Arians thread

[Kid Minneapolis]

Figured I'd start an Arians thread to track where he might go. I really hope we manage to keep this guy somehow, sort of like how the Pacers were able to keep Brian Shaw after he had so much external interest.

Arians appeared to be getting the most interest from the Chargers. SD just announced that they hired Mike McCoy as head coach, which takes them off the table for Arians. Possible a good sign he stays?

[bunt]

Re: Arians thread

Figured I'd start an Arians thread to track where he might go. I really hope we manage to keep this guy somehow, sort of like how the Pacers were able to keep Brian Shaw after he had so much external interest.

Arians appeared to be getting the most interest from the Chargers. SD just announced that they hired Mike McCoy as head coach, which takes them off the table for Arians. Possible a good sign he stays?

He's got a second interview with the Bears, along with Trestman (rumored favorite) and the Seattle OC. Looks like he isn't under consideration with the Eagles any longer.

I haven't heard him connected to the Jags or Cardinals, but there are only these 4 openings left.

[Sollozzo]

Re: Arians thread

If the Bears don't hire him then I'm confident he stays.

[pacer4ever]

Re: Arians thread

Figured I'd start an Arians thread to track where he might go. I really hope we manage to keep this guy somehow, sort of like how the Pacers were able to keep Brian Shaw after he had so much external interest.

Arians appeared to be getting the most interest from the Chargers. SD just announced that they hired Mike McCoy as head coach, which takes them off the table for Arians. Possible a good sign he stays?

He is a finalist for the Bears job he is interviewing with the owners this week. Only 3 finalist narrowed from like 20 people who interviewed.

[Jay@Section12]

Re: Arians thread

As long as he doesn't come back to Pittsburgh if Haley gets the Cardinals job. Ben will definitely be campaigning for Bruce, but at this stage Bruce Arians is not good for Ben's career.

[Gamble1]

Re: Arians thread

As long as he doesn't come back to Pittsburgh if Haley gets the Cardinals job. Ben will definitely be campaigning for Bruce, but at this stage Bruce Arians is not good for Ben's career.

Not sure if he would go back there J. It seems like they left on bad terms and I doubt Irsay would be out spent for his own OC.

[Sollozzo]

Re: Arians thread

As long as he doesn't come back to Pittsburgh if Haley gets the Cardinals job. Ben will definitely be campaigning for Bruce, but at this stage Bruce Arians is not good for Ben's career.

Why would he want to go back to an organization that kicked him out a year ago and take the exact same job that he has in Indy? Plus working with a shinny new toy in Luck is likely a more desirable job than going to a non-playoff team and working with a QB in Ben who likely won't get that much better at this stage of his career.

The Steelers' decision to kick Arians out looks pretty questionable right now. The Steelers missed the playoffs and Ben seems like he can't stand Haley, while Arians went 9-3 and made the playoffs with a rookie quarterback. There's a reason Ben was ticked about Arians' getting canned.

[Jay@Section12]

Re: Arians thread

Yes, but that reason was because Arians dismantled the running game, which did not sit well with Rooney.

Tomlin was planning to bring him back last offseason, and subject Ben to even more physical abuse before Rooney put his foot down.

The offense was considerably better this year through Week #9. Through nine weeks, both our total defense and total offense were in the top-five. Now, our record was poor because of the tunover differential, but the offense was significantly improved even though we still weren't running the ball well.

Oh yeah, at that point in time Ben took a hit that dislocated a rib above his heart, which was a very significant medical risk (the NFL needs to outlaw all hits to the chest if they're really concerned about player safety!) and our backup QBs stunk and then Ben wasn't really the same when he did come back. No velocity on the ball, especially those misthrown interceptions at the end of the Dallas and Bungles games. So over the last seven weeks, there's no doubt it, our offense was not impressive under any of our QBs.

I don't think Haley is going anywhere, and he should get at least a full offseason to improve the offense (vs. starting over with somebody else to implement a new offense) before judgment is reached. Because when Ben was healthy, things were going well.

There are plenty of mixed rumors for whether Ben and Haley are getting along. But the main reason they wouldn't be getting along is that Ben and Arians are BFFs off the field. That wasn't been a healthy working relationship in the latter years of Arian's tenure. If the Rooney's extended an olive branch (and look at the various coaches and players that have returned to Pittsburgh after a short "absence") and Ben/ Tomlin were asking him to come back I think he would consider it.

Bruce Arians is tremedous at developing young QBs. But he's not a very good play-caller.

[Kid Minneapolis]

Re: Arians thread

Not entirely sure Pitt got the Arians thing right anyway. They didn't like him. Arians is proving he's better than what they pegged him for. They didn't even make the playoffs, and the OC they kicked to the curb stepped up as interim for an 11-5 team that far exceeded expectations.

Sort of like when Indy fans hated Fangio, and now he's DC for one of the best defenses in teh league. Obviously Indy wasn't using him right. Sometimes teams just don't get it right. I don't believe for a minute that Arians isn't a good resource for a team to have.

Besides... he really is an Indy man. I know he went to Pitt for a few years, but I always consider him the guy who mentor'd Manning. Glad he's back home.

[Johanvil]

Re: Arians thread

Bruce Arians is tremedous at developing young QBs. But he's not a very good play-caller.

Some plays he called this season were head scratching too.
Want him to stay with Luck though cause they already have 1 season together under their belt and changing coordinators is not the best thing for a young QB imo.

[Jay@Section12]

Re: Arians thread

I generally agree. But...

Not entirely sure Pitt got the Arians thing right anyway. They didn't like him.

... you could say that everybody but Dan Rooney really liked him. Tomlin, Ben, the WRs, etc.

Arians is proving he's better than what they pegged him for.

Let's see if you still feel that way in a couple of seasons. I like his player development, but his play calling... 4 wide and an empty backfield on third and 1? That little confidence in your running game? Really!?!? The number of times we used an empty backfield formation on third-and-short is the exact reason he's gone.

They didn't even make the playoffs, and the OC they kicked to the curb stepped up as interim for an 11-5 team that far exceeded expectations.

We missed 78 starter-games to injury this year. We had an MVP-caliber QB through 9 games that missed three starts and was not the same after his return. The two former DPOY starters on our defense combined to miss 12+ games. We had a revolving door at RB, RT, and CB because of injury. Our defense led the league in yards against but merely forced punts and couldn't get sacks or turnovers. I don't think any of that had to do with replacing Arians with Haley. Through the first nine games, we were leading the league in third-down conversion rates on offense (in other words, no empty backfields on third-and-short. Even if we did pass the ball, at least it was conceivable that we might run!! Gasp.) We just weren't a playoff caliber team this year. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen.

Besides... he really is an Indy man. I know he went to Pitt for a few years, but I always consider him the guy who mentor'd Manning. Glad he's back home.

If "for a few years", you meant "almost a decade", then okay. When he was previously your QB coach, he didn't call plays. When he went to Cleveland as OC, he was fired for his play calling. Then we hired him as a WR coach, not a QB coach. Then Wiz went to Steelers West and he got promoted to play-caller. And that got him fired again. Almost got him two years ago. He promised Dan that the Steelers would be better at "running the ball when they needed to." And then he completely abandoned the run again.

I've got nothing but good things to say about his player development skills. But his play calling... not so good.

[Strummer]

Re: Arians thread

ESPN says the Bears hired Trestman. They also say Arians didn't make the final three.

The Bears were believed to have narrowed their search to three candidates: Trestman, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and and Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/8848801/chicago-bears-hire-marc-trestman-head-coach

[Heisenberg]

Re: Arians thread

Some plays he called this season were head scratching too.
Want him to stay with Luck though cause they already have 1 season together under their belt and changing coordinators is not the best thing for a young QB imo.

That's where I'm at. I want to keep him because he builds up young QBs well and shuffling OCs in and out is obviously bad for a QB. But I don't want him long term, say 3 years maybe.

[Kid Minneapolis]

Re: Arians thread

I'd say with SD and Chicago no longer in the running, there's a good chance he stays. And even if he doesn't work out in the long-run for his play-calling, I see nothing wrong with letting him develop Luck a few years. And at that point where Luck needs to go to the next level, we bring in someone else.

[Strummer]

Re: Arians thread

ESPN is reporting the Eagles are hiring Chip Kelly from Oregon.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8849699/chip-kelly-bolts-oregon-ducks-coach-philadelphia-eagles-sources