Bruce Arians Still Angry With the Pittsburgh Steelers

Though things are going great for Bruce Arians in Arizona, the head coach admitted that he still hasn’t forgotten his falling out with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He explained on HBO’s “Real Sports” that he felt like it was a betrayal at the time when they refused to give him a new contract before the 2012 season. Much of it boiled down to a discussion he and head coach Mike Tomlin had.

"“I got a call on Monday and [Tomlin] said, ‘I can’t get you the money.’ I said, ‘OK,'” Arians said. “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.'”"

To this day Arians struggles to understand the decision. From 2007 to 2011, he was the Steelers’ offensive coordinator. During that span they made the playoffs four out of five seasons and never had a losing record. His offenses ranked in the top 15 three times and got Ben Roethlisberger to two of his four Pro Bowls. When asked why the Steelers made that decision, Arians felt it was because of his play calling style and that fact he didn’t run the ball enough in their eyes. An unusual stance considering Pittsburgh ranked in the top 10 three times in rushing attempts during his tenure.

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In truth a lot of it had to do with the pounding Roethlisberger was taking. From 2007 to 2009 he took 47, 46 and 50 sacks respectively. Arians’ aggressive down-the-field play calling drew the blame for that and so the decision was made. Nobody remembers how bad the offensive line was at that point in time or the fact that Roethlisberger continues to take a lot of hits and sacks even after Arians was gone.

Either way, he hasn’t lost his belief that there was never enough appreciation from the organization for the job he did.

"“Maybe not the right image, but it was a damn good job,” he said. “I was pissed. But again, time heals things.”"

It’s worth noting that despite the continued success of the offense, the Steelers have won just one playoff game in the four seasons since Bruce Arians was dismissed. They won five when he was still with the team. Is it a coincidence that the Arizona Cardinals have since found frequent playoffs success since he arrived, reaching the NFC championship last season? Pittsburgh probably isn’t dwelling on that, but their former coach certainly wishes they would.

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