The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6 of the 2015 season and that will mark the first time that Bruce Arians will face-off against his former employer as a head coach.
Arians, who was on the Steelers coaching staff from 2004-2011, was asked during a Thursday press conference if that upcoming meeting against Pittsburgh will hold any significance to him.
Even though the Steelers lost to the Denver Broncos in the 2011 AFC Wild Card game after going 12-4 during the regular-season, it initially looked like Arians might return for a sixth season as the team’s offensive coordinator. That wouldn’t be the case, however, as it was announced in January of 2012 that Arians was retiring from coaching. A short time after that announcement was made, Arians said in an interview that he decided to retire only after the team declined to give him a contract offer.
Arians wasn’t retired for very long as he was quickly hired by the Indianapolis Colts to be their new offensive coordinator just a short time after his exit from Pittsburgh. He eventual became the Colts interim head coach that season while Chuck Pagano battled leukemia and after leading the team to a 9-3 record, along with a trip to the playoffs, he was named the 2012 AP Coach of the Year.
Arians quick success in Indianapolis resulted in being hired to coach the Cardinals in 2013 and in the two seasons that he’s been in Arizona, he’s compiled a 21-11 record. Last season, he was named the AP Coach of the Year for a second time even though Cardinals failed to make the playoffs.
While Arians certainly wants to win every game next season, you know that he’d like nothing more than to come to Pittsburgh and deal the Steelers and the Rooney family a loss as payback for them not renewing his contract several years ago. He’s already made plans for that long trip as he told the media Thursday that his team will stay on the east coast after they play the Detroit Lions in Week 5.
