Bruce Arians Talks About Decision to Return

After last season, 58-year-old Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians contemplated retirement before signing a one-year contract to return to the team.

Arians discussed his decision to continue coaching with Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

“Ben (Roethlisberger) and I were sitting on the porch, and he just kept bringing up young names, saying, ‘You don’t really want to leave these guys yet, do you?’ ” Arians said. “It had been four weeks (since Super Bowl XLV) at that point. My wife was like, ‘You’re going back to work.’ I said, ‘All right, we’ll do it.’ I’m really looking forward to it.”

The average age of the projected Steelers starters on offense (with No. 3 receiver Jerricho Cotchery starting ahead of fullback David Johnson) is only 27.7 years, and just one starter (Hines Ward) is over 30.

“This young group might make we want to do this for a while,” Arians added.