Steelers: Bruce Arians should get over it

The Steelers former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians recently spoke about his firing/retirement from the team. It’s been 5 years. Time to get over it.

Recently HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble had an interview with Arizona head coach and former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. One topic of conversation, which made some headlines, was his feelings about his firing from the Steelers. It’s understandably a source of bitterness but he’s got to move on.

Let’s go over a little background. Bruce Arians was born in NJ and grew up in PA. He played quarterback for Virginia Tech where he still holds the record for rushing TDs by a quarterback. He moved right into coaching as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech.

Arians spent some time making the rounds coaching at various colleges. The most notable stint was as Temple’s head coach in the 80s. He started to make his way into the NFL, including running the offense for the Browns in their only playoff birth since 1994, and would eventually find himself in Pittsburgh. He was first hired under Bill Cowher as the wide receiver’s coach in 2004.

He would be promoted to offensive coordinator in 2007. The offense during this time became less run heavy than previous incarnations and allowed Roethlisberger to improvise. Bruce got one Super Bowl ring as wide receiver’s coach. And he got another, as well as a separate third appearance as offensive coordinator.

His second ring, somewhat ironically, came against Ken Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt was a former Steelers offensive coordinator who left the Steelers under bitter circumstances where he performed well but was passed up for an outside hire and ended up head coach at the Cardinals. Foreshadowing?

Anyway, after the 2011 season the Steelers announced that Arians would retire. Mike Tomlin made a statement, as reported by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"“Bruce Arians has informed me that he will retire from coaching. I appreciate his efforts over the past five years as the team’s offensive coordinator and for helping lead our offense to new heights during his time with the Steelers. I am grateful to Bruce for contributing to our success and wish him nothing but the best in his retirement.”"

Oddly enough, after retiring he went right back to work. This confirmed, as many had suspected, he was actually just fired in favor of Todd Haley. Arians became offensive coordinator for the Colts where he had once developed a rookie Peyton Manning and now would work with Andrew Luck.

But head coach Chuck Pagano would be diagnosed with cancer during the season. Under tragic circumstances Arians had to step in as head coach and rally the team. They would go 9-2 in their last 11 games and 11-5 total. They lost in the wildcard but for his efforts Arians became AP Coach of the Year.

So it all ends well, right? All sides are better off. On to brighter days. Right? Well, apparently not.

Thanksgiving of that year he was quoted by ESPN’s Kareem Copeland as saying, “I’m thankful for the Pittsburgh Steelers letting me go to be here. Truthfully. Couldn’t think of a better place to be at this point in time. And to have felt more needed, probably, in my entire life. So, thank you, Pittsburgh.”

Fair enough. The Steelers did let him go. He did a good job. And the fake retirement part was weird. And he had handled it pretty gracefully and landed on his feet and went on to even greater success. An odd way to make a dig, being thankful for sarcasm, but not undeserved.

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He went on to be head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He went 10-6 but still missed the playoffs. The following year Arians and the Cardinals went 11-5 and got to the playoffs. Bruce Arians again won Coach of the Year.

That awkward firing was a lifetime ago. Right? Well, apparently not.

In fall of 2015 during a press conference he joked about how far he had come since he, “re-fired, excuse me, retired.”

Ok. Kinda funny.

But things were weird enough that NFL.com’s Adam Shein ranked Arians vs the Steelers as the 6th most “spicy” feud in the NFL. Three spots higher than Steelers vs Ravens. We are several years, and jobs, removed from the event at this point.

Then in March, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler quoted Arians as saying of Haley and the Steelers offense, “They are opening it up and not getting fired for it.”

He went on to say that, “Dan Rooney is the classiest man in the NFL. I love Mr. Rooney.”

…

*looks at watch

…

*sighs

Now, in the HBO interview with Real Sports, Arians again rehashes his firing from the Steelers. He said Tomlin had promised to get him a raise and he received a phone call after his contract expired following the 2011 season.

“I got a call on Monday and and he said, ‘I can’t get you the money.’ I said, ‘OK.’ He said, ‘No, I can’t get you a contract.’ I said, ‘Are you firing me?’ He said, ‘No.’ Well … it’s just a matter of words.’ ‘Mike. OK. If I don’t have a contract, I’m fired.'” was the conversation according to Arians.

Then Arians says, “[Tomlin] said, ‘I’m going to fly down and talk.’ And I said, ‘Why waste the money and the time?’ And so that was it. Walked upstairs and told my wife. And I’ve never seen her cry. And she cried.”

He went on to speculate that it was because of his style of offense and that he didn’t run the ball enough that caused his termination. He also thought it was because his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger was too close.

When asked if he felt betrayed Arians said, “Yeah. Because I had done a good job. It was a damn good job. Maybe not the right image, but it was a damn good job. I was pissed. But again, time heals things.”

Sep 27, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians looks on against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 47-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Does it?

Seems to me that if “time heals things” then you shouldn’t have to preface it with “again.”

I’m starting to suspect, despite his previous claim four years ago, he wasn’t really thankful at all for being fired.

And what does the “right image” mean? His replacement was Todd Haley. If he meant from a public relations perspective then hiring Todd Haley would not make sense. If he meant because the image of the offense should be running the ball, then why is he mad?

They wanted to run a different type of offense. That’s not an illegitimate reason for firing an offensive coordinator. It happens all that time for exactly that reason. They wanted to run more in their offense and protect Ben. That’s not what Arians did. So they got someone who did do that.

That happens all the time. To players and coaches alike it happens. If a player or a coach does not fit the current design of a team or its trajectory, they part ways. And the Steelers were right. They do run the ball better now. And in 2013 and 2014 Ben Roethlisberger played back to back seasons without missing a game to injury for the first time in his career. He only played 16 games once before in 2008.

Furthermore, the Steelers had the number 2 offense in terms of yards in 2014 and the number 3 in 2015. The offense is better.

The Steelers were right, and both sides are better off. Why are we still talking about this?

In 2015 Arians told NBCsports1060.com’s Ed Cole an upcoming matchup against the Steelers was, “just another game.” But somehow the Cardinals ended up losing to the Steelers 13 to 25 despite being heavily favored due to Roethlisberger being injured. The Steelers came away with the win in Heinz Field with 174 passing yards.

I’m not saying it impacted his focus but if the 5-11 Ravens could beat the Steelers without Ben then how could the 13-3 Cardinals not? Did Arians psych himself out because he can’t get over getting fired? He lost a game. He let his ex impact his current relationship. And now Cardinals players are in a relationship with a great coach who won’t stop talking about his ex.

Except, this isn’t really dating, or friendship, or family. It’s a job. The Steelers fired Arians for perfectly legitimate reasons and it turned out to be the best thing for both parties. Why are we still talking about this?

Yes, it was handled poorly. But not unlike breakups, everyone complains about how a firing goes down, but there is no good way to do it. There is not a way to tell someone you don’t want them to be here anymore that makes that person feel better.

Of course, there was possibly a better way. Maybe not good, but better. Anyone can admit that. But Arians is not the first coach to be fired. He’s not the first person who ever got let go with a phone call. He’s not the first fake retirement either.

The Steelers are often spoken of like a family organization, not just a reference to the Rooneys but to the idea that everyone involved is like a family. But it’s still a business and the goal is to win and not make every person you ever employ happy and paid until they choose to retire.

The Steelers let people go all the time. They don’t renew contracts all the time. They make choices all the time. Levon Kirkland, Alan Faneca, Ken Whisenhunt, Dick Lebeau, and even Troy Polamalu have been abruptly let go despite doing well.

You’re not entitled to a job in the NFL. Not in the Steelers, not in the NFL, and not anywhere frankly do you get to stay at a job if you’re not performing how they want you to. You may feel personally that you were doing a great job. That’s great. But the head coach and the owner decide that.

Steelers fans look fondly upon their time with Arians. It was a great era for the Steelers. He is still well liked and respected. Why ruin the memory? It ended bad but don’t make that the whole thing. It tarnishes Arian’s deeds more than it does the reputation of the Steelers. Don’t take years full of great victories and make it all about the end, the last moment.

If it’s a dig at the Steelers or he’s trying to make them look bad, I don’t think that’s a smart move. First, Arians has nothing to gain by making the Steelers look bad. Second, he does not have that power. He may be a great coach but the Steelers have a mythos, they are legendary, like the Yankees or the Lakers. Constantly reminding us they fire people sometimes won’t shake that.

Third, it hurts his own image more than the Steelers by making him, a coach, a supposed leader of men, look like a victim. And finally, I don’t suspect it helps his relationship with his current players or team to constantly harp on how upset he is with being fired from some other team.

We get it Bruce. We all get it. The Steelers did not fire you in the most graceful way possible. In case you weren’t sure if we got it. We get it. Message received. It’s been marked in the history books.

Next: Steelers: 5 bold predictions for the 2016 Steelers

Let’s do this the right way and settle this in the Super Bowl. I think all sides could live with that.

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