Tag Archives: Tony Dungy

If Art Rooney II Is Keeping Tomlin, He Must Lean into His Father’s Example

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The embers of the Ravens ridiculing of the Steelers in the 2024 Wild Card game continue to burn brightly. But Art Rooney II has already made it clear he’s not parting with Mike Tomlin.

  • The wisdom, or lack thereof, of that decision is not today’s focus.

No one should really be surprised by Rooney’s decision. His father was faced with a similar situation with Chuck Noll after the 1988 Steelers finished 5-11, and Dan Rooney opted to stick with his head coach.

Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, Mike Tomlin contract

Art Rooney II and Mike Tomlin. Photo Credit: Chuck Cook, USA Today via 93.7 the Fan

But if Art is going to imitate Dan in deed, then he must also follow his father’s form. Dan forced Noll to fire assistants and Art II will likely follow suit. Forcing the firing of assistants is easy. As Dick Hoak boasted as his retirement press conference, “You’re hired to be fired, so I guess I beat the system.”

If Art Rooney really wants to set up Tomlin for success, he needs to lean into his father’s example, and pair Mike Tomlin with his own Tom Donahoe.

The Days of Dan, Tom and Chuck

Dan Rooney made headlines during the 1988 season when he decried “stupid plays” that contributed to the Steelers 2-10 record at Thanksgiving. Rooney promised changes after the season. Chuck Noll resisted and almost resigned.

But the two came to an agreement, Noll got a contract extension and even saved a few assistant’s jobs. Rooney’s announcement came with a surprise, Tom Donahoe had been promoted to Director of Pro Personnel and Development.

Donahoe was charged with scouting both opposing teams and even the Steelers themselves. And there was more as Ed Bouchette explains in Dawn of a New Steel Age:

Rooney gave Donahoe one more important duty. He was to assist Noll in hiring his coaches, another first….
Donahoe fervently approached the task of finding the new assistants. He compiled a list with Noll, then arranged interviews between the candidates and the head coach….
Donahoe wanted Noll to interview [Rod] Rust. Noll said he could not, because Rust was still employed by the Chiefs. Donahoe explained the situation to him, and Noll agreed to talk to Rust. The interview was arranged for the week of the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

This was the first time Noll had ever had anyone charged with helping him hire assistants. And Noll needed the help. Noll’s early staffs boasted legends such as Bud Carson, George Perles, Dan Radakovich and Tom Moore.

But by the 80’s Noll, never one to gossip, was out of the NFL’s coach loop and stumbled from one-lack-luster coaching hire to the next (Tony Dungy excepted.) So Dan had Tom help Chuck replace the coaches he’d just fired.

Art Rooney now must do the same with Mike Tomlin.

Apple Never Falls From the Tree?

If Mike Tomlin belongs on any coaching tree, it is the Chuck Noll coaching tree, as Dungy was a disciple of Noll, and Dungy hired and mentored Tomlin in his early NFL years.

But Noll’s “tree” didn’t grow far beyond that. His contemporaries Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells had true coaching trees. At best Noll has a bush.

And so it is with Mike Tomlin. As his playoff losing streak grows, fans seldom tire of pointing out that after 18 years in the NFL, Tomlin hasn’t spawned much in the way of coaching off spring. Whether that’s relevant to his legacy is besides the point.

  • The blunt truth is, Tomlin does poor job of identifying and grooming assistant coaches.

He’s done a fairly good job of hiring seasoned assistants. Mike Munchak, Danny Smith, Al Everest, Brian Flores, Karl Dunbar stand as examples. But Tomlin’s attempts to cultivate innovative, young coaching minds have flopped miserably.

  • Offensive line assistants Adrian Klemm and Jack Bicknell were disasters.

As secondary coach Carnell Lake helped resurrect Keenan Lewis’ career and William Gay became “Big Play Willie Gay” under Lake’s tutelage.

But Lake also oversaw Cortez Allen’s flame out. Sean Davis had a spectacular rookie year, then faded. Artie Burns had a solid rookie year, before becoming a bust. Lake, by all appearances, pushed for the Steelers to trade up for Shamarko Thomas – ouch!

And we won’t even begin to discuss the Matt Canada disaster.

Can Coaching on Coaching Hires Work?

Chuck Noll, who refused consider using the shotgun until 1989, was in, a word, set in his ways. So whether having Donahoe help him screen coaching candidates would work was an open question.

But it worked.

One of the first candidates Donahoe lined up for Noll to interview was Dave Wannstedt, who later became a successful defensive coordinator. (Don Shula hired Wannstedt before Noll could, and then Jimmy Johnson hired his first defensive coordinator in Dallas.) Noll hired Rod Rust and Dave Brazil. Rod Woodson credits Rust for teaching him how to dissect film and Dave Brazil presided over the 1990 Steelers number 1 defense.

Donahoe also steered Noll to George Stewart, who transformed the special teams from a glaring lability to an asset.

And he also recruited John Fox as the Steelers new secondary coach, who went on to be a successful defensive coordinator and NFC Champion head coach.

  • Who should Art II tap to help Tomlin find better assistants?

Andy Weidl would seem like a good resource but its just a guess. But Art II should give it a shot. The only thing he has to lose is another playoff game.

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The 1988 Steelers Season: The Year I Re-Found My Faith in the Black and Gold

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The 1988 Steelers finished 5-11. That’s a franchise worst since Chuck Noll’s 1969 inaugural 1-13 campaign. Just how bad were they? Consider:

  • Dan Rooney openly decried “stupid plays”
  • Chuck Noll quipped that they would struggle against a grade school team
  • Cornell Gowdy started 14 games at strong safety and disappeared from the NFL
  • David Little and Rod Woodson were co-MVPs… on the 28th ranked defense

Yet the 1988 Steelers will always hold a special place in my heart, because that’s the season I re-forged my faith in the Black and Gold.

Bubby Brister, Chuck Noll, Bubby Brister super tecmo bowl raiting, Steelers 1988

Chuck Noll and Bubby Brister. Photo Credit: Mike Powell, Getty Images

A Steelers Fan Confesses to “Youthful Indiscretion”

I grew up in the 70’s in Maryland outside of DC, the child of two “Pittsburgh Expats” who weren’t serious Steelers fans. Sure, we went all in for the Super Bowls, and Steelers jackets, shirts, hats, scarfs, gloves were glued to me through elementary school.

  • As the 70’s faded into the mid-80’s I began to stray.

Washington’s first Joe Gibbs era was underway and, honestly, all things being equal, I’d have probably traded Black for Burgundy and “converted” to the home team.

  • But my older brother did convert.

Thanks to sibling rivalry, rooting for the then Redskins was out of the question.

Rooting for the Steelers was hard because there was so little news on them. What did filter down made it clear that the Pittsburgh was pretty mediocre.

But I still liked football. And I longed for a team that could thwart either Washington or San Francisco’s quest to break the Super Steelers records.

So I’d get behind the Bears and/or Giants and even hoped Buffalo would develop to the point where they’d fit the bill (pun intended.) That changed in 1987. I’d reached high school and that’s when guys got serious about sports. I needed a skin in the game at both the lunch table and inside the locker room

  • And there was no question: The Pittsburgh Steelers were my team.

Still, I didn’t follow the ’87 Steelers closely. And in Super Bowl XXII I backed the Denver Broncos. What followed was one blissful quarter and then dejection as Doug Williams authored perhaps the most incredible 15 minutes in football history.

The lesson was clear: Never trust in another set of colors that wasn’t Black and Gold.

1988 – Going All In on the Steelers

The Steelers actually started 1988 on a high note.

The ’87 Steelers had finished 8-7 overall and 6-6 in non-strike games despite starting quarterback Mark Malone’s 46.4 passer rating. Tony Dungy’s opportunistic defense had scored 5 touchdowns. Even Joe Greene was back in Pittsburgh as defensive line coach.

Joe Greene, Joe Greene Steelers assistant coach

Joe Greene during his time as defensive line coach. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

The Steelers began the off-season by committing to moving on from Malone, and thus began my days of scouring the Washington Post sports section for any hint of news. The Steelers shipped Malone off to San Diego for an 8th round pick, flirted with trading for Jack Trudeau with the Colts (Indy also wanted Louis Lipps – killing the deal), until finally bringing in Todd Blackledge.

The pundits pronounced the Steelers as winners in 1988 NFL Draft, and I drank the Aaron Jones Kool aid, thinking his prediction of 20 sacks was realistic. Chuck Noll declared that winning in preseason was important to him and on cue, the Steelers went 3-1.

  • Then Steelers Nation lost Art Rooney Sr. on August 25, 1988.

While Pittsburgh lost one of its finest citizens, viewed from a 16-year-old’s eyes the Chief’s passing also seemed to signal the start of a new era on the field.

The Steelers 1988 Season – Opening a New Era with a Win Over and Old Foe

And so it was on September 4th 1988 that the Pittsburgh Steelers would play their first game ever without Art Rooney, Sr. against the Dallas Cowboys. Rookie quarterback Bubby Brister won his first start as Earnest Jackson scored two touchdowns giving Chuck Noll his final win over Tom Landry.

A glance at the Post’s Sports section revealed that wins by Cleveland, Cincinnati and Houston had created a four-way tie in the division. The AFC Central would be tough, it seemed, but the Steelers seemed well-positioned to make a run.

  • Or so this naïve 16-year-old thought.

Week 2 brought the Steelers to Washington to face the defending Super Bowl Champions. The game set the tone for the rest of the season.

The ’88 Steelers lost to the defending Super Bowl champions by 30 to 29 as Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams threw for over 400 yards. It is tempting see the close score and conclude that Steelers combined a lucky turnover with a few garbage time scores to make the outcome look a lot closer than it really was.

  • The opposite is actually true.

The ’88 Steelers actually went toe-to-toe with Washington, as Brister and Louis Lipps hooked up to burn Darrell Green for an 80-yard touchdown early. Brister did it again by connecting with Dwight Stone for a late 72 yard score. Brister ran for a score of his own, but Harry Newsome bobbled a snap costing Pittsburgh an extra point. (Video courtesy of Steel City Star.)

That extra point didn’t seem to mean much as the Steelers held a 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter, but alas, the defense couldn’t hold as Williams led Washington to not one, but two scores.

That formula repeated itself throughout the season as the loss at RFK started the Steelers on a six-game losing streak.

Nothing went right for Pittsburgh. Bubby Brister got hurt and coaches couldn’t choose between Todd Blackledge and Steve Bono as a replacement. It didn’t matter. Both were terrible. Harry Newsome suffered four blocked punts of his six blocked punts during the steak.

As the losses mounted, pundits demanded that Chuck Noll step aside. Things reached a fever pitch in week 8 as Terry Bradshaw joined the chorus.

The Steelers responded by exploding for a 39 to 21 win over the Denver Broncos that included six Gary Anderson field goals and 2 Rodney Carter touchdowns. Rod Woodson led the defense with 10 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception. The day also saw Greg Lloyd’s first start and first ejection.

Carter, who rushed for over 100 yards, also completed a halfback option pass. When reporters quizzed Noll about this, he quipped that he’d gotten the idea in a letter from a fan.

  • The win over the defending AFC Champions, failed to morph into a midseason rally.
Bubby Brister, Reggie Williams, Craig Wolfley, Merril Hoge, Steelers vs Bengals Riverfront Stadium

Reggie Williams sacks Bubby Brister. Photo Credit: Cincinnati Enquirer

The 1988 Steelers lost their next four games. The Bengals demolished them 42 to 7. The Steelers hit rock bottom in the mud at Cleveland Stadium the week before Thanksgiving as Newsome suffered another blocked punt and Mike Webster sailed one snap well above Newsome’s head and another came in so low that Newsome couldn’t handle it.

That left the Steelers in the thick of the Aikman derby i.e. the right to draft Troy Aikman. The only question was whether Pittsburgh had hit rock bottom.

Thanksgiving Interlude as Steelers Sit @ 2-10

Dan Rooney was not happy. He grabbed Ed Bouchette pf the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the coffee room and declared, “I want to get it across that I’m not taking this situation alright.”

The story went “viral,” or at least it was picked up by the Washington Post, and it certainly caught the attention of the young 16-year-old whose daily highlight came at about 6:45 in the morning when the Post had something on the Steelers.

Rooney minced no words, explaining to Bouchette, “I don’t think we can say all is well and good. At times [Sunday] we played alright, but stupid plays took us out of the game.” Rooney then criticized Noll’s decision to punt on 4th and a foot at Cleveland’s 44. And of course he was not happy with the punting errors.

Having grown up outside of Pittsburgh I was unacquainted with just how unique the Rooneys were. So the most part, the uncharacteristic nature of Rooney’s frankness went over my head.

I was at least as focused Rooney’s observations that “At times we played alright,” and “I think we have some pretty good players” and his assertion that the 1988 Steelers were better than their 2-10 record.

That’s what the 16 year-old in me had seen from Monday morning newspaper summaries and ESPN NFL PrimeTime clips. The losses to Cincinnati and Cleveland had been ugly sure, but the Steelers had led against the Jets and Buddy Ryan’s Eagles until losing at the very end, just as they done at Washington. Earlier in the season, after recovering not one but two on sides kicks, they’d given the Bills a run for their money too.

Add those should haves, could haves and might haves together, and that would transform the Steelers record from 2-10 to 6-6.

Offensive mainstays such as Earnest Jackson and Frank Pollard had been benched in favor of Merril Hoge and Warren Williams, with Hoge earning his first 100-yard game in the loss to the Jets. On the defensive side, Rod Woodson was already establish a Hall of Fame trajectory, Greg Lloyd was making a name for himself, as were fellow members of the Steelers 1987 draft class Hardy Nickerson and Thomas Everett.

  • While he never said it explicitly, those were the players Dan Rooney had been referring to.

But perhaps the one who was the most to that ’88 team was a player who hadn’t been on the field since week 4….

The 1988 Steelers “Unleash Hell in December”

History geeks will remember week 3 of the 1988 Steelers season as their near upset of the Bills. But the game also marked the first start of an unheralded 2nd round guard from Kentucky.

Unfortunately, that left guard injured his knee when his uncle Art Still fell on it, costing him the next 8 weeks of the season. Few noticed his absence.

  • But Chuck Noll noted his return as he made Dermontti Dawson his starting right guard coming out of Thanksgiving.

The Steelers opened December with a 16-10 win over the 3-9-1 Kansas City Chiefs. A week later they went down to the Astrodome and flipped the script of the season. (Video courtesy of Steel City Star.)

 

The a game that saw the lead change 10 times, saw both teams return kicks for touchdowns, while Bubby Brister connected with Louis Lipps for touchdowns of 80 and 65 yards. Finally, with the Steelers down 34 to 31, Bubby Brister capped off a 4th quarter comeback with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Merril Hoge.

A week later irony caught up with the Steelers, as Mark Malone who logged his final win in Pittsburgh a year earlier against the Chargers, led San Diego to a 20-14 win over the Steelers in his final start as an NFL quarterback.

The Steelers closed the 1988 season at Three Rivers Stadium, with Chuck Noll hosting his mentor Don Shula. Many wondered if it would be Noll’s final game in Pittsburgh. (IT did, in fact, turn out to be Mike Wester’s final game in Pittsburgh.)

  • Chuck Noll was never wont to pep talks, but he share before the game, “I re
    Mike Webster, Don Shula Steelers vs Dolphins 1988, Mike Webster last game Steelers

    Mike Webster talks to Don Shula before his final game with Steelers. Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar, AP via Pro Football Talk.

    ally want to win this on.”

His players responded. Dwayne Woodruff, the defense’s lone Super Bowl veteran, opened the scoring with 78 yard pick six of Dan Marino. Louis Lipps rushed for a 39-yard touchdown on a reverse. Gary Anderson kicked four field goals, Rodney Carter rushed for a touchdown and Darin Jordan made another pick six as the Steelers won 40-24.

Finishing 5-11 brings no bragging rights, but it at least allowed me to do a bit of “How’d Miami do yesterday” trash talking in Driver’s Ed with avowed Miami Dolphins fan named Frank.

21 years before Mike Tomlin would utter his infamous “Raise hell in December” promise the 1988 Steelers did just that. We’ll never know how much credit Dermontti Dawson’s return deserves for that turn around, but injecting future Hall of Famers into your starting line up does tend to improve things.

’88 Steelers Set the Stage to “Shock the World”

As soon as the season ended Dan Rooney made good on his midseason comments to Ed Bouchette. Things got tense. Chuck Noll almost resigned. But, with an assist from Joe Greene, Noll and Rooney continued to talk, agreed to changes, and The Emperor remained.

Rooney, who once commented that he and his wife Patricia wanted Chuck Noll to raise their kids of anything ever happened to them, clearly didn’t want to end on a bad note.

  • But Rooney wasn’t simply making an emotional decision.

In his autobiography Rooney remarked that 1988 was the year “Chuck really showed his greatness” with his post-Thanksgiving rally following a 2-10 start. As Rooney remarked, “I thought – our whole organization thought – better days lay ahead.”

The 16 year old fan rooting for the team from in suburban Maryland agreed. A year later, the 1989 Steelers vindicated us both. No, they didn’t win the Super Bowl, but they fulfill Bubby Brister’s promise to “Shock the world.”

But that is another story….

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End of an Era: John Mitchell Retires after 29 Years as a Steelers Assistant Coach

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Little did he know, but Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was about to start the “John Mitchell” era.

The day was Tuesday January 11th, 1993. The site was Three Rivers Stadium and the 1993 Steelers season had ended in with a bang. Literally.

The Steelers reached the end of 4th quarter clinging to a 7-point lead in a Wild Card game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. A failed attempt on third down sent Mark Royals out to punt. Steelers cast off Keith Cash blocked it, giving the Chiefs the ball deep in Pittsburgh territory. Worse yet, Cash gave Joe Montana what you absolutely could not give him – a 2nd chance.

Montana tied the game in regulation and Nick Lowery won it on overtime. Bill Cowher reacted decisively.

He fired Special Teams coach John Guy. Everyone expected this. The blocked punt culminated a season of special team’s disaster. He also fired wide receivers coach Bob Harrison. And Cowher made one more move: He sacked defensive line coach Steve Furness.

Cowher surprised everyone with the Furness firing. Not only was Steve Furness a Steel Curtain Veteran sporting 4 Super Bowl rings, but the arrow seemed to be pointing up on Steelers defensive line.

Indeed. Instead of mouthing the obligatory “Thanks to the Rooneys for the opportunity” words, Furness made no attempt to hide his bitterness and the firing apparently haunted him for the rest of his life.

  • But as so often is the case in the NFL, when a door closes for one person, it creates an opportunity for another.
John Mitchell, Steelers Assistant Coach 29 years

John Mitchell, 29 years a Steelers Assistant coach. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Bill Cowher hired John Mitchell to coach the defensive line. John Mitchell didn’t so much as take advantage of that opportunity, but rather he molded it, transformed it and remade it as his own.

  • Mitchell retired last week after 29 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In stepping away, Mitchell ends an era for the Pittsburgh Steelers that was as remarkable as it was understated.

To understand just how understated the “Mitchell Era” was try this test: Strip a Steelers fan of his or her smart phone and ask – “Who was the longest tenured Steelers defensive coach?” Most would probably answer “Dick LeBeau.” Some will probably say “Bud Carson” or “George Perles.” “Tony Dungy” might earn an honorable mention. I guarantee you that few would answer “John Mitchell” even though with 29 years of service as defensive line and then assistant head coach that is the right answer.

To understand how remarkable Mitchell’s tenure has been, consider the fate of his opposite number on offensive line. When the Steelers hired Karl Dunbar to replace Mitchell as defensive line coach in 2018, we observed that since Dunbar’s rookie training camp at St. Vincents in 1991, the only other coaches the title of “Defensive line coach” for the Pittsburgh Steelers were Joe Greene and Furness.

Since Dunbar’s return in 2018, the Steelers have cycled through Mike Munchak, Shaun Saurett, Adrian Klemm and Pat Meyer as offensive line coaches.

As Dick Hoak observed when he retired as Steelers running backs coach “You’re hired to be fired. I guess I beat the system.” So did John Mitchell.

And he beat the system by remolding and reforming the young defensive lineman in his own image. This fact has been well known and evident in the fact that very few defensive lineman started for John Mitchell as rookies.

Mitchell explained this system to Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell,

Aaron Smith’s first two years, he didn’t like me because I never called him by his name. I called him ninety-one. Aaron Smith came from a small school, Northern Colorado, and they only had about three or four coaches on the staff, so Aaron Smith didn’t know any fine points about football. When he got here, he had to play technique football. The first year and a half was pretty tough on him.

Aaron Smith agrees, sharing with Ron Lippock from Steelers Takeaways: “We laugh about it now. I thought he hated me and I hated him. But now, there’s no greater person.”

  • For a quarter century Mitchell put the Steelers defensive line through similar paces.
Johnny Mitchell, Steelers defensive line coach Johnny Mitchell, Johnny Mitchell's Steelers coaching career

Steelers defensive line coach Johnny Mitchell at his best – teaching in the trenches. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Even the most educated fan has a difficult, if not impossible time assessing a position coach. Do you judge Carnell Lake on the disappointing careers that Cortez Allen and Shamarko Thomas authored? Or do you measure the “Lake Effect” on William Gay’s maturation following his return to Pittsburgh and rejuvenation of Kennan Lewis under Lake’s tutelage?

But when a truly great assistant coach comes along no such intellectual gymnastics are necessary. John Mitchell is one of those assistant coaches. What to understand his impact? The just look at these players: Joel Steed, Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, Chris Hoke, Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave.

Thank you John Mitchell to your contributions to the “Steelers Way.” We wish you the best in retirement.

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Blame JuJu? If Steelers Go One & Done vs Browns “They” Will Say “Its All Smith-Schuster’s Fault”

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The Steelers are set to take on the Browns in an AFC wildcard game at Heinz Field on Sunday night, but if you think Cleveland is in trouble thanks to several players and head coach Kevin Stefanski being placed on the COVID list, guess again.

  • Pittsburgh is the squad in serious jeopardy of going one and done. Again.

Why?

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers vs Saints, JuJu Smith-Schuster fumble

Two years ago JuJu Smith-Schuster’s fumble doomed the Steelers. This time it could be his mouth. Photo Credit: Butch Dill, AP via Tribune Review

While speaking virtually with the media during the week, Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster infected his squad with something even worse than COVID; he plagued Pittsburgh with negative bulletin board material that the Browns will surely use as an elixir to cure what ails them ahead of their first postseason game in 18 years.

“Nah, I think they’re still the same Browns that I’ve played every year,” Smith-Schuster said in a quote courtesy of CBS Sports.com. “I think they’re nameless gray faces. They have a couple of good players on their team. But at the end of the day … the Browns are the Browns. It’s AFC North football. They’re a good team. I’m just happy we’re playing them again.”

  • Ouch…if you believe in such things.
  • I don’t, of course.

Believing in bulletin board material is cute and all, but I don’t think it has any effect on the outcome of a game. Oh, sure, players and coaches might say it gave them extra motivation after a win, but what about all those times a team has lost despite going into a game equipped with bulletin board material?

Funny how bulletin board material is never mentioned after a loss. I guess that’s because the team that didn’t shut up, put up.

  • Either that, or it’s because bulletin board material doesn’t mean squat.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what I think about bulletin board material, because if the clock strikes midnight on the Steelers’ 2020 season this Sunday evening at Heinz Field, the fans and media will have a convenient scapegoat to blame: JuJu’s mouth.

Just like with head coach Mike Tomlin’s interview with Tony Dungy back in 2017 where he mentioned a possible postseason rematch with the Patriots weeks before he knew he’d have to win a rematch with the Jaguars before even facing New England, folks will point to Smith-Schuster’s comments as the reason Pittsburgh lost to the Browns.

If you talk to someone during the offseason, they’ll bring up Smith-Schuster’s virtual press conference. If you listen to sports talk radio next summer ahead of the Steelers reporting to St. Vincents College for training camp (hopefully), they’ll cite Pittsburgh’s lack of focus and lack of respect for the Browns as to why the franchise came up short in the previous postseason.

Again, I think it’s silly, but it’s low-hanging fruit for the media and the masses, and it’s easy to blame intangibles such as quotes and a player’s social media activity than it is to acknowledge that the opposing team was just better on a certain day.

The Steelers and Browns have spent hours preparing for Sunday’s postseason clash, and to think, the outcome could actually be decided by JuJu Smith-Schuster’s perceived lack of respect for the Browns.

Unless the Steelers win, of course.

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Steelers Hire Bryan McClendon as Wide Receivers Coach

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Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said there’d be changes to his coaching staff at his post-season press conference, and while Tomlin took his time, he’s made good on his promise.

Bryan McClendon, Steelers hire Bryan McClendon

Steelers hire South Carolina’s Bryan McClendon as wide receiver’s coach. Photo Credit: Jamie Gilliam, Icon Sportswire, via Getty Images, via BTSC

The Steelers will hire Bryan McClendon as their wide receivers coach who replaces Ray Sherman who in turn, stepped in to the void when Daryl Drake passed away during training camp. Bryan McClendon was the offensive coordinator at South Carolina and prior to that he coached wide receivers and running backs at Georgia.

Given his past work with running backs, there has been speculation that McClendon’s responsibilities might extend to the running game. There’s certainly precedent for this in Pittsburgh, albeit an aged one; Tony Dungy spent most of his first season as assistant defensive backs coach working with the linebackers.

Any help that Bryan McClendon can provide towards mentoring Benny Snell and/or Kerrith Whyte will be welcome, but his main focus will be to guide the development of Diontae Johnson, Deon Cain, and James Washington while helping JuJu Smith-Schuster realize his potential as true number 1 wide receiver.

Mike Tomlin Goes Back to School Again

Bryan McClendon isn’t the first wide receivers coach that Mike Tomlin has plucked from the Carolina college ranks. After moving Randy Fichtner to from wide receivers to quarterbacks coach following the 2009 season, he hired Scottie Montgomery from Duke to replace him. Montgomery held that position from 2010 until 2012 when he returned to Duke.

  • Tomlin replaced Montgomery by coaxing retired NFL veteran coach Richard Mann out of retirement.

Since then, however, Mike Tomlin has shifted back towards hiring coaches from college ranks. Last year, Tomlin hired N.C. State running backs coach Eddie Faulkner for his first NFL position, and in 2018 previous year he hired longtime college assistant Tom Bradley as defensive backs coach, while replacing John Mitchell with Karl Dunbar, who he hired from Alabama.

Earlier this off season, Mike Tomlin hired Matt Canada, another college coach with no NFL experience to work as quarterbacks coach where he’ll mentor Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges where helping to oversee Ben Roethlisberger’s comeback.

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Scapegoating Saxon? (Maybe, Maybe Not) Steelers Fire James Saxon, Running Backs Coach

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Mike Tomlin promised changes at his year-end press conference and he is making good on his word as heads continue to roll on the South Side. The Steelers announced today that they have fired running backs coach James Saxon, marking the 2nd coaching change of this off season following Joey Porter’s dismissal last Friday.

While Joey Porter’s dismissal was not a great surprise, given his off the field issues and the lack of development of Bud Dupree and Jarvis Jones before him, James Saxon’s departure is not a move many predicted.

James Saxon

Mike Tomlin has fired James Saxon. Photo Credit: 12up.com

The Steelers hired James Saxon in the spring of 2012 after Kriby Wilson left to take a job with the Minnesota Vikings (accompanied by rumors that he could not get along with Todd Haley.)

During his first season, Saxon has worked managed the three back rotation that was Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, and Jonathan Dwyer which truth be told, was starting to function well at mid-season but got untracked after Willie Colon’s season-ending injury.

In 2013, Saxon oversaw the development of Le’Veon Bell, as Bell ascended from a 2nd round pick that many questioned (although Merril Hoge didn’t) into the NFL’s best running back. Saxon also managed to coax respectable performances (the fumble against Denver notwithstanding) out of Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman during the 2015 playoffs when DeAngelo Williams was hurt.

Most recently, James Saxon has helped James Conner and Jaylen Samuels make the transition from college to successful NFL running back.

Is Saxon Breathing Truth into Dick Hoak’s Parting Words?

In January 2007, Dick Hoak retired as Steelers running backs coach after serving in that capacity since 1972. When asked to reflect on his time, Dick Hoak c explained, “They say you’re hired to be fired in this business, so I guess I beat the system.”

  • One has to wonder if James Saxon making Dick Hoak’s words come true.

Mike Tomlin left little doubt that he was going to make changes to his coaching staff in the wake of the Steelers collapse from a 7-2-1 team to one that failed to make the playoffs. But to the naked eye the question must be asked, “Why fire James Saxon?”

While it is true that three of the season’s pivotal plays involved fumbles by running backs, fumbles are hardly something you can blame an assistant coach for. Moreover, Jaylen Samuels came into the NFL with very little experience rushing the ball, yet he had the look of a quality number 2 NFL running back against both the Saints and the Patriots.

  • The easy conclusion is that James Saxon is a scapegoat or a fully guy.

But the easy answer isn’t always the correct one, especially when it comes to NFL assistant coaches. After ensuring a horrendous start and devastating injuries, the 2013 Steelers offensive line improved by the end of the year.

That story should serve as a word of caution that the easy conclusion might not be the right one. Fans have very little insight into what the tasks an NFL assistant coach is actually responsible for. Officially, Chan Gailey was the Steelers wide receivers coach in 1995, but his role in running the offense increased, leading the Steelers to fire Ron Erhardt after Super Bowl XXX.

Going further back, Tony Dungy joined Chuck Noll’s staff as a defensive backs assistant, yet research profiling Tony Dungy career as a Steelers assistant coach revaled that he spent much of his first year dealing with linebackers.

  • Of course we know that because the Steelers let reporters interview assistant coaches back then.

Today they do not, which means our understanding of the Steelers James Saxon firing will probably never move beyond speculation.

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Steelers 2018 Super Bowl Hopes Lie in the Answers to 4 Key Questions

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The Lombardi Trophy is Pittsburgh’s sole measure of success. Can the Steelers win the Super Bowl in 2018? The men in Black and Gold will begin the 2018 season Cleveland and the Steelers 2018 Super Bowl hopes largely hinge on the answers the team can provide to these four questions.

Steelers 2018 Super Bowl hopes, Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Tomlin, Lombardi Trophy, Santonio Holmes, Dan Rooney

Will Mike Tomlin & Ben Roethlisberger hoist the Lombardi this year? Photo Credit: Hans Dery, Reuters via abc.net.au

Is Big Ben Still Synchronized?

How quickly we forget. When Jim Wexell broke the news the Friday before the playoff game that Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t retiring, Steelers Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  • Actually, it didn’t because, for whatever reason, Wexell’s scoop drew little attention.

Nonetheless, Wexell was breaking very good news. But which Ben Roethlisberger will the Steelers welcome back in 2018?

The Ben Roethlisberger from the first 8 weeks of 2017 who posted a 82.7 passer rating? Or the Ben Roethlisberger of the season’s last 8 weeks who posted a 105.3 passer rating, the very best of his career?

Bringing home a 7th Lombardi Trophy to Pittsburgh in 2018 will require the concerted efforts of all 53 men on the Steelers roster, but no one’s health and performance is more important than that of Ben Roethlisberger.

Can the Steelers Come Out Running at the Opening Bell?

As of Thursday morning, Le’Veon Bell has neither reported to the Steelers complex on the South Side, nor has he given any indication of if or when he will, aside from an oblique comment from his agent about something “extraordinary” happening.

  • Some fans have been clamoring for Running Back by Committee for the entire off season.

Some wishes come true. As I pointed out previously, you can win the Super Bowl using Running Back by Committee, but the Steelers must first find a way to keep their top two running backs healthy for an entire season, something they’ve struggled to do in the Mike Tomlin era.

Le’Veon Bell, for all his antics, for all the questions about his self life and any alarm sparked by his production decline in 2017, remains a championship caliber talent until proven otherwise.

In his absence, the Steelers will find out, for better and for worse, what they have in James Conner, Stevan Ridley and Jaylen Samuels. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster give the Steelers air game legitimate weapons, but the Steelers can’t win through the air alone.

Have the Steelers Shored Up the Center of Their Defense?

Images of the Steelers defense flashing shut down ability in early 2017 have been replaced by those of a sieve that allowed the Jaguars to score 45 points at Heinz Field. Eight months later, Joe Haden has a full year in the Steelers offense, Artie Burns has logged a strong summer and Stephon Tuitt has returned to full health.

All positive developments, but do they address the deficiencies that the Jaguars exposed and exploited? In late February Pittsburgh 247 publisher Jim Wexell offered some insight:

It was 14 years and almost two months ago that Tim Lewis, on his way out of town as defensive coordinator, gave me the tip that I haven’t forgotten.
Lewis told me the Steelers’ defense — which fundamentally hasn’t changed since — will always be built around the nose tackle, the inside linebacker and the strong safety. And he felt those positions, because they were in the middle of the action, had to be replaced more frequently than the others and therefore should always be monitored.

As Wexell points out, Casey Hampton, James Farrior and Troy Polamalu, three great players by any measure, led the Steelers to victories in Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII. Joel Steed, Levon Kirkland and Carnell Lake were three good players who helped sustain the Steelers of the ‘90’s as contenders.

  • It says here that Ryan Shazier was a great player who was on course to reach Polamalu-like levels before his spinal contusion.

Against Jacksonville, without Shazier, it wasn’t so much a matter of the rest of the Steelers defense failing to be great or event good, but rather it looked like a backup JV defense competing against a championship Varsity offense.

The Steelers have tried to strengthen the middle of their defense by shifting Sean Davis from strong to free safety and by adding safeties Morgan Burnett, Terrell Edmunds and inside linebacker Jon Bostic.

Did the Steelers do enough? The Steelers 2018 Super Bowl hopes in large part depend on that answer being “Yes.”

Can Mike Tomlin Keep His Team Focused on What Is In Front of Them?

Pittsburgh’s 2017 season didn’t end so abruptly because of Mike Tomlin’s comments to Tony Dungy or because various players supplied “bulletin board material.” The Steelers lost because two turnovers essentially spotted the Jaguars 14 points and the defense was powerless to stop Jacksonville after that.

  • Had the Steelers made the same errors but stayed tight-lipped before the game the outcome would have been no different.

But it doesn’t mean that improved focus throughout the locker room wouldn’t have helped the Steelers compensate. Chuck Noll called it “Singleness of Purpose,” the idea that everyone on the team was focused on the same objective and they carried that focus on to everything they did.

  • You can find a lot of fault with Chuck Noll’s teams of the 80’s, but lack of focus was never one of them.

The Steelers, as an organization, seem to be channeling their inner Emperor. Throughout the summer at St. Vincents, answers to questions about the Steelers prospects of the season, whether they came from Art Rooney II, Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin or one of the veteran leaders universally ended with “…but right now, our focus is on beating Cleveland.”

If you establish that type of attitude in July and sustain it through the fall, you can give yourself a chance to play in February! Go Steelers!

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Watch Tower: Gabe Rivera-Ryan Shazier Connection, 2018 & 2003 Draft, OLB Swap & More

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The Pittsburgh Steelers true 2018 off season is here. Now’s when millennials in Steelers Nation get a feel for what January to July used to be like every year until free agency arrived in 1993.

Barring an off the field trouble, they’ll be no Steelers news until late July, so the Watch Tower turns its lights Steelers stories including the 2018 NFL Draft, draft room stories from both today and yesteryear finally seeing the light, the mystery that is Mike Tomlin the OLB shift and much more.

But first let’s turn to a story that’s sat there patiently waiting to be told for close to six months.

Gabe Rivera, Gabriel Rivera, Steelers 1983 draft

Gabriel ‘Gabe’ Rivera watching Steelers practice in 1983. Photo Credit: John Heller, Pittsburgh Press via Post-Gazette.com

Of Rivera and Shazier – Bouchette Delivers

Ryan Shazier has been the biggest Steelers story since December. The image of Ryan Shazier’s spinal contusion is seared in our collective memory, and nearly every story written about the Steelers has a link, direct or indirect, to that fateful night.

  • And of course Shazier’s story draws inevitable comparisons to Gabe Rivera.

Gabe Rivera is the defensive lineman Chuck Noll drafted while passing on Dan Marino, assuming that he could get his next Terry Bradshaw later in hopes of getting his next Joe Greene in 1983. Not only did Pittsburgh have to wait until Ben Roethlisberger’s arrival 20 years later for its next franchise quarterback, but Gabe Rivera’s NFL career lasted 6 games, after a car accident left Rivera paralyzed.

  • However, if Steelers fans hear a lot about Gabe Rivera, they hear very little from Gabe Rivera.

Steelers Digest did do a profile on Rivera in the early 1990’s. But you don’t see photos of him at Steelers alumni events, you don’t see him at Steelers training camp as an example of why players need to make wise choices (Rivera had been driving while intoxicated) and you don’t see reporters calling him for quotes.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette changed that this May, by reaching out to Gabe Rivera, to ask him about Shazier, find out how he doing and shed light as to why Steelers fan never hear from him. The Watch Tower doesn’t steal other writer’s thunder, but highly recommends Bouchtte’s article.

The story may have been sitting there in plain sight, but Bouchette went out and told it and for that he wins Watch Tower Kudos.

Who Is Mike Tomlin?

Just who is “Mike Tomin?” Undefeated writer Tom Junod sought an answer reminding readers that “The Steelers head coach has been celebrated and derided but rarely understood.”

Like all NFL coaches, Mike Tomlin has a private side, a side remains hidden when the cameras are running (Antonio Brown’s Facebook Live feed notwithstanding.)

  • But Mike Tomlin takes it to another level.

In the spring after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII, a Pittsburgh journalist privately told the Watch Tower, something on order of, “I think Mike Tomlin’s a selling himself short as a football coach. He’s such a great leader, he should be a Senator or the President of a company or something like that….”

Mike Tomlin

Mike Tomlin, December 2017. Photo Credit: Andrew Rush, Post-Gazette

Certainly, there was a lot of love for Tomlin that spring, but that’s not something even the most diehard Tomlin homer would have said. The difference? This journalist had seen Tomlin without the camera’s rolling.

  • Yet Tomlin’s on-the-record interaction with the public remains sparse, by design.

During the season Tomlin speaks with the press less than his contemporaries; even Bill Belichick interacts with the media more frequently. He doesn’t talk to reporters in the off season, except when required. Ed Bouchette shared that he once asked Tomlin to do a non-required press conference earning the retort, “It doesn’t get ME anything.”

  • Tom Junod set out lift the veil surrounding Mike Tomlin in a 6,000 plus word essay.

Junod traveled to Pittsburgh three times and was with the team training prior to the Pro Bowl. During that time Junod talked to, or at least secured quotes from strength and conditioning coach Garrett Giemont, Pittsburgh pastor Ed Glover, former Tomlin coach Bill Stewart, Art Rooney II, Kevin Colbert, Tony Dungy, Joe Haden, Le’Veon Bell, Alejandro Villanueva, Mike Mitchell, Cam Heyward and Ryan Clark.

  • Yet, for all his efforts, Tom Junod couldn’t convince Tomlin to give an interview, let alone a quote aside from “I got nothing for you.”

Despite that, Junod’s writing is certainly worth reading. While he may have failed to unravel the mystery (or non-mystery as those who work with him daily insist) that is Mike Tomlin, Jundo certainly validates the premise that there is much more to Mike Tomlin than what the public sees and that Tomlin wants it that way.

Insight into Steelers Draft War Room, Past and Present

Is ESPN’s Jermey Fowler a Watch Tower reader? The odds are against it, but he has nonetheless been answering our pleas. Three years ago, the Watch Tower lamented the dearth of stories that provided insight into the Steelers draft process, drawing a contrast with the rich narrative that surrounds the Steelers drafts of the 70’s.

This year Fowler delivered again with an article on the Troy Polamalu trade. As with his article on Brown, Fowler didn’t have much luck getting current Steelers employees to discuss the trade, but he still shed new light on one of the most consequential draft-day trades in Steelers history.

  • Once again, Fowler wins Watch Tower kudos.

Fast forwarding today, the Steelers 2018 draft class was conspicuous for its lack of an inside linebacker. This move came as a surprise to many, and is still being debated. However, readers of Pittsburgh Steelers 24/7 were probably less surprised, thanks to Jim Wexell’s analysis.

Wexell reminded readers “Steelers GM Kevin Colbert doesn’t say much to reporters, but when he does he tells the truth,” and then pointed to Colbert’s comments to Steelers Nation Radio which clearly indicated the General Manager’s low opinion of the inside linebacker depth in the past draft.

So when the Steelers failed to trade up in the first round, the fact that they focused the rest of their draft elsewhere falls into place. Perhaps other reporters behind paywalls that the Watch Tower isn’t privy to made similar observations, but Wexell’s was right on the money, nearly 6 weeks before the draft.

Split on OLB Shift Story

The decision to swap Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt from right to left OLB is the few bits of true news to come out of Steelers OTAs. Dale Lolley had Jim Wexell had indicated to their readers that this move was coming early in the off season, and addition reporting by Wexell during OTA’s suggests the move is permanent.

  • Ed Bouchette’s reporting, however, takes the story in a different direction, indicating that the two players may shift to different sides of the line during the season, depending on circumstances.

Either way the Watch Tower will be looking to see who is right and award its kudos accordingly.

Wrap Up: World Cup, Bryant Trade and Running Back by Committee

In light of Martavis Bryant facing yet another suspension, Ron Cook of the Post Gazette stepped forward and issued a mea cupla, saying he was wrong to criticize the trade. Reporters do that less than they should, so Cook gets some kudos for his honestly.

  • As mentioned at the top of this article, trying to find real Steelers news to print at this time of year is a challenge.

Sure, you can “re-package” things like taking a Bob Labriola answer to a question about alternatives the Steeles didn’t consider for their 2018 throwbacks and turn it into an article, but is that really offering value to eaders?

Or you can do a deep dive into just how complicated it is to execute running back by committee as Tim Benz of the Tribune-Review did. Or you can likewise try to find a local, Steelers link to World Cup mania by publishing an article on the passing of Matt Bahr‘s father, Walter Bahr, who played on the 1950 US World Cup team that upset England.

Providing value at this time of the year can be hard, yet Benz and an unnamed AP writer did just that, and earn Watch Tower kudos.

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2 Simple Words to Describe Steelers 27-24 Loss to Patriots: This Sucks

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Intense. Thrilling. Captivating. Hard fought. Heartbreaking. The NFL’s most anticipated match of the year, the New England Patriots vs the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field lived up to its billing.

  • The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots played a titanic match that went down to the wire.

Unfortunately, the Steelers came up on the short end, and they did so at the cost of losing the man who should be the league MVP, possibly for the rest of the season. Two words describe the situation: This Sucks.

Jesse James, Steelers vs Patriots, Jesse James Touchdown Patriots

Jesse James touchdown that wasn’t vs Patriots. Photo Credit: Barry Reeger, PennLive.com

But We Never Expected “The Standard Is the Standard” to Include Brown…

Going into the game, this site noted that although the Steelers locker room has bought into Mike Tomlin’s “The Standard is the Standard,” there was no denying that injuries played a major role in recent Steelers defeats at the hands of the Patriots. And it was time to flip the script.

There are times when bloggers beg to be wrong, and this is one of them.

Four plays into the 2nd quarter Ben Roethlisberger targeted Antonio Brown in the end zone.

  • The pass fell away incomplete.
  • Brown didn’t get up after the play.
  • He couldn’t walk off the field under his own power.

This was new territory for the Steelers.

Since the Killer Bees converged in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have had to win without Ben Roethlisberger and Le’Veon Bell, but never have they had to go without Antonio Brown. The Steelers entered the game without Joe Haden and obviously Ryan Shazier, but their offense was (almost) at full strength.

Not anymore. But Steelers Nation knows the drill, “The Standard is the Standard: Injuries will not be an excuse.” The rest of the 47 men on the active game day roster would not need to find something a little extra special if Pittsburgh was to have any hope of winning. And, for the much of the game they did just that.

Steelers Digging Deep and Delivering

Tom Brady knows how to score points. Tom Brady has written a manual on how to score points against the Steelers! And the game started out as so many other recent Steelers vs Patriots contests have started – with New England scoring a touchdown, and making it look easy.

  • Credit Keith Butler’s defense with not caving, not falling into the rut of past failures.

Cam Heyward started off New England’s next possession by sacking Tom Brady. On their next try, New England made it into the Red Zone, but Mike Hilton defended a would-be touchdown pass in the end zone. Sean Davis broke up another one near the goal line intended for Rob Gronkowski (with a lot of help from Stephon Tuitt who was closing in on Brady.)

On the offensive side of the ball, the Steelers showed they could slug it out. With Le’Veon Bell’s running, and short passes to Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Jesse James, the Steelers burned 8 minutes off the clock which set up this play:

https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/942524582652719104

If anyone had any doubt that the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to find a way to give an extra 110%, this play definitively erased that. The question was, would it be enough?

3rd Quarter Stalemate

The Steelers entered the second half with a 7-point cushion, but the Patriots answered with a methodical, 6 minute touchdown drive. They followed by forcing a punt after just five plays.

But the Steelers turned the tables on the next drive, as Javon Hargrave pressured Tom Brady into throwing just a moment too soon, which allowed Vince Williams to intercept the ball, and the Steelers only needed 5 plays to score another touchdown. Now they held a 24-16 lead.

Vince Williams, Vince Williams interception Tom Brady

Vince Williams is 1st Steeler to intercept Tom Brady since 2005. Photo Credit: Barry Reeger, PennLive.com

The Steelers forced another punt. Then they opened the 4th quarter with a drive that amazingly burned 7 minutes off the clock yet saw the Steelers do no more than advance 31 yards. A score here would have been a game changer, but at least the Steelers were keeping the ball out of Brady’s hands.

The Patriots got the ball back, and marched all the way down to the Steelers 21-yard line, where Bud Dupree sacked Tom Brady on third down forcing a field goal. The score was now 24-19, if only the Steelers could hold on….

Steelers Commit Cardinal Sin Against Patriots

The lion’s share of the sound and fury generated by this game will revolve around the Steelers final drive. And rightly so. But if you really want to understand where the Steeler lost this game, you need to look at the two drives that preceded this.

The Steelers got the ball back with 3:56 minutes left. New England had all of their time outs left, so at least 2 first downs were in order. There the Steelers committed their cardinal sins.

  • The Steelers played it cautious, running the ball twice and punting after 3.
  • Sean Davis got both hands on Tom Brady’s first pass, but couldn’t hold on. You NEVER give Brady a 2nd chance.
  • Brady then proceeded to connect with Ron Gronkowski on four straight plays, including a TD and 2 point conversion

If you’re going to beat the Patriots, you really have to find a way to stop Tom Brady to Ron Gronkowski. OK, that’s easy to say but hard to do, and the Steelers knew that as the drive began, but they failed.

The Greatest Comeback that Never Was

The Steelers had 52 seconds and 1 time out left to come back to either tie or win. Such last minute heroics have been a staple for the Steelers during 2017, but nothing prepared them for what came next.

JuJu Smith-Schuster took a simple slant route and while looking for the sidelines, broke free through the Patriots secondary for a 69 yard reception. Ben Roethlisberger hit Jesse James on the next play for an apparent touchdown….

…Except it wasn’t a touchdown.

The replay officials ruled that Jesse James didn’t have complete control of the ball. Was that the correct call? Honestly, it does look like their ruling was within the letter of the law, although enough neutral observers, including Tony Dungy, argue that the reversal is a gross miscarriage of justice.

  • It matters little now.

Ben Roethlisberger hit Darrius Heyward-Bey on his next throw, who failed to get out of bounds. Instead of clocking the ball and giving Chris Boswell a chance to tie the game, Ben Roethlisberger went for all the marbles. Ben tried to thread the ball in triple coverage to Eli Rogers only to have the pass deflected and intercepted by Duron Harmon.

  • Just like that, it was all over for the Steelers.

Since their 2016 Christmas win over the Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers have developed a flair for the dramatic. They’ve authored any number of 4th quarter comebacks worth of narration by John Facenda. The Patriots game was no different. The Steelers simply came out on the wrong side.

And man, it really sucks.

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Steelers History vs Former Assistant Coaches Gives Context to Dick LeBeau vs. Todd Haley Matchup

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Tonight the Tennessee Titans come to town for Thursday Night Football. The real story and stakes of the game are in the outcome itself – the Steelers at 7-2 need to keep pace in the AFC race and can ill afford to drop a game to the 6-3 Tennessee Titans who’re leading their own AFC South division.

  • But of course the subtext behind this game is Dick LeBeau’s return to Heinz Field.

No matter how you look at it, Dick LeBeau vs Todd Haley, Dick LeBeau vs. Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler add a lot of intrigue to this game. With that in mind, we thought we’d look back to the Steelers history vs former assistant coaches.

While this list isn’t meant to be inclusive, it does highlight the Steelers record vs some of the franchise’s notable alumni.

Dick LeBeau, Todd Haley, Steelers history vs former assistant coaches

Dick LeBeau and Todd Haley in 2012. Photo Credit: Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

1979 – Super Bowl XIV – Noll Knows How to Beat Bud

January 20th, 1980 @ Rose Bowl
Pittsburgh 31, Los Angeles 19

The record will reflect that the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams was Ray Malavasi. But no one remembers that, because the subtext to this game was the chess match between Chuck Noll and his former defensive coordinator Bud Carson who was with the Rams.

  • Noll, as Art Rooney Jr. reports in Ruanaidh, informed his wife that “I know how to beat Bud.”

For a little more than four quarters it appeared Noll had erred. Then, facing 3rd and long deep in Pittsburgh territory, Noll ordered Terry Bradshaw to “Go for the big one!” Bradshaw launched 60-Prevent-Slot-Hook-And-Go to John Stallworth and 73 yards later the Steelers were ahead for good.

After the game, Carson complained that “All we needed to do was to stop John Stallworth.” Yep, Chuck knew how to beat Bud.

1989 – Bud Carson Gets His Revenge

September 10th, 1989 @ Three Rivers Stadium
Cleveland 51, Pittsburgh 0

Ten years later Bud Carson would FINALLY secure the head coaching job he’d longed for when he left Pittsburgh over a decade earlier. And this time it was with the Cleveland Browns. Fate would have Bud open against his former mentor on the road at Three Rivers Stadium.

The Steelers fumbled on their first possession and the Browns returned it for a touchdown. Things went downhill after that, in an afternoon that saw Bubby Brister catch his own pass.

People took the game as a sign that Chuck Noll was done. It wouldn’t happen right away, but boy would the 1989 Steelers prove a lot of people wrong.

1992 – Dungy Triumphs in His Pittsburgh Home Coming

December 20th, 1992 @ Three Rivers Stadium
Minnesota 6, Pittsburgh 3

Tony Dungy of course played for Chuck Noll, and Chuck Noll not only gave him his first NFL coaching job, but made him the NFL’s first African American coordinator. Dungy was seen as heir apparent to Noll in many circles. But, after the 1988 Steelers disastrous defense Dungy resigned rather than accept a demotion.

Ironically, Dungy took a job as Bill Cowher’s secondary coach in Kansas City, but by 1992 he was back as a defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. While the Steelers managed to get Barry Foster his 100 yards, they couldn’t get it into the end zone and Dungy won his first game back at Three Rivers Stadium.

1996 – Dom Doesn’t Dominate, But Spoils Kordell’s Parade

December 22nd, 1996 @ Ericsson Stadium
Carolina 18, Pittsburgh 14

It only took Dom Capers three years as a defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh to land his first head coaching job. And he’d face his former mentor, Bill Cowher in the final game 1996.

The game was meaningless for Pittsburgh, as its playoff seeding was locked, but Bill Cowher tried it out in an attempt to test drive his secret weapon – putting Kordell Stewart under center as the full time quarterback.

Stewart didn’t start the game, but was inserted midway through, and while he threw over a dozen incomplete passes, he eventually started connecting with his wide out and burned the entire Panthers defense with an 80 yard touchdown scramble. Stewart would come with in a dropped touchdown pass as time expired of leading a comeback.

1998 – Dungy Dominates in the “Crying Game”

December 13th, 1998 @ Raymond James Stadium
Tampa Bay 16, Pittsburgh 3

By 1998 the Kordell Stewart roller coaster had soared to tremendous heights and was now locked in a serious decline. Save for a few games in the middle of the year, Kordell Stewart had struggled for the entire season, and after the Thanksgiving Day Coin Toss Disaster had led and inept offensive effort against New England.

This followed a rainy game in which Bill Cowher replaced an in effected Kordell Stewart with Mike Tomczak, followed by Kordell confronting his coach, only to be seen on the bench crying, and THEN reinserted into the game.

2005 – Steelers Backups Spoil Mularkey’s Starters Playoff Hopes

January 2nd, 2005 @ Ralph Wilson Stadium
Pittsburgh 29, Buffalo 24

The story of the 2004 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers was of course rookie Ben Roethlisberger. But Big Ben sat this one at as the 2004 Steelers already had home field advantage locked up.

  • Not so for former Steelers offensive coordinator Inspector Gadget, aka Mike Mularkey’s Buffalo Bills, who went into the game with their playoff hopes alive.

Alas, they were hoping in vain. Tommy Maddox would start for the Steelers, and together with Fast Willie Parker, the Steelers backups would defeat the Bills and keep them out of the playoffs.

2007 – Whisenhunt & Warner Get Better of Roethlisberger

September 30th, 2007 @ University of Phoenix Stadium
Arizona 21, Pittsburgh 14

When Bill Cowher resigned as Steelers head coach, the question most minds was whether the Rooneys would hire Ken Whisenhunt or Russ Grimm. Art II and Dan opted to do neither, and hired Mike Tomlin.

  • But that wasn’t the real story behind this matchup.

Ben Roethlisberger had made some seemingly disparaging comments about his former offensive coordinator, to the point where Mike Tomlin publicly admonished him that he should be excited “Simply because he’s playing a football game.”

Excited or not, Ken Whisenhunt platooned Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart to get the better of Roethlisberger in what would mark the first loss of the Mike Tomlin era.

2008 – Super Bowl XLIII – LeBeau Wins Chess Match with Whisenhunt

February 9th, 2009 @ Raymond James Stadium
Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23

The two sides would get a rematch less than 18 months later in Super Bowl XLIII. And by that time, all eyes were on the chess match between Dick LeBeau’s dominating 2008 Steelers defense and Ken Whisenhunt’s explosive offense featuring Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald.

While its true that last minute heroics from Ben Roehtlisberger and Santoino Holmes were needed to secure victory, those heorics were possible in part by Dick LeBeau’s defense in the form of the 99 yard pick six authored by James Harrison.

Note, that represented at least a 10 if not 14 point swing in the Steelers favor in a game decided by 4. So yes, Dick LeBeau won the chess match vs. Ken Whisenhunt.

2009 — Roethlisberger and Wallace over Green Bay, by a Nose

December 20th 2009 @ Heinz Field
Pittsburgh 37, Packers 36

By this point in time Dom Capers had had two unsuccessful runs as a head coach, but was back in the booth as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. But the Zone Blitz defensive model that Capers and pioneered with Dick LeBeau (and Marv Lewis) in the early 1990’s in Pittsburgh had gained traction throughout the league.

And the Steelers and Packers entered this game with two of the league’s top defenses which is ironic, because there was no defense to speak of in this game. The Steelers inability to stop the Packers aerial attack was such that Mike Tomlin ordered an on-sides kick late in the 4th quarter with the Steelers holding a two point lead, conceding that  the Steelers coudln’t stop them.

The Steelers couldn’t but got the ball back, as Ben Roethlisberger marched 86 yards in 2 minutes to make the game-winning throw to Mike Wallace with just 3 seconds remaining.

2015 – Bruce Arians Foiled by Landry and Martavis

October 18th, 2015 @ Heinz Field
Pittsburgh 25, Arizona 13

The story of Bruce Arians, Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II is well known, perhaps too well known for its own good. Bruce Arians “retirement” can be measured in days, if not hours, and when he returned to Heinz Field to face his former team, he brought a 4-1 record, a stealer defense, and was viewed as a Super Bowl favorite.

  • The Steelers, in contrast, were quarterbacked by backup Mike Vick, where on their 4th place kicker and decided underdogs.

Things appeared to go from bad to worse in the second half, when a scrambling Michael Vick left the game with an injury. In came Landry Jones, and most fans felt this spelled doom. But, supported by Le’Veon Bell’s rushing, Landry Jones quickly led the Steelers to a touchdown when he connected with Martavis Bryant in the end zone.

Although the two point conversion pass to Antonio Brown would fail, the Steelers would tack on two more Chris Boswell field goals, and were clinging to an 18 to 15 point lead at the two minute warning, when on second and 8 Jones hit a short pass to Bryant over the middle. Here’s what happened next:

Bruce Arians expression says it all! The Steelers beat the Cardinals 25-13.

 

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