Originally Posted by
hawaiiansteel
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Bruce Arians
In his Week 16 Power Rankings, NFL Analyst Elliot Harrison made the following statement when talking about the Arizona Cardinals:
Who deserves Coach of the Year honors more than Bruce Arians? No one, and I mean no one, expected Arizona to be 10-5 coming off a win in Seattle. Of course, Arians won the award last year. No head coach has repeated since Joe Gibbs in 1982 and '83.
Unexpected? For sure, in Steeler Nation. From the past comments of many people on this august site, you would think Arians was a combination of Barney Fife and Gomer Pyle. (Sorry, forgot to precede that with an Old Person Alert. Thank God for reruns.)
And yet, the coach a huge portion of the fan base couldn't wait to get rid of has been completely rejuvenated in the desert air.
Was Arians the greatest thing since sliced bread? Did the Steelers fans (and, more importantly, those in the organization) who wanted him gone make a mistake of massive proportions?
I'm not prepared to go that far. No one could say what would have happened if he had stayed. I'm guessing the offense would not have tanked, the way it did for a while, but on the other hand the pain of going through the changes Todd Haley has instituted finally appears to be paying off.
Fortunately, Steeler Nation is bursting with would-be coordinators who can point out every single mistake made by any of them, whether their name be Bruce Arians, Todd Haley, Dick LeBeau, or insert name of choice.
Did Bruce Arians make the absolute most of the players he had? Does Todd Haley? Does Dick LeBeau? Probably not all the time. But it is amazing to me how a guy Steeler Nation's battalion of experts had declared to be a complete bum can go somewhere else, move up to head coach, and do such a great job. I guess I just don't understand how this stuff works.
[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2013/12/25/5242908/coach-tomlins-apology[/URL]
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