Big Lead Sports Bar

1/06/2010

PG: ZIERLEIN OUT, ARIANS STILL IN



In another dramatic twist, Gerry Dulac of the PG is reporting that O-Line coach Larry Zierlein will be fired (as previously reported by other outlets) and Bruce Arians will be retained as offensive coordinator.

The Arians news is in direct conflict of ESPN 1250's report yesterday by Ken Laird that Arians would be let go, presumably later in the week.

As I pointed out to an emailer this morning, Arians is quickly becoming as polarizing as Pitt-Penn State talk in these parts. A portion of Steeler Nation has embraced his offensive philosophy and a portion simply has not. So it will be very interesting to see the reaction in the wake of this news.

Steelers: Zierlein out, Arians stays [PG]

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14 comments:

Unknown said...

he's polarizing because people love the sizzle of passing game while others love the steak of a balanced, run-style attack...in marketing terms anyways...

Unknown said...

i think they deleted the arians fired stuff from 1250! the blog you linked to doesn't mention it!
I guess 1250 got all of our hopes up on some unsubstantiated rumor

Unknown said...

I am not as opposed to his offense style as I am to the seemingly poor situational play calling and predictability. I believe that he and Tomlin will take a look at the play calling in the off season and figure out when they should have done things differently. Keep in mind, this is the first season with Arians at the helm of a reasonably prolific (at times) passing attack. Hopefully he has learned a lot this season and is closer to figuring out the best way to use all of these pieces and manage games with this offense.

mondesishouse said...

Looks like 1250's original report was removed. However, their original "tweet" is still up:

http://twitter.com/1250ESPN/status/7412264036

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Well, I am all for second chances. But situational stats and playcalls will have to improve a great deal.

PPG, RZ TD conversion rate, and number of 3rd down conversions need be better. Especially with the weapons available.

I will be the first to admit if he turns around and proves me wrong, but unless Tomlin really gets in his ear I don't see someone with his level of Arrogance changing anything.

SmokeyMaverick said...

Personally, not a fan of Arians - dude allows our outstanding QB to pass too much (sorry Benny - and Don).

If you are going to have success in this league, you must have a balanced attack, even if all you get is a 1-yd gain (hello ball control, keeping our defense fresh, playaction!!). This past Miami game, CBS threw up a beautiful graphic, showing Pittsburgh's play selection and it was something like: Pass - 13, Run - 13. I about tear'ed up.

How bout we get a reader poll up to see who would like to see Arians on the Steelers sideline next year...

Jeff_King_Fan said...

people can all say, lets run the ball more, but they cant. parker is passed his prime, and mendenhall is a stud, but young. He hasn't fumbled as much as i thought, but is still a work in progress, and we dont need to run him too much now. the main, not only, but main problem is the o-line. that is why the 3rd downs, and red zone isnt nearly as good. how valuable is a Russ Grimm?

Tomlin needs to take some of the blame too. is it just me or does it seem like he is very "hands off" during the games? BA is in charge of the o playcalling, the Dick calls all the D's plays. what is tomlin doing?

Here's to seeing a Joel Steed jersey earlier this year.

E from Moon said...

I think these are the right calls. I'm not an Arians fan, per se and I'm going to scream the next time I see Ben in a shotgun on 3rd and 1, but I think the guy deserves one more year.

Zierlein needed to go. You can't have a franchise QB knocked on his @ss 35-40 times out of 50 due to the line (the other 10-15 are his fault). Ben has the talent to win well into his 30's, but behind this line he wouldn't have the health to do it.

Lastly, Tomlin needs to assert a bit more control and influence over the play calling. That's not too much to ask.

Time to bag Ligashesky, and probably say goodbye to Skippy (as much as I hate to see him go).

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

Like I said, I'm fine with passing more and not going back to running 60% of the time. Sometimes you have to change with the times. And, I know this is hard for some people to accept for unknown reasons, we do actually have a pretty good QB.

It's just that Bruce's way of doing this doesn't work.

The yards gained are disproportionately higher than red zone and 3rd down percentage.

Passing a lot when you have a good QB, 3 good receivers, a stud TE, and even a running back who has shown that he is somewhat adept at catching passes is fine by me. But you HAVE TO BE SMART ABOUT IT!

Arians is not.

MJ said...

Ken Laird and ESPN Radio should be taking a beating right now for their reporting. Totally irresponsible how they handled those rumors.

AJ said...

I'll say one thing about Bruce Arians... I didn't hear one person bitch about the Steelers not throwing to the tight ends enough this season.

That is a first.

Koz said...

Mj is right. Laird has some 'splainin to do. You can't run with rumor and conjecture and pull it down if it doesn't happen.

Where's the integrity 1250?!?

WTF09 said...

ESPN 1250 Integrity? LMAO

NickDawg said...

Initially I was happy he was let go per ESPN 1250's jumping the gun (Laird). But now that I think about it, Arians being kept is a good thing. To have Ben and the whole offense learn a new system would definately set this team back a yr or two. I just hope he can improve his situational play calling (hence throwing for it on 3rd & 1 against Clevland) and we should be fine. I would also like to see more throws or screens to mendenhall. He has shown he can catch and run with it toward the end of the season.

Laird and ESPN 1250 do have some explaining to do!!