Pittsburgh Steelers Release Bruce Arians Against Roethlisberger’s Wishes

Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II has chose not to retain Bruce Arians as the teams offensive coordinator, a move that was directly against the wishes of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Following his five year stint at the position Arians has also announced his retirement from the NFL.

Since taking over the position five years ago when Mike Tomlin took control of the Pittsburgh Steelers Arians has turned the “blue-collar” team into a pass heavy offensive and it’s believed that Art Rooney wanted to see the team get back to its run-heavy strategy.

The move to a pass heavy offense made sense from a Ben Roethlisberger perspective as the QB has a strong arm that has helped the team rank in the top half of the NFL in offense over the past three seasons, however they finished in 12th this past season in terms of offensive play-making.

In a statement regarding the release Tomlins wrote:

“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.”

At this time it’s still unclear who will take over at the offensive coordinator position however Art Rooney has a history of promoting from within, in fact Arians joined the team in 2004 as the wide receivers coach and was promoted to his final position on the team.

Do you think heading back towards the teams “blue collar” run heavy offensive is the right move to make?