Steelers OC Bruce Arians talks with Cardinals
Jan 24, 2012, 5:01 PM | Updated: 5:17 pm
The Cardinals have one vacant spot on the coaching staff
that needs to be filled — QB coach — and the names that
keep popping up for the job are fairly impressive.
Former head coaches Todd Haley and Hue Jackson have been
linked to the Cards, and now Steelers offensive coordinator
Bruce Arians has seen his name come up in the conversation.
Former Steelers OC Bruce Arians still intending to retire but has had talks with teams, including AZ. Has ties to their staff #insideslant
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 24, 2012
Arians, 59, reportedly retired from the Steelers only because the team did not offer him a contract extension.
That, of course, would open the door for him to continue his coaching career somewhere else, and as LaCanfora notes, there are ties to the staff in Arizona.
Arians would likely be a good fit in Arizona not only because of his familiarity with the coaching staff and schemes, but also his work with QB Ben Roethlisberger. Say what you want about the guy as a person, but there is little doubt Big Ben has turned into one of the game’s best signal callers over the years, and Arians played a significant role in his development.
In fact, Arians was so important to Roethlisberger that the QB publicly campaigned for the coach to keep his job after the 2009 season and is not at all happy to see him go now.
The main reason he was let go, supposedly, is the Steelers’ desire to go back to the run-based offense they were known for instead of the pass-heavy system they featured the last couple seasons.
Arians has been Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator since being promoted to the job in 2007, replacing Ken Whisenhunt when he left to lead the Cardinals. He was the team’s receivers coach prior to then.
