Tomlin's First Move: Arians Retained, Promoted

Mike Tomlin's first move as head coach of the Steelers was announced today, as wide receivers coach Bruce Arians was promoted to offensive coordinator. Arians, who's been the Steelers' wide receivers coach since 2004, was the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns from 2001-03.

With the move, Tomlin should ease some of the concerns of folks who were weary of too much change. Tomlin, too, announced Dick LeBeau would be retained as defensive coordinator.

Now, with Arians, Tomlin ensures that a coach familiar with the Whisenhunt offense, as well as the Steeler personnel, will be around to make the transition to the Tomlin era a smooth one.

The news was a little different for Russ Grimm, who decided to follow Ken Whisenhunt to Arizona. This, of course, was most likely inevitable. It's pretty difficult to imagine Grimm - one of Pittsburgh's coaching finalists - working underneath the man who beat him out for the job.

--PB--