Pittsburgh Steelers Rumors: Does Bruce Arians' Retirement Make Todd Haley a Possibility?

Monday, January 23, 2012

Seth Austin/NationalFootballAuthority.com

By Seth Austin
NFL Writer

When Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians retired last week, it left the team with a big coaching need.

Many people felt Arians' play calling didn't allow the Steelers offense to reach its full potential and was very bland. When searching for a coach, the Steelers need to pick someone who can bring the excitement, like former Steelers offensive coordinators Mike Mularkey and Ken Whisenhunt did.

A great possibility for the Steelers would be former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley. Haley had great success as an offensive coordinator in Arizona behind Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, even leading the Cards to the Super Bowl in 2008. Haley also had a year of succes with Matt Cassel in Kansas City and led the perennially struggling Chiefs to the playoffs.

Haley also has connections in the Steelers front office. His father, Dick Haley, was the director of player personnel from 1971 until 1990. If the Steelers were to choose him, it would be exciting what impact he would have on Ben Roethlisberger and the passing game. With Mike Wallace a restricted free agent, the possibility of Haley helping him continue to be a big play receiver might sweeten the deal of staying in Pittsburgh.

Another route the Steelers could go with is hiring from within, which is typical of the organization. Someone who could be next in line would be quarterback's coach Randy Fichtner. Fichtner has the benefit of already knowing the offense and working with Roethlisberger.

A final option for the Steelers include ex-Colts coach Jim Caldwell who, like Mike Tomlin, has connections with Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy.

Whoever the Steelers choose as their coordinator, it needs to be someone who can get the offense running at the highest level. With some of the league's top talents like Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall, Wallace and Antonio Brown, there is no excuse why the Steelers shouldn't have one of the league's most prolific offenses.


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