Bruce Arians is a bad offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Mike Tomlin in his four years as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach has created a system within Pittsburgh that wholistically plays football. Tomlin's coaching philosophy reflects his repetitive use of clichï¿½ phrases: "People aren't very good listeners, by nature. Part of being a good communicator is recognizing and understanding that and trying to make the complex simple. I try to capture a concept, an idea or a moment in a few words. If they remember it, job done" [Mike Tomlin, interview before Super Bowl XLIII]. Tomlin captures concepts through out the whole season that he implements within his team. Tomlin has asserted that his coaching philosophy is to keep games close and win them in the end. Why? Why would anyone want to have close victories (and close losses such as the Steelers' 2009 campaign)? Tomlin understands that losses are inevitable in a season, but that the regular season is ‘practice'. He explained in an interview before the Divisional Round this year that: his team was experienced in playing close games, so they never felt flustered at any point within a game. Similarly, before playing the defending Super Bowl champions in New Orleans on Halloween, Tomlin respond to a report's question about his teams' preparedness for the game with, "I hope my team is ready to play like champions because that is how we have to play if we want to win this game." The implication – "This game is going to be decided by those who play it on the field" [Tomlin, about Super Bowl XLIII]. Tomlin plays a holistic game planning strategy where he asks his players to win games during the regular season instead of coaching for domination. One of Mike Tomlin's famous quoted sayings is: "I'll tolerate you until I can replace you." The question, among many Steelers fans, is why does Mike Tomlin tolerate Bruce Arians? The Steelers' official website sings Arians praise for his first two seasons with the organization (2007 and 2008): "[Bruce Arians has] 51 career wins, including a 22-9 mark during Arians' first two seasons as offensive coordinator, Roethlisberger has a .718 winning percentage, trailing only Tom Brady among active quarterbacks… Arians helped All-Pro wide receiver Hines Ward become one of the best wide-outs in the NFL over the past five seasons [as receiver coach and offensive coordinator]…. In his first year as offensive coordinator in 2007, Arians helped Roethlisberger get elected to his first Pro Bowl as he broke Terry Bradshaw's longstanding team record for most TD passes in a season with 32. Roethlisberger also finished with a career-best and team-record QB rating of 104.1." Also included on Arians' resume is his time spent in Indianapolis as Peyton Manning's Quarterback Coach (1998-2000). However, this success does not stop uproars from Steeler Nation against Bruce, including him reportedly being fired at the end of the 2009 season. The question for the Steelers is whether mediocre to good offense is ‘good enough', and for the Rooneys whether or not the Steelers will continue to be a run-first team. Tomlin is a defensive minded coach, and trusts his defense tremendously through game decisions that he makes (see responses to C2); Tomlin needs somebody who knows more then him on offense, and Bruce does. Firing Bruce would require at least a year of transition on offense which would cost wins for the Steelers organization [Timothy Kessler, Jan 14, 2010 "Considering the Cause of Mike Tomlin's Decision To Keep Bruce Arians"]. Furthermore, Bruce's inability to mobilize tremendous offensive talent to blow out opponents is not a problem for Tomlin – his game- and season-planning strategies rest in keeping games close, and not blowing out opponents, not showing how his team will demolish another team, and getting his players comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Bruce's poor play-calling, at times, forces players to make talented plays which is exactly what Tomlin believes is required to win a championship. Bruce's style of play calling, which seems to be him either being stupid or over estimating and over-thinking the defense that he is going up against, causes him to constantly shift the Steelers focus from game to game – one game will be run-heavy, one game will be pass-heavy, other games will merely have plays called at stupid or random times, especially trick plays which are hardly ever preformed at useful times within the game. Bruce's play calling almost resembles that the Steelers are ‘practicing during games'; Mike Tomlin's holistic approach allows for the whole regular season to be practice to condition the team for the playoffs. Tomlin respects Bruce's ability to mix up the offense, and from a defensive stand point, it keeps the defense guessing because the play call could be anything (no matter how stupid). (Specific Responses) With regards to the safety in the Jets game: 1) Turn – Bruce's unconventional style keeps defenses confused; Formation makes the defense think pass (see above that Tomlin respects this). 2) Turn – The Steelers still had a chance to win the game, but Ben and the offense did not capitalize at the end of the game. 3) Turn – [Tomlin's Post Game Press Conference] "We didn't cut off the backside three technique… it's unfortunate, and part of the description that I came in with saying that they made significant play down the stretch and we didn't." – Champions would make the play regardless of the call. 4) Turn – Don't blame Bruce because the offense didn't lose the game; a 4th and goal touchdown and a kick off return by the Jets cost the Steelers the game, not poor play calling against one of the better defenses in the league. C1: I agree that this is a legitimate complaint; however your argument indicates that Bruce saved the most functional formations for running for the playoffs, and Mendenhal had some of his best runs in the first half against the Jets. C2: 1) Turn: The Coaches ask their players to make plays to win games. 2) Turn: Tomlin passes on 3rd down to seal games because he trusts his defense to hold (They called passing plays in both the 1st Ravens game, I believe - despite my opponent's claims, and the AFC championship); this is consistent with Tomlin and the Steelers kicking a field goal at the end of the 1st half of the Raven's playoff game, and going for Fourth down early in the Jets game – Tomlin trusts that his defense will hold the opposition regardless of what the offense does. 3) Turn: ‘practice in game' is good (see above) 4) Turn: On MNF Cincy game, we need all points to win. C3: [Bruce Arian's response to Red Zone problems, Nov. 2010:] "Yeah, dropped balls. We haven't run it very good inside the 10-yard line. We've had like first and goal at the seven or eight and we haven't run the ball for 3 (yards), run the ball for 3 (yards) and gotten it down there where you have two things to do. We've thrown it into the end zone and it's come right back to second and 7. We need to pick that up." C4: 1) T/ Not being stop on a play allows the team to go back to it when they need it to win a championship latter, and keeps the defense guessing. 2) T/ Less film footage is available for best plays. 3) T/ Team trusts the defense to win. 4) T/ Diversity in play calling allows the coaching staff to see what works and what doesn't offensively. 5) T/ Tomlin respects Bruce trying to out-smart defense (see above) C5: 1) Turn: Ben's stats increased under Bruce; he helps Ben at Quarterback. 2) Turn: Bruce developed Peyton Manning and is capable of developing great quarterbacks. 3) Turn: Tomlin likes close games. 4) Turn: Close games make Ben a better Quarterback. 5) Turn: Close games are the key to winning a championship. 6) Turn: Team must trust each other in key games; play like champions. 7) Turn: My opponent concedes this strategy won us a Super Bowl. 8) Turn: Steelers focus on our defense first; Steelers still won without Ben, including a blow out in Tampa Ba