The Sports Monitor

The Pittsburgh Steelers put on a solid front in their introduction of new offensive coordinator Todd Haley on Thursday. Mike Tomlin introduced Haley and made it a point to say that he was the one doing the interviews to find a replacement for Bruce Arians. Tomlin was trying to show he still was the one in charge, although if you read some accounts, it makes it look like he's going along for the ride. Tomlin said the right things and hit on the right topics. Haley, too, said all the right things. He made it a point to say he'll do anything to win, run or pass. So far, so good, in smoothing the transition. Then the media found Ben Roethlisberger. You can tell he's still miffed at losing Arians. It's understandable, but he shouldn't go public about it. "I've gotten a lot of calls and texts and emails from people around the league, both good and bad about him," Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette. "Everybody has an opinion, as we al...

Call me indifferent on the hiring of Todd Haley as the Pittsburgh Steelers' new offensive coordinator. I don't fall into the camp where Haley has lost his mind and is worried about people bugging his office. And I don't fall into the camp where anyone will be an improvement over former coordinator Bruce Arians. Now, I was happy that Arians was relieved of his duties. I did not like how he called games and I thought his relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was too chummy for a coach-player relationship. It might seem wishy-washy to be indifferent on Haley, the former Chiefs head coach and Cardinals offensive coordinator, but let me explain. For all of Arians' shortcomings, the Steelers did win the Super Bowl with him and made another. I think only the truly excellent offensive coordinators can elevate a team and the truly poor ones can sink a team. For most coordinators, I think they are as good as the players they have. So while I believe Arian...

Is Bruce Arians on his way out of Pittsburgh? I fell for that two years ago when it was reported Arians wasn't going to return. I'll refrain from cheering until I hear it's official. I'll also refrain until I hear who replaces him. Instead, I'll repeat my position on Arians. If he is such a good coordinator, as some might say -- or, at the very least, his supporters say Arians doesn't deserve the criticism -- why is Arians never mentioned as a possible head coaching candidate? Seriously. Why is Arians never on the short list of any vacancy in the NFL? I simply do not recall him getting any mentions as a head coach. Why? The Steelers have been to two Super Bowls recently, winning one of them. Usually coordinators on successful teams have teams beating down their doors for interviews. With Arians? There's no such clamor. The clamoring is from people asking for him to leave. They might get their wish. I'm in that camp, but I'm hesi...

Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians could be in jeopardy of losing his job. The Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that Arians might not return for the 2011 season. If that's the case, then I'm all for it. Of course, we went down this road last season when Arians' hold on the job was slippery. He stayed with the Steelers, so I'm not getting my hopes up. I never was thrilled with Arians from Day One. Maybe that's because he used to be with the Browns, and we all know how well the Browns have been since their return to the NFL. I know Arians has his defenders, and they like to point to the fact that he has a Super Bowl championship on his resume. However, how is Arians perceived around the NFL? If any other team across the league thought he was a good coordinator or had the stuff to be a head coach, surely the offensive coordinator of a former Super Bowl champ would have had his name come up in some coaching searches by now. That hasn't been th...