Bruce Arians has enjoyed some of his most successful years in football since he was fired by the Steelers following the 2011 season. He became the interim coach in Indianapolis when Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with cancer and used that as a springboard to his first NFL head coaching job with Arizona, where he has the Cardinals in annual contention for the Super Bowl.
But no matter how much Arians succeeds out west his departure from the Steelers is a story that just won’t die.
HBO’s Real Sports will air a piece on Arians June 21, and in it Arians and his wife, Chris, speak candidly about his unceremonious exit.
Here is a partial transcript from the interview by Andrea Kremer:
ANDREA KREMER: “So you were eight years in Pittsburgh. Three Super Bowl appearances, two titles. Contract’s up. Head coach Mike Tomlin calls you in the office. What happened?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “He said, ‘I’ll get you your bread.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m heading to the lake. Just gimme a call.”
ANDREA KREMER: “And what happened?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “I got a call on Monday and said, ‘I can’t get you the money.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ 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. Okay. If I don’t have a contract, I’m fired.’ And he said, ‘I’m going to fly down and talk.’ Said, ‘Why waste the money and the time?’ And so that was it. Walked upstairs and told my wife. And I’ve never seen her cry. And she cried.”
BRUCE’S WIFE, CHRIS ARIANS: “I had admired Mike Tomlin so much. And I really thought he was a coach who really cared about his people. And for him to do this, well, I felt very disillusioned.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Ultimately, what do you think cost you your job in Pittsburgh?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “The style of offense and my relationship with Ben.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Too close?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “They thought so. Some people thought so. And we didn’t run the ball enough.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Did you feel betrayed?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “Oh yeah. Yeah.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Why did you feel betrayed?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “Because I had done a good job. Maybe not the right image, but it was a damn good job. I was pissed. But again, time heals things. I had retired. Legitimately retired.”
ANDREA KREMER: “You really thought you were done?”
BRUCE ARIANS: “Oh yeah. And then Chuck (Pagano) called. And everything changed.”
The way the story has been told in Pittsburgh is that Tomlin wanted to retain Arians as offensive coordinator and was overruled. And that appears to be the narrative from Arians in his comments.
But Chris Arians’ comments makes Tomlin out to be the villain. That seems misguided. Tomlin very well might have gone to bat for Arians, but if the front office, or Art Rooney II in particular, wanted to make a change, Tomlin didn’t have a say in the matter.
Unless, of course, he offered to quit over it.
It appears that’s what Chris Arians wanted him to do.
For the record, Arians wasn’t quite so colorful about the subject when Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook got him on the phone last fall before the Cardinals played the Steelers at Heinz Field.
First Published: June 17, 2016, 7:53 p.m.
