retire. Even Ed Bouchette, the Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggested as much.
So while we’ll probably never know whether Arians’ retirement was completely voluntary, we do know that the Steelers will have a new offensive coordinator next season.
The off-season just got even more interesting.
I think it was for health reasons. He has been battling cancer, I think. Anyways, I’ll miss him. It was the best Steelers offense that I’ve been alive to see. As for the short yardage difficulties, we finally got our battering ram in Issac Redman, but with that OL, short yardage will be problematic. I think maybe that’s why his playcalling got a little too finesse at those times.
The Steelers will probably promote from within, but you never know.
1No it’s been said that Art Rooney II wanted him gone. Hm. This will be an interesting offseason.
2I have not been a fan of Arians’ play calling for some time. He gets credit for getting the Steelers to a certain level offensively but I do not believe he was the man with the right system to get them (including Ben ) to the NEXT level. We have given up on screens & draws for the ubiquitous ‘bubble screen’. We had flashes of brilliance one week then seem completely lost & out of sync the next. Our game plans are often head scratchers and our ability to make in-game adjustments to the plan seemed limited. Maybe that’s the players and not the coach-it’s a fine line. In today’s NFL, it’s the coach who takes the fall and w/our poorest Offensive output (Pts/game) since ’03, Arians takes the fall. We wish him the best.
3I hope that whoever takes over decides on a true identity for our Offense. Are we pass happy? How much do we value the run? Are we trying to be balanced? Do we think we are skilled enough to exploit whatever a defense gives us? These answers will influence our draft so I hope we commit ourselves and begin the process of getting even better! (Offensive line help, PLEASE!)
Dan,
That’s what I’ve heard. The Rooneys wanted him gone. Tomlin had already announced that he would be returning, and Arians had confirmed as much with the coaching staff. Then the Rooneys said that a senior assistant coach might be retiring. Next thing you know, Arians “retires”.
The thing that was suspicious about it was the timing, and the fact that Arians didn’t make the announcement himself, and he wasn’t available for interviews.
4John#21,
5Whoever the new coach is, I hope he recognizes that he has a franchise quarterback and incredible receiving weapons. I also hope that he realizes that a strong offensive line makes any offense better. Pouncey and Gilbert are a good start. Now lets get a few more young o-linemen. And I don’t mean in the 5th – 7th round.
Arians is going to the Colts. wow.
6