Steelers Coaching Candidates

With Mike Tomlin resigning, the Steelers are looking for a new head coach for the first time since 2007. In case you're wondering, yes, I wrote about the Steelers hiring Mike Tomlin back then since this blog is old! There is a lot of speculation about potential candidates to be the fourth head coach of the Steelers since 1969. I'm here to add to that speculation! Some of these people listed below are legitimate candidates. Some are not. In any event, I hope that you enjoy this.

(The picture above is from a much younger Mike Tomlin when I compared his expression to a Game of Thrones character.)

Many people are clamoring for someone associated with the Indiana University football team to take over in Pittsburgh. While you probably believe that I'm writing about current IU coach Curt Cignetti, who turned arguably the worst major football program in college football history into a national championship contender and someone born in Pittsburgh, worked at Pitt, and got his first head coaching job at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), I'm looking at someone else. 

Antwaan Randle El 

Randle El is one of the best players in IU history, but he also played five seasons for the Steelers. More importantly, he served as an offensive assistant in Tampa for two years (and got a championship as a coach when the Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV), held the wide receiver coaching position with the Detroit Lions for 4 years, and is now the wide receivers / assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears. He's a winner and has had success in all of coaching stops. El Yeah!  Oh, he also did this.

Hines Ward

Currently, the Associate Head Coach and Wide Receivers Coach at Arizona State University. He previously worked for the Steelers, Jets, and at Florida Atlantic University. A 3-7 record as the head coach for the XFL's San Antonio Brahmas is a little concerning. Oh, he also did the thing in the video above.

Danny Smith

Big Gum has been patient, lurking in the background of the NFL. They have a stronghold in baseball, where major league dugouts universally have large containers of gum. Big Gum may feel that the time is right to make its mark in America's biggest sport. The poster person to represent Big Gum is clearly Danny Smith. He's also from Pittsburgh and graduated from Central Catholic High School.

Cam Heyward

The Steelers could make history by becoming the first team in the modern NFL to have its head coach also be an active player. And who better to do that than Cam Heyward. Seems highly regarded and well respected by his teammates. He's a leader. Curly Lambeau and George Halas were successful in both roles with the Packers and Bears respectfully in the 1920s. Let's try it again for the 2020s! (Tom Landry and Dan Reeves were both players / assistant coaches, and they both did pretty well too.)

Larry Foote

Current run game coordinator / outside linebacker coach for Tampa. Definitely seeing a trend of former Steelers who go to Tampa to coach. More importantly, I get to share this picture again!

Byron Leftwich

Former Steelers QB who won a Super Bowl as the offensive coordinator in Tampa (again!). He deserved to be a head coach then. It seems like he worked for Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado last season, but he’s not listed as part of the coaching staff on Colorado's website, and there were reports that he may have been a volunteer. For once, the internet is not really clear on if or when he was employed at Colorado.

Joey Porter, Sr.

Thanks to drawing a personal foul penalty on Adam "Pacman" Jones, he helped the Steelers win a playoff game against the Bengals. (Many people may remember the two personal foul penalties to essentially seal the game for the Steelers, but the entire last few minutes of this game were absolutely bonkers.) 

(Sorry - You have to watch the video of the end of the January 2016 Steelers-Bengals playoff game on YouTube. Won't let me embed it here.)

Cedrick Wilson

I have no idea what Wilson is up to, but I feel like he needs to be included here since he was also a wide receiver on the Super Bowl XL winning team with Ward and Randle El. Don't want him feeling left out.

Ryan Clark

He's good on TV. While that means absolutely nothing, he and Pittsburgh broadcasting legend Sally Wiggin seem to have mutual admiration for each other, so that counts for something.

Bill Cowher

Bring back the Hall of Fame coaching legend from retirement. Plus, if he wins a Super Bowl in the first few years, we can all say that he won with Tomlin's players!

Am I missing other legitimate candidates? Absolutely. Is it more fun to write a post about people with Pittsburgh ties? Also absolutely!  Here We Go!

Pittsburgh South

Many Pittsburgh sports fans are rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs to win the upcoming Super Bowl. Sure, part of this is because KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes is likable, so fun to watch, and appears in commercials with Steelers legend Troy Polamalu. 

However, the bigger reason some Steelers fans will support KC is because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers employ the most decorated QB in NFL history (and frequent Steelers tormentor) Tom Brady and former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Although Brown was arguably the best WR in the NFL over the last decade, let's just write that he did not depart from Pittsburgh and Steelers on the best of terms.

Have you looked at the Tampa Bay organization though? And yes, I'm talking to Pittsburgh sports fans here. If you did, you'll see a lot of familiar names. Let's start with the obvious. Head coach Bruce Arians served as the Steelers wide receivers coach from 2004-2006 and offensive coordinator ("OC") from 2007-2011. The Steelers reached the Super Bowl twice when Arians was the OC, winning the title in the 2008 season. Then, after the 2011 season, he "retired." I still don't think the retirement was fully explained as he joined the Indianapolis Colts the next season.

Looking at the roster, there are several players with Pittsburgh or Western Pennsylvania ties. The biggest name is obviously fellow Woodland Hills High School graduate Rob Gronkowski. Gronk and I have a lot in common besides graduating from the same high school. Gronk is going to be in the NFL Hall of Fame. I've visited the NFL Hall of Fame. Gronk appeared on The Masked Singer and CBS' Game On! I've watched both of those shows. I mean, there's a lot more, but I'm getting off topic.

Starting safety Jordan Whitehead is from Monaca and had a successful career at the University of Pittsburgh. While LeSean McCoy is now a back-up and hasn't played much this year, Pitt fans will also remember him well as part of an excellent crop of running backs in Panthers history. Deep on the depth chart is WR Justin Watson who went to South Fayette High School. And reserve cornerback Russ Cockrell played two years for the Steelers. Oh, and while not Pittsburgh, WR Chris Godwin, tackle Donovan Smith, and center A.Q. Shipley (though on injured reserve) went to Penn State. This matters to a lot of people in Western PA.

You're not convinced yet. I get it. Well, let's look at the coaching staff.

- Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich played 4 seasons as the Steelers back-up QB. I've always had a soft spot for Leftwich. When I attended the Steelers-Washington Football Team game in 2008, Leftwich led the Steelers to victory after Roethlisberger got injured. I also love the video of his Marshall offensive linemen carrying him down the field when he basically played on one leg. You want to play for or with Byron Leftwich!

- Assistant Head Coach / Running Back Coordinator Harold Goodwin worked with Arians as an offense assistant with the Steelers from 2007-2011.

- Offensive Assistant Antwaan Randle El was the most exciting offensive player on the Steelers over the last 20 years. You never knew what could happen when he had the ball.

- Defensive/Special Teams Assistant Cody Grimm. This one is a bit of a stretch since I'm not sure how much time Grimm spent in Pittsburgh. However, his dad Russ was the Steelers offensive line coach for five seasons and was part of some elite Pitt teams in the late 70s and 1980.

- Outside Linebackers coach Larry Foote played 11 seasons with the Steelers. He was so solid, dependable, and a team leader. He was also part of one of my favorite post-Super Bowl pictures.

- (I missed this one before.) Safeties coach Nick Rapone is from New Castle, was a grad assistant at Pitt in 1979-80, coached at Pitt in 1989-1992, and worked at New Castle High School in 1993-1994.

- The final Pittsburgh connection is a bit surprising. Tampa's Speed & Conditioning Coach is two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom. How would you like to be coached by arguably the greatest 110m hurdler of all time? Oh, he's also a Pitt graduate.

Look, I understand that the dislike of Brady and Brown is strong. However, if the Bucs win, I think you can be happy for all of these other people with Pittsburgh connections.

Donald Trump & Celebrity Indiana Endorsements

I promise that this post isn't too political. I went out on Monday night to play trivia and to watch game three of the Pens-Caps series. The restaurant also showed several baseball games, and there was one small TV airing Fox News. At one point, I glanced over and saw a headline about Trump and Cruz arguing over Mike Tyson's endorsement. I admit that I was intrigued by this storyline but not enough to watch it or even to try to find out more about this later.

Earlier in the day, though, I saw this video of East Liverpool, Ohio native and former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz endorsing Donald Trump:

Honored to have received the endorsement of Lou Holtz - a great guy! #INPrimary #Trump2016 pic.twitter.com/AeGyODb37O

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2016

I'm not sure how operating hotels and golf courses helps you be President (maybe North Korea will stop trying to make nuclear weapons in exchange for a Trump golf course and resort in Pyongyang?), but that's not the point of this post. Former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight and former Purdue University basketball coach Gene Keady also endorsed Trump. I'm not sure if this was devised by the Trump campaign or if Holtz, Knight, and Keady are all really enthusiastic supporters of Trump, but the leading Republican candidate now has the endorsements of three of the most popular people in Indiana. (Apparently, Knute Rockne is a John Kasich guy, but hasn't come out publicly to endorse him.)

It seems to me that Trump is close to locking down Indiana in part due to these endorsements. However, to really clinch a victory, Trump should make sure to gain endorsements from a popular Indy car driver (is there still a Rahal or Andretti around?), Andrew Luck, Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Antwaan Randle El, and most importantly, Larry Bird.

Of course, Trump probably shouldn't mention on the campaign trail that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady supports him. That won't go over well in Indiana.

Steelers-Browns Recap with TV Notes

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers on winning the AFC North division and earning a first round playoff bye by defeating the Cleveland Browns 41-9. It’s rare for an NFL game to be decided less than one minute into the game, but that essentially happened on Sunday. Troy Polamalu intercepted Colt McCoy on the Browns second offensive play, and the Steelers quickly responded on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. As usual, I have some thoughts about the game and the commercials.

- How did the Browns not realize that the Steelers were going to throw a deep pass to Wallace immediately after the interception? Did they not watch film on the Steelers this season? Everyone at the bar knew Roethlisberger was going deep to Wallace.

- Former Steelers running back Willie Parker was also known as “Fast” Willie Parker. Mike Wallace is faster than Parker ever was, but we don’t seem to call him “Fast” Mike Wallace. This should change. On Twitter yesterday, Cotter suggested Maverick because he "obviously has a need for speed and he flies."

- Cleveland coach Eric Mangini (remember when he was Man-genius?) deserves to be fired simply for his decision to kick a field goal down 14-0 early in the second quarter. The Browns had the ball on Pittsburgh’s 2 yard-line and this move showed that he quit.

- I was also curious about Cleveland’s offensive strategy to start the game. RB Peyton Hillis has been fantastic for the Browns; however, the team decided to run a spread offense during the first few series with Hillis on the sidelines.

- Miller Lite shows a series of commercials where guys either wearing dragon clothes or a “European Man Thong” asks for a light beer. I rarely go to bars anymore, but since when do people order a light beer? Don’t people order a specific brand or the special? I’ve also never seen a bartender ask “More Taste or Less Taste?” followed by the patron saying that he doesn’t care.



- Until watching the game yesterday, I didn't realize that Maurkice Pouncey is the first Steelers rookie to make the Pro Bowl since Kendrell Bell. In a related note, who wants to buy my Kendrell Bell jersey? Did you know that he was the last Steelers rookie to make the Pro Bowl? That's got to make the jersey worth at least $50.

- CBS apparently introduces a brand new Early Show cast today. While I don’t know anyone that watches Early Show and I’m not sure that the new folks will impact ratings, I will give CBS credit for hiring Marysol Castro formerly of Good Morning America Weekend. After Tony Perkins returned to DC, ABC made a poor decision in selecting Sam Champion as the main GMA weather guy over Castro.



- Possibly overlooked in the Steelers dominating performance on Sunday was the fact that the offensive line did not allow a sack when Roethlisberger was the QB and that they had only 3 penalties for 25 yards, none in the first half.

- Dear Lexus: If you have a promotion called December to Remember Sales Event, and it is now January, you should either stop running these commercials or change the name.

- There’s a new Nicolas Cage movie coming out on Friday called Season of the Witch. It doesn’t look very good. When was the last good Nicolas Cage movie with him as the #1 star? Adaptation in 2002? Do we have to go back to Face/Off, Con Air, The Rock or Leaving Las Vegas from the mid to late-1990s?

- I really liked the play call to have Randle El throw the ball in the red zone which turned into a TD pass to Hines Ward. I guarantee that the Steelers will use a similar formation in a playoff game, faking the ball to Randle El causing several defenders to go to ARE and leaving someone else open.

- Who is the band in the Hyundai Holiday commercials? We’re about to start a search for a new car, and I may avoid Hyundai simply because I am sick of these commercials.

So now the Steelers have a week off before facing the Colts, Chiefs or Ravens on Saturday, January 15th. I hope the Steelers enjoy the well-deserved rest.

Steelers-Bengals Video Recap

Here's all that you need to know about yesterday's Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game in several videos.

Down 7-0 with a fairly ineffective offense, the Steelers needed a spark. Enter Troy Polamalu.



With the game tied at 7, Pittsburgh got the ball at their own 20 with 2:21 left in the first half. Pittsburgh moved the ball to the Bengals' 40 when Antwaan Randle El made the big catch below. This led to a Shaun Suisham field goal to give the Steelers a 10-7 halftime lead.



The Steelers had a nice 15-play, 50-yard, 9:22 drive that extended from the third quarter into the fourth. The drive was highlighted by Hines Ward's 29-yard catch on 2nd and 30.



Although the Steelers didn't score on the drive, new punter Jeremy Kapinos pinned the Bengals on their 10 yard line. On the first play of the series, Carson "Mr. Pick Six" Palmer found LaMarr Woodley. The results were not very good for Cincinnati.



Honestly, this was pretty much the game. Suisham kicked another field goal and Polamalu had another interception which gave the Steelers a 23-7 victory. James Farrior, Ryan Clark, and Brett Keisel all had very solid games. Plus, remember how Terrell Owens had 10 catches, 141 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Steelers in week 9? Credit Dick LeBeau and the Steelers secondary to holding TO to only 1 catch for 22 yards.

Although this has nothing to do with the Steelers game, I can't stop watching this video of snow falling in the Metrodome as the roof collapses.



Next week: the New York Jets.

2009-2010 Steelers Predictions

The NFL season (finally) officially begins tonight when the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers face the Tennessee Titans. As a preview of the 2009-2010 season, I decided to ask some of my favorite Steeler fan bloggers their predictions for the season. Unfortunately, they did not reply. Instead, here are the predictions from other folks! (A little humor for you!)

Before we begin, here are your fine panels of experts:

* drinkyourmilkshake of Behind the Steel Curtain
* Phil of Phil's Occasional Musings
* Michael Rizzo of Rizzo Sports (and the Rizzo Sports Blog)
* Messiah of White Nerdy Wonks
* Donald of Steelers Today
* Marc of White Nerdy Wonks
* Steve of Steve Is Alive
* Gobo of White Nerdy Works
* Sean of Sean's Ramblings (That's me!)
* Rob of The Bluey Blog

1. Number of sacks James Harrison will have this season.

DYM - 16, also the number of babies he will eat this season.
Phil - 15, though a few of them might be questionable when the QB falls down and covers his head as Silverback speeds toward him.
Michael - 17, He'll battle with Timmons of the team lead.
Messiah - He and Woodley will flip-flop on who is able to get to the QB more often. Let's go with 12 sacks for Harrison.
Donald - If the refs continue to let offensive linemen hold Harrison on every play, he'll have 18 sacks. If they don't allow him to be held, he'll have 79 sacks.
Marc - 19.5
Steve - 12 for James. Woodley leads the team with 15.5 this year!
Gobo - 12.5
Sean - 14
Rob - 23, breaking Michael Strahan's record.

2. Limas Sweed's numbers (catches, yards & touchdowns).

DYM - 25 catches, 400 yards, 5 touchdowns.
Phil - 45, 750, 7
Michael - 52 / 10 - He'll be the favorite receiver near the End Zone
Messiah - Limas will have a year reminiscent of Nate Washington two years ago. 30 catches, 450 yards, 5 TDs.
Donald - As longs as it's more than last year, I'll be happy. Ummmmm, except drops. I want to see less of those.
Marc - 30, 350, 2
Steve - 34 grabs. 765 yards 4 TD's. I think that is fair?!?!
Gobo - 45 catches, 625 yards, 5 TD
Sean - 35 catches, 475 yards, 4 TDs. Solid numbers for a 4th receiver (I'm considering Heath as #3).
Rob - Do you mean butterfingers? No more than 10 catches, 1 TD and 150 yards. Yeah, I'm serious.



3. Stefan Logan: Reminds me of Antwaan Randle El as a Steeler; Greatest returner in team history; or Another Allen Rossum? (Sean's note: This was a poorly formed question as I was only referring to Logan as a returner)

DYM - Better than Randle-El, easily gets in the end-zone at least three times this season.
Phil - I hope he's another Antwaan Randle-El. We're going to need a guy like that to compete in the new "all-Wildcat, all the time" NFL of 2009.
Michael - He'll be good.
Messiah - Too early to tell. I'd say he's not quite Twaan, but certainly better than Colclough.
Donald - I predict that Logan will become the greatest 5'7" returner in team history.
Marc - El, yeah
Steve - I think he will be in the middle. Randle El was one of a kind and contributed more on offense than Logan will (or is expected to). However, I do expect MANY game changing plays from the pint sized CFL star.
Gobo - Better than Rossum, not quite Randle-El because he can’t QB. I’ll go with 2 return TDs this year, with another 6 called back for holding.
Sean - I love any professional athlete that is the same height as me! He'll be solid and will finish 3rd in the AFC in average punting return yards with 2 TDs.
Rob - He's the real deal and will finally make us forget Randle El.

4. Will Jeff Reed be arrested during the season?

DYM - Perhaps if Chris Hanson starts "To Catch a Predator" back up.
Phil - Only by drunken, curvaceous women in Strip District bars.
Michael - Arrested - NO, he plays for the Steelers, which means people will go out of their way not to arrest him. He has a much better chance of being a honorary Allegheny County Sheriff, or being named ambassador to Luxembourg.
Messiah - Depends on how well the ball boys keep the towel dispenser stocked in the clubhouse
Donald - No. However, he will get several under-aged girls pregnant and secretly pay for them to have abortions.
Marc - No, during the off season
Steve - Only if Sheetz is out of paper towels again.......
Gobo - No, but shortly thereafter.
Sean - Some civil lawsuits, but no arrests.
Rob - Once, for drunk and disorderly conduct.



5. Who will lead the team in touchdowns scored?

DYM - Santonio Holmes
Phil - Santonio Holmes
Michael - Parker
Messiah - Willie Parker
Donald - Hines Ward. Or Willie Parker. Or Rashard Mendenhall. Or Santonio Holmes. Or Heath Miller. Or Frank Summers. Or.......Ummm, how many guesses do I get?
Marc - Holmes
Steve - William Parker. I guarantee a BIG season for # 39.
Gobo - Holmes
Sean - Fast Willie Parker with 10 TDs. I should have drafted him in one of my fantasy leagues!
Rob - Rashard Mendenhall

6. Season prediction (please include the team record) + Any other thoughts/predictions:

DYM - The Steelers will be awesome, #1 defense, top 10 offense, and another SB run. 13-3 record.

Phil - 11-5, AFC North champions. It's extraordinarily difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champions. I think we're going to have another good year and win the division but lose a close-game heartbreaker in the playoffs. Maybe that's just what I'm used to as a fan. Despite our success, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have something to complain about when it comes to the Steelers.

Michael - 15-1 - The Steelers have a great chance to go undefeated. The Steelers should win another Super Bowl, if they get by Tennessee on Thursday, their only stumbling block to an undefeated season might be the Detroit [game].

Messiah - Willie Parker has a return to 2006 greatness, starts all 16 games, finishes in the top 3 in rushing, and will actually make people sad when he leaves after the season. Steelers lose to the Ravens at least once, go 12-4 (losses to Titans, Vikings, Ravens, Dolphins in meaningless last week), but win division due to Ravens' tougher schedule. Will get playoff bye, but facing Colts and Pats in back-to-back weeks could prove too tough, when the regular season schedule was relatively conflict-free.

Donald - 13-3. AFC North champs. AFC champs. Super Bowl champs.

Marc - 12-4 with some distance in the playoffs. Plus, Browns go 0&16

Steve - Take a look at the schedule again - there is no reason why the Steelers can't repeat as AFC North Champions. They play the entire AFC West (Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers), the Lions, and the Browns twice - that is 7 wins right there, with the Chargers being the toughest game. I honestly truly believe (fan bias aside) the Steelers will go 13-3 and return to the Super Bowl. "Big Play" Willie Gay is going to have a breakout season and will lead the team in INT's.

Gobo - 12-4, win AFC North, #2 seed, have to go to Foxboro for the AFC Championship game. I’m not predicting that game because I’m afraid to predict a win, but
It’s too depressing to predict a loss. If they make it to the SB, they win. Lawrence Timmons will have at least 10 sacks and turnovers (INT or FF) combined.

Sean - 12-4 and another division title. I don't want to make any predictions about the playoffs since I may need to do a similar post in January! In addition, instead of the Summer of George, this will be the Fall of Sepulveda!

Rob - 12-4. Steelers beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl XLIV

Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments section.


I also asked these questions to The Restaurant Refugee, and though he declined to make specific predictions, he shared this amazing story from a trip to training camp and meeting Mean Joe Greene.



As a native Washingtonian, it is frequently assumed that I am a fan of the hometown squad*. I take particular pride in resolving this misconception by stating “I am a Pittsburgh Steeler fan by birth and the grace of God.” My father was born in Pittsburgh and the first thing he taught me about football was “you love the Steelers… this is a football.”

As children, my sister and I went to training camps to see our heroes up close. One day my sister had to use the restroom as the practice was breaking. I got to meet Mean Joe Greene, and got him to autograph my jersey. My sister got a wait for the bathroom. Of course, I teased her about her poorly timed bladder and my good fortune. She wrote MJG a letter explaining what happened. He replied with a personal and hand-written note which read:

Nina,
Thanks for being my number one fan. I am sorry that I didn’t get to meet you on your last visit. I hope these tickets** make up for it. I’ll see you in the stands.
Best Wishes,
Mean Joe Greene

As if this incredibly gracious gesture weren’t enough, Mr. Greene had his letter laminated onto a piece of wood with an autographed picture. It hung in my sister’s room until she bought her own place where it hangs prominently in her living room. I’m not sure where my jersey is.

Regarding this season, my best guess is that the Steelers get back to the playoffs with a first round bye. Beyond that, I have no predictions. I am comforted by the fact that neither the Cowboys nor the Niners are going to get anywhere near a sixth ring this year. We got six and the rest of the league can suck it until somebody else gets there too.

* I cannot believe that in the year 2009 we have a team in the NFL that still bears a name as patently racist and clearly offensive as the moniker of the Washington franchise.

** Tickets were to a game lost to the Bengals but who cares it was still an incredible thing to have done – and yes, we all got to meet him afterwards.


Finally, there will be a live blog here of tonight's Steelers-Titans game. Feel free to add your thoughts while watching the game. Go Steelers!