Bruce Arians isn't tripping over the process. The Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator was one of the hot candidates as eight NFL teams searched for a new head coach. He has a job he likes and isn't stressing.
The Arizona Cardinals are the last team left to make a hire and can take their sweet time. Arians said he has a good feeling about the Cardinals even though that doesn't seem like the ideal fit. He's known for his work with Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck. There's not much quarterback talent to mold in Arizona.
Arians did give us a glimpse into his thought process when it comes to offense. He was asked Thursday to describe the difference between his system and Ken Whisenhunt's. The Cardinals just fired Whisenhunt, who was the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator when Arians was quarterbacks coach.
"Coach (Bill) Cowher had five or six offensive coordinators, and that (play)book had got big because he wasn't going to learn any new terminology," Arians said. "When Kenny and the guys came out here, Ben and I got together and we rewrote the playbook and put it back into Cleveland terms, which I learned from Tom Moore, who forgot more football than I know.
"I thought it was the simplest way to teach young wide receivers and quarterbacks pictures of how to line up. When a quarterback calls a play, he's got to see a picture. To help him rewrite that, with Ben, rename some patterns to where they made sense to him. I think that's the quarterback-coach trust relationship that has to be developed. As a head coach or an offensive coordinator, you're tied to that guy. Your future is him.
"I like new ideas. Randy Fichtner came in from the University of Memphis and he had all these college screens. I just couldn't wait to put all that stuff in. So we veered off into a different direction. Similar in some (ways). There are still core values that are the same. Some things are called the same, but other things are totally different."
Sounds like the fine folks in Arizona want to make sure they aren't getting Whisenhunt Part 2.
UPDATE:Arians has been hired as head coach of the Cardinals.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
