AP

Taking the Cardinals head coaching job apparently prevented Bruce Arians from assembling the coaching staff he really wanted.

According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Arians had a different staffing plan if he had gotten the Bears job instead, hoping to bring in some former Steelers co-workers.

The plan was to bring Ken Whisenhunt in as his offensive coordinator, and Russ Grimm as his line coach. Since the Cardinals had just fired the pair, that obviously wasn’t going to happen in the desert.

Instead, Whisenhunt went to San Diego to work on Mike McCoy’s Chargers staff as coordinator. Grimm’s still looking for work, though McCoy just hired his son Chad as an offensive quality control coach, according to Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. The Chargers hired former Bills line coach Joe D’Alessandris for the same job there.

Arians hired Harold Goodwin as his offensive coordinator instead.

Bouchette wrote that Grimm wasn’t returning to the Cardinals even if Whisenhunt did, suggesting a lean on Whisenhunt that turned into a shove right out the door.