Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change

By Mark Kaboly
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, January 26, 2012

Alluding to long-term stability, Steelers president Art Rooney II said, "I think it was time for a change" when talking about the sudden departure of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

In an interview on the team's website Wednesday, Rooney gave at least one reason why Arians won't be back next year — instability. (Unstable is a good word to describe the Airhead as long you put "Mentally" in front of it. - mesa)

"Bruce talked about retiring for a number of years now," Rooney said. "We are looking to improve on offense and to have somebody in place for a number of years. We are looking forward to moving on."

Arians said earlier in the week that he had no choice but to retire after the team did not offer him a contract, and that he had been contacted already by a number of teams about coaching next year. ("contacted by other teams", :rofl::rofl::rofl: Sure you were Brucie! I suppose they needed a locker room attendant. - mesa)

That was stark contrast to late last week when the Steelers sent out a news release saying that Arians retired after five years with the team as the offensive coordinator that resulted in two Super Bowl appearances.

The Steelers' offense finished 12th in total offense (372.3 yards per game) and 21st in points per game (20.3) last year.

Hoke retires

Veteran nose tackle Chris Hoke will announce his retirement after 11 seasons with the team at a news conference Thursday

Originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent out of BYU, Hoke spent the majority of his career in a backup role.

In 2004 while replacing the injured Casey Hampton, Hoke had his most successful year, with 27 tackles and one sack. In Hoke's 18 career starts during the regular season, the Steelers had a record of 17-1.

Hoke was in the final year of his contract.

Clark in Pro Bowl

Steelers safety Ryan Clark will make his first trip to the Pro Bowl after Baltimore's Ed Reed opted out because of an injury.

Clark had one of his best years, as he led the team with 100 tackles to go along with five passes defensed and one interception.

Uniform change

Rooney said don't expect any visible changes to the Steelers uniforms, even though Nike will take over for Reebok starting in March.

"There will be some changes that won't be noticeable to the fans in terms of the materials used and stuff like that," Rooney said.

Rooney said that the team's throwback uniforms, which they have worn twice a year since 2007, will undergo a significant change to celebrate the organization's 80th year.

Odds and ends

Rookie tackle Marcus Gilbert underwent successful surgery on his shoulder Wednesday. ... Defensive end Brett Keisel said on his website that his injured groin will not require surgery. Keisel also announced that "Shear Da Beard II" will be held Feb. 9 at the Diesel Club Lounge. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the shaving ceremony will start at 7. Tickets are $25, and all proceeds benefit the cancer programs at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh UPMC.

Mark Kaboly can be reached at mkaboly@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.

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Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

Another twist in Arians v. Steelers
January 25th, 2012
http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/...ns-v-steelers/

Did he retire?

Was he forced out?

Well, you know what they say — there’s your side, my side and and somewhere in the middle is the truth.

It appears now that the lack of committment to a long-term future by Arians forced Steelers Art Rooney to finally pull the trigger and not offer the offensive coordinator a new contract — or so that’s the story today.

In an interview conducted by Bob Labriola on Steelers.com today, Labriola pulled no punches and came out and directly asked Rooney if he had anything to do with Arians’ deparature.

Although Rooney sidestepped the question at first, he gave a peak into his thought process a little later.

“Bruce talked about retiring for a number of years now,” Rooney said. “We are looking to improve on offense and to have somebody in place for a number of years. I think it was time for a change. We are looking forward to moving on.”

Arians said earlier in the week that he had no choice but to retire after the team did not offer him a contract, and that he had been contacted already by a number of teams about coaching next year.

That was stark contrast to late last week when the Steelers sent out a press release saying that Arians retired after five years with the team as the offensive coordinator that resulted in two Super Bowl appearances.

Rooney initially did not answer the question of if he had anything directly to do with Arians’ departure.

“The question of how we got here is not really relevant,” Rooney said. “The key now is that Mike (Tomlin) has begun the search for our next offensive coordinator. We will go through the process and interview the right candidates.”

The Steelers offense finished 12th in total offense (372.3 yards per game) and 21st in points per game (20.3) last year.

Stay tuned, I am sure the story is not over yet. We still have to hear from Ben Roethlisberger, now don’t we? (Why do we have to hear from Roethlisberger? He's a player like any other. If he wants his job he can shut his mouth and move on. I'm tired of the the endless coddling. - mesa)

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

I believe the retirement talk was a defense mechanism Arians put up a few years back when he was placed on the hot seat. Do you really believe Arians wouldn't have taken a 5 year contract? Look, I heard Raven fans say they love him (as long as he's with us) and I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the league felt the same way.

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

Like I said before if a guy is "thinking" retirement it's time to go. Buhbye bruce.

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

Or one could say that if a guy is just "thinking" at all, he'd have to go.

After all, thinking could lead to other things like making one's own decisions and so forth and that kind of thing makes owners uncomfortable.


(just an alternative viewpoint) :popcorn:

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

The only thing I want to hear from Ben is, " BA was a great mentor and friend but I look forward to winning the Super Bowl next year with who ever they replace him with at OC."


End of story.

If Ben does anything else says anything about remotely being hurt, sad, mad, pissed. then I say we are in the business of looking for a QB that is a true team leader instead of the selfish little prick that I think most of us would think he elevated himself to be.

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

Very well put. As much as I like Ben he needs to man up and do what's best for his team. If he wants to mope about Arians, I agree is time to look for the next QB.:tt03:

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

I'm starting to get sick of this story. I don't see it as that big of a deal. Most teams leave their coach's out in the dust never to be heard from again. Atleast we gave Bruce the option to go out gracefully until he opened his big mouth. Ben needs to stop being butt-hurt as well about it.

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

If Ben was some second or third level game manager like Jake Delhomme or Kyle Orton, I'd agree with you.
But Ben DOES have some talent and IS a pretty good QB and if he wants to express his feelings about this, I have no problem with it.

As far as selfishness goes, I think it would be difficult to find a top-shelf QB in whom selfishness isn't part of the package.
You don't get to that level by being a good little worker bee.
You get to that level by blowing your own horn as often as you can and arranging your environment to suit your needs as much as possible.

Different players may do that in different ways, but they all do it.

Re: Steelers owner Rooney: Arians' instability prompted change
 

If someones thinking retirement it tells me his heart isn't in it 100%. If someone can't give 100% then it's time to go.