Bruce Arians: 'I Was Bitter' About Exit From Steelers
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Arizona Cardinals Head Coach and former Steelers Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians joined The Cook and Poni Show to discuss his new book "The Quarterback Whisperer: How to Build an Elite NFL Quarterback," where he writes that he loved his time working with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.
"He was like a second son to me." Arians said. Arians said he and Ben worked so well together that he actually allowed Ben to call his own plays and that they worked together on rewriting the playbook.
"Your quarterback has to feel comfortable with what he is doing," Arians said. "You can have the greatest plays ever but he has to feel good about them or it's a waste of time calling them."
One play that stands out is the pass to Santonio Holmes to help the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl 43. Arians said that it was one of those plays that only 5 quarterbacks in the history of the game could have made.
But things took a very different path after that Super Bowl win. Arians was not getting any offers for open Head Coaching positions so he decided Pittsburgh was where he wanted to be. "I thought I would retire with the Steelers" Arians said. "I loved where I was and what I was doing."
But instead of getting a contract extension, the Steelers decided to part ways with Arians. He went on to coach Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck with the Indianapolis Colts before getting his current job as the Arizona Cardinals Head Coach.
Arians admits and talks about it openly in the book that he was very upset with how his time with the Steelers came to an end. "Things went pretty south after that phone call," Arians said. "I was pretty bitter for a short time. Time heals a lot of things but now Mike and I are great friends again and I can't say it enough that I love the Rooney's and I love the Steelers organization for what they did for me."