Whatever plans Bruce Arians might have had to retire from coaching, they were short-lived.
The Indianapolis Colts will hire Arians as their new offensive coordinator -- the same position he held for the past five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- a league source said Saturday.
Arians also had been in talks with the Arizona Cardinals for their vacant quarterbacks coach position since the Steelers informed him he would not return next season. The Steelersmade the announcement on Jan. 20 that Arians would not be a part of the team's staff in 2012, officially saying that he had decided to retire. Arians later told the York Daily Record that he was told he wasn't wanted back.
"Anyone that knows about the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's family. From top to bottom," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told NFL Network. "So when you lose a family member, it's always tough. I don't know if you can ever replace a guy like that, but it's a business. The powers that be made the decision, and we live with it, go with it. Change is not always easy. It's definitely going to be different for us. I love Bruce, all the offensive guys do, so we'll just have to see where we go from here."
The Steelers are looking at in-house candidates to replace Arians, including quarterbacks coach Randy Fitchner. Head coach Mike Tomlin also is a supporter of former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, who interviewed Caldwell for the position over the weekend, according to sources.
The Colts had been on the search for new coordinators since naming Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Paganoto replace Caldwell earlier this week.
Follow Jason La Canfora on Twitter @JasonLaCanfora.
