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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Arians retiring?

Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette is reporting that Bruce Arians is strongly considering retirement.

If Dulac is reporting it, you can bet it came directly from Arians. The two are pretty close.

Most Steelers fans will rejoice at the news that Arians is considering retirement again - Ben Roethlisberger reportedly talked him out of it last year.

Quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner would be the in-staff replacement for the Steelers.

The team will also be searching for a replacement for running backs coach Kirby Wilson, who suffered burns over 45 percent of his body in a fire in his home earlier this month.

Wilson faces a long recovery before he's out of the woods with his injuries.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Dale Lolley said...
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Anonymous said...

It would suck not to have Arians back, this offense could use him of more year

But really it would suck more not have Kirby out there next season. Hopefully he can go back to coaching in 2013 at least

joe said...

best of luck to wilson and his family.


i never saw anything official about either dl, or ba. neither has a contract, that is why i was wondering the other day where the official word was ? hopefully he isn't talked into staying during his pro bowl trip,

Josh said...

Arians detractors are often portrayed as emotional fans with knee-jerk opinions and I know that he's had his moments, but I think back to too many times where he didn't bring a plan B to a game, didn't build on momentum in a drive (i.e., 2 big runs followed by 1st & 10 empty set in the red zone) and didn't explore all of the possibilities w/offense talent (#34 catching out of the backfield). Still, big thanks for helping with ring #6.

adamg said...

I wonder if BA really wants to retire. He said after the season he wanted to come back and Tomlin said he wanted both DL and BA back.

Art II's comments about the offense needing to improve, though, tell me he was not very happy with that aspect of the team. Maybe BA talking about retiring is putting a good face on the fact that he might not be offfered a new contract. Maybe it's a not-so-subtle hint to BR, too.

I guess I'll believe it when it happens.

Joe E. said...

adamg,

You may be correct on Art forcing this "retirement". I guess Art was wrong in thinking that Arians could be the next Tom Moore for the Steelers.

Cam Cameron will likely be available after this weekend. Any takers?

DC in ATL said...

Would Arians retiring possibly be health related?

Seem to recall that he had cancer issues in the past.

Lance said...

Who do we get to replac him? The sooner someone is in place the better. I am not an Arians hater, but a new OC could be just the thing we need with this great young core we have. I would have to think that some pretty great talent would be salivating over the prospect of this group we have.

Stay tuned, it's going to be a fun off season.

Anonymous said...

I got my hopes up after the 2009 season with the Arians talk. Not doing it this time.

adamg said...

DC, yeah, I recall Arians was mulling retirement last year due to health issues related to treatment for some form of cancer. So, it could be he's been going back and forth on staying.

It's just odd that he'd say he wanted to return and Tomlin saying he wanted him back and now it seems more likely than ever BA will retire one way or another.

Then again, it won't be the first time the Rooney's have insisted the head coach revamp his asst coaches.

adamg said...

This is kind of off the wall, but maybe the Rooneys are looking to open a job for Todd Haley. His dad did work for the team for many years and Haley did a good job as AZ's OC in their SB year.

Robert K said...

I want Arians to go but I think he comes back.

I severely dislike the idea of us promoting the QB coach to be OC. We need someone from outside the organization to take over the offense. Not someone who is just going to maintain the status quo. We need someone with experience and a name, someone who Ben MIGHT respect and listen to.

Patrick said...

Say whatever you want about Todd Haley but he might be perfect for Ben. In the stfu Ben kinda way

Joel Dias-Porter said...

Oh, please, please, please let this be true! If I see one more Steelers drive where we cross the other teams" 40 by running and play action, then suddenly go Empty Backfield and throw three times long, then punt, I'll hurt somebody.

Anonymous said...

Cam Cameron? Wow that woyuld be awesome. Is it even possible.

Dale Lolley said...

Cam Cameron would be awesome? Please. What is it about that Baltimore offense that impresses you?

DD said...

They wouldn't even hire Cameron if he coached for free! Awful idea. I'd rather have Tomlin call the plays and he has never been an offensive guy. Haely/Ben would never work either I don't think. His ego is gigantic and would clash with 7's immediately. Ben would start audibling 90% of the time until Haley's head exploded.

Anonymous said...

Cameron is probably more hated than Arians and Brian Schottenheimer combined.

Tim said...

I don't know much about Fichtner, but if he's the QB coach, does that mean he'd be Arians 2.0, Ben's 2nd whipping boy? I'd prefer someone outside of the organization.

We have TOO much talent on O to be struggling to put up points for more than once or twice per year. We should be the freakin' Saints. We need a real OC.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the offense wouldn't change much with Fichtner. And that's a good thing. Except for Arians haters of course

Rooney's rarely look outside. Not even after the abysmal 2003 offense

I do think Fichter could (key word could) bring some freshness to the offense in areas Arians was getting stale at. But the basic composition of the offense shouldn't change much

Steve-O said...

I sure hope the Cam Cameron talk is all sarcasm and we wouldn't seriously entertain the guy. Haley on the other hand is intruiging. He might be a bit too abrasive for some but I tend to think his play calling is pretty darned good. Some guys are just better coordinators than head coaches. I think Haley is one of those guys.

adamg said...

Any thought that perhaps not bringing BA back is a message to BR that he isn't going to be coddled any longer?

Anonymous said...

Bill Cowhard for O/C!
LOL

Anonymous said...

Yippee!!

Tom Clements from the Packers, please. Maybe Ben will have less of a hissyfit if it's someone he's worked with before?

adamg said...

BA is officially retired. JMO, but if BR keeps up his stubborn insistance on playing "his way", he might get a nudge out of town, too.

Mark said...

I'm as guilty as anyone of heaping too much blame on Arians. But for all the stuff that he did right, it was covered up by the easy things that he got wrong over and over again (empty backfield on short distance downs, telegraphing plays like the bubble screen, etc.).