The 59-year-old Arians tells his hometown York Daily Record that he was forced out, and that he had no intention of retiring this year. He says team president Art Rooney II has offered no explanation why he wasn't offered a contract to return for his sixth year as offensive coordinator.
The Steelers' management team -- presumably at the executive-office level (i.e., Art Rooney II) -- handled this situation badly. The organization's uncharacteristically shabby treatment of Arians and how they portrayed his dismissal as his decision to "retire" looks disingenuous at best. Nobody fielded any questions. The team only issued a very stiff formal "statement" in the name of Mike Tomlin, who for all we know may have been against the decision to relieve Arians of his duties. We don't know that or much of anything else.
What did they think ... that Arians was just going to evaporate and not say anything?
Now, what happens? What happens if he takes a coaching job with another team? He says he's already had five or six teams contact him about coaching this year. No longer an employee of the Steelers, he would be well within his rights to take a job with another team -- the Browns come to mind, and there are others, no doubt.
This is an unneeded black eye for the Steelers, and the whole thing could have been handled better. What's going on over there?
No comments:
Post a Comment