In a move that creates stability for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and maintains continuity for the offense, new Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has promoted wide receivers coach Bruce Arians to offensive coordinator.
Arians, 54, has been the Steelers' wide receivers coach since 2004. Before that, he was offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns from 2001-03.
He replaces Ken Whisenhunt, who last week was named the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
The promotion of Arians is the second move made by Tomlin to ensure a degree of continuity within the coaching staff and to retain some ties, it appears, to the philosophies of former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. On Monday, Tomlin announced that highly respected defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will be retained in that capacity.
While keeping LeBeau was hailed by Steelers veterans as a wise move, it was mildly surprising, since he is a devotee of the 3-4 front, while Tomlin favors a 4-3 alignment.
It is not yet known if Tomlin plans to retain quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple, who has worked closely with Roethlisberger over the past three seasons and who has been cited as instrumental in his development.
Arians has a wide and varied background that includes a stint as head coach at Temple for six seasons (1983-88). In the NFL, he has worked with the Kansas City Chiefs (1989-92), New Orleans Saints (1996), Indianapolis Colts (1998-2000) and Browns (2001-03).
With the Colts, he was Peyton Manning's first quarterbacks coach.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.