Former Steelers Coach Reveals Wild Ben Roethlisberger Story

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been in quarterback turmoil for almost five years.

Since the departure of franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger following the 2021 season, the Steelers have been unable to replace his consistency and his above average play. They have certainly tried to find a replacement through every avenue available, but in the years since have been unable to find one that has stuck.

But, it was not always this way. Roethlisberger led the team with remarkable consistency across his 18 seasons at the helm of the Steelers. He holds nearly every quarterback record in the history of the team and helped lead the team to two Super Bowl victories during his tenure.

Now, a former offensive coordinator in Bruce Arians has given insight into more of what made Roethlisberger successful and unpredictable. Arians spoke about Roethlisberger's no-huddle playcalling and his ability to control the game at the level of a coach. In an appearance on High Volume with Jeff Gorman, Arians spoke on Roethlisberger's antics.

"We would have this little bet, who would score first, him calling plays or me," Arians said. "I think he sabotaged me so he'd call plays and go down and score. We did a ton of checks with me, with Peyton [Manning], with Timmy [Couch], with Kelly [Holcomb] and Ben. When we went no-huddle, he called the whole show. I just showed up and listened because he wouldn't run the ball."

While Roethlisberger's stubbornness cost them a couple games in his long tenure as the leader of the Steelers, Arians' tone seems to be one of relative positivity due to the outcomes of the playcalls by the quarterback.

While Arians' tenure with the Steelers was short, he was able to win the Super Bowl in his first year with the team in 2007, and his offense helped to propel the Steelers to a combined 45-19 record during his tenure. Roethlisberger made the Pro Bowl in Arians' first and last seasons as coordinator.