Finally a little more light is being shed on the Bruce Arians situation as Frank Bodani from the York Daily Record reports that Arians told him he wasn\’t offered a contract for 2012 and that made the decision to retire easy for him. Arians told Bodani that Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II didn\’t give him a reason why. Arians told Bodani, “I can\’t answer that question. Only the people there can. That\’s the business. I know the job we did as a staff. I don\’t have any regrets.”
Arians also said in the article that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is not happy that he is not returning, but understands that it is part of the business. Roethlisberger owns property near Arians in Georgia and the two will see each other quite a bit. It also has been previously reported that the Steelers star quarterback was going to take Arians and quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner with him as guest to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this week.
Arians says in the article that he has not ruled out a return to coaching and admitted to being contacted already about several coaching job possibilities since not being asked back by the Steelers last week. He also has not ruled out a return to the college ranks either.
You had to know that the truth would come out sooner or later in regards to Arians and judging by the article it seems that it was the decision of Rooney that led to Arians not returning. Rooney made it seem like the decision was one that head coach Mike Tomlin would make, but looking at all of the evidence now, Tomlin had no say in the matter.
Tomlin is down in Mobile, Alabama this week for the Senior Bowl and it will be interesting to see if any of the media ask him about the situation with Arians and his so called retirement. I doubt it, but I also doubted the real story would surface this soon.
