Art II Takes Charge

It is old news now, but I do want to add my two cents worth to the news that had Steelers fans all abuzz last week - the "retirement" of much maligned offensive coordinator Bruce Arians at the strong suggestion of team Prez Art Rooney II, and, apparently, over the objections of head coach Mike Tomlin, and to the surprise of Arians himself.

It is true that Rooney signs the checks, and we all know that the #1 rule in all businesses is that "the boss is always the boss", so no one is questioning Rooney's right to push Arians into retirement. What is surprising is that Rooney's move seems to temporarily, at least, emasculate his Head Coach, smacks of JerryJones-ism, and it flies in the face of the almost sacrosanct "Steelers Way" of doing business that everyone goes on and on about all the time. What next? Art II standing on the sidelines in the final minutes of games and dancing like Tom "Boogie" Benson in New Orleans?

As for Art II's insistence that the Steelers go back to an old school run-first offense, what has he been watching in the NFL the last few seasons? You have an elite quarterback, to whom you have committed over $100 million, a crew of young, fast, and potentially elite receivers, and he wants to bring back Fran Rogel and John Henry Johnson? I am missing something here.

It was interesting to hear Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon really rip into Rooney over this move in a way that no Pittsburgh based commentator would ever treat a Rooney. I mean, really, just imagine Bob Pompeani saying anything critical of Art Rooney II.

And as for Arians' retirement, it lasted less than a week and how interesting it was to see who hired him to be his Offensive Coordinator - Indy Colts new Head Coach Chuck Pagano. Until recently, Pagano was defensive coordinator of the Ravens, and as such he was charged with having to devise the defenses that could beat Arians' offense twice, and sometimes three times, a year. The 2011 season aside, Pagano's defense usually lost to Arians' offense. Obviously, Pagano sees something in Bruce Arians that all the Arians Bashers in Steelerland has failed to see over the years.