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!

Deck the Broncos, They're Just Yoncos!

Although the Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 13-9 Sunday, the Baltimore win against the Cincinnati Bengals means that the Ravens earned the AFC North Division title and a first round bye. Therefore, the Steelers as a Wild Card will travel to Denver to face the Broncos next Sunday afternoon. Despite the fact that the Steelers were 12-4 on the season while Denver finished 8-8 with three straight losses, naturally, Steelers fans (including myself) may be worried. Here’s why:

- Injuries. Pro Bowlers QB Ben Roethlisberger & C Maurkice Pouncey aren’t close to 100% with ankle injuries. Meanwhile, starting RB Rashard Mendenhall may be out for the year with a knee injury and LaMarr Woodley’s hamstring has caused him to miss six of the last eight games.

- Ryan Clark had his spleen and gall bladder removed following a game in Denver a few years ago due to some type of reaction to the high altitude. Clark, another Pro Bowler, may not play at Denver

- Every NFL analyst/expert will pick Pittsburgh to win. Remember what happened last year when the 7-9 NFC West division champion Seattle Seahawks hosted the New Orleans Saints, the defending Super Bowl Champs? Denver will certainly have the "no one believes in us" mentality, and it's always possible (though unlikely) that some Pittsburgh players could be overconfident.

- Weather. It’s Denver in January, so who knows what could happen. Snow and wind could give the edge to the Broncos who have the best rushing team in the league. The Steelers are clearly a passing team now. Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris aren’t walking through that door!

With all of this written, the spirit of Myron Cope will be on the Steelers' side. Prior to the 1984 Steelers-Broncos first round playoff game in Denver, Cope created this Christmas song, and the Steelers won.

Congratulations Dick LeBeau!

I'm not sure that I've ever been this excited for someone to be enshrined into a Hall of Fame. After playing 14 seasons with the Detroit Lions accumulating 62 interceptions, third all-time among pure cornerbacks (think about how amazing that statistic is considering that passing is a much bigger part of the game than it was during LeBeau's playing days), and working as an NFL coach for over 35 years, including an extremely impressive run as the Steelers' Defensive Coordinator, LeBeau entering the NFL Hall of Fame is well-deserved.



Take a look at this historic day from around the country:

This is LeBeau's Hall of Fame speech. I wish that NFL.com would let me embed the video. [NFL.com]

Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis admires LeBeau [Cincinnati Enquirer]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; the Detroit Free Press; the Columbus Dispatch; and ESPN (the AFC North Blog) have more.

Plus, here are a few Tweets from members of the Pittsburgh Steelers:









OK, the last one doesn't have anything to do with Coach LeBeau, but I like Timmons' insights.

Photo by Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Athlete Twitter Updates

I joined Twitter a few months ago for the benefit of my blog. Specifically, I figured that I would share the thoughts of Pittsburgh athletes and coaches. This is my first post about such updates, so let’s see what famous Pittsburghers have to say:

Safety Ryan Clark was released by the Steelers on Thursday, and I really hoped the team would resign him. However, I'm sure that you'd much rather hear how this could impact the team from LB Lawrence Timmons than me. Let's see what he thinks about the team's decision.

Also check out new blog at my website www.timmons94.com
12:21 PM Dec 3rd, 2009 via web

Staying with the Steelers, there has been significant discussion recently about whether Willie Parker would become a free agent. (Sean's note: This was written on Thursday evening so Parker may very well be a free agent by the time this is posted.) What does his fellow RB Frank Summers think?

Vikings are coming to town. It should be fun to watch Brett hes a pretty good role model. Once againjust cheering....
6:29 PM Oct 21st, 2009

Pitt has had a remarkable season with a top 20 ranking despite losing four starters from last year's Elite Eight team. What does Coach Jamie Dixon think about the team's wins over Top 5 teams Syracuse, Villanova and WVU and last night's exciting game against Providence?

We are also holding the first Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair.
9:57 AM Oct 2nd, 2009 via web

Finally, did you ever wonder what Bubby Brister does on a day-to-day basis?

Denver camps were a lot of fun. Thanks to all those who came out both days. See you in 2010.
8:27 AM Jul 30th, 2009 via web

Perhaps, I should stop following these guys!

If you want to follow Pittsburgh athletes that actually update their Twitter accounts, I recommend visiting Mondesi's House for his Guide to Pittsburgh Sports Twitter. Plus, you can always follow me on Twitter though I'm hardly a Pittsburgh celebrity or athlete (or am I?).


Finally, if you haven't done so already, please enter the Ramblings Giveaway by clicking here or scrolling down to the next post.

Steelers-Broncos Live Blog

Join me and the guys from White Nerdy Wonks for a live blog of tonight's Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Bronocs game. I'm sure that we'll weigh in on the performance of Ziggy Hood, how Ryan "Steely" McBean managed to wind up as a starter in Denver, Ryan Clark's spleen, my mustache, fantasy football implications, and the current health care legislation. Well, maybe we won't touch on all of these topics, but we will discuss the game!

Santonio Holmes' Hyperbaric Chamber*

The big discussion surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers this week is whether or not Ryan Clark will play in Denver against the Broncos. Without going into the entire story here (since many of you probably already know about this), Clark nearly died from a reaction in his blood to the sickle cell caused by playing in the high elevation. The Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette asked WR Santonio Holmes about this since he also has the sickle-cell trait. While Holmes said that he'll be fine, this quote stood out for me:

"I have an oxygen chamber at home, a hyperbaric chamber at home, so I'll definitely, probably spend the rest of this week sleeping in it to get a feel for how it will be."

We'll skip the definitely, probably portion of the quote to focus on the hyperbaric chamber. Where does someone get one of these? If I installed a hyperbaric chamber in my condo and had it convey, could I significantly increase the asking price?



This doesn't look very comfortable, but perhaps Holmes has the best hyperbaric chamber on the market. He probably has a king-size version of the hyperbaric chamber with a built-in speaker system. I know that I would!


* This title could make for an excellent blog name.

Future Contest

Here's the deal: I have been contacted by Jordan who represents a company that sells 'Men's Watches' and possibly non-men's watches. If I provide a link to the company and a link to one of their watches (the CFM00001B), they will send me a watch (not the one in the link or picture) to give away. I'm skeptical but am living up to my part of bargain by posting this message in order to give back to you, my wonderful reader, I mean readers. If all goes well, there will be a fabulous contest soon.



While I may or may not receive a watch to give away, Cotter had the opportunity to interview Ryan Clark as part of a contest win a 46" LCD HDTV, Blu-ray Disc Player, Home Theater System, Notebook PC, Verizon FiOS Triple Play Service FREE for 12-months, and an Entertainment Center.

Advantage Cotter!

Super Bowl Game Day Links for Steelers Fans

Are you spending the day waiting for Super Bowl XLIII to begin? Here are some links, especially if you’re a Steelers fan, to help you pass the time until kick-off:

There is an incredible list of Steelers fight songs on the Steelers in Hoboken website. I’m still a huge fan of the Polamalu Song.

You can’t have a Steelers’ Super Bowl without hearing Myron Cope. This site has dozens of Cope quotes.

The New York Times and ESPN both have wonderful articles about the history and legacy of the Terrible Towel.

Michael Wilbon wrote a nice article about Dan Rooney. I love Ryan Clark’s quote comparing Rooney to Washington owner Dan Snyder:

"I'm not saying one way is better than another," Clark said, "But you're standing in line to get lunch, and you have to force him to go ahead of you. He sat at my bedside when I was sick [in the hospital]. He's a fascinating guy. He drives a Grand Prix. I can't help but compare it to Dan Snyder's driver and limousine, and the helicopter he'd land at practice. My first reaction to being around Mr. Rooney was, 'He must not know he's rich.'"

Don’t forget that the Puppy Bowl airs today at 3:00 on Animal Planet with a kitten half-time show. Jessie Dinh, Discovery Studios producer, took questions and comments about Puppy Bowl V in a Washington Post discussion on Friday. Plus, check out PSAMP's live-blog of this event.

Cotter of One For the Other Thumb asked Steeler fans where they are watching game. Here is my response:

When the playoffs began three years ago, we agreed to host a Super Bowl party for a group of friends. The Steelers were the #6 seed and seemed to have little chance of reaching the Super Bowl especially since the Indianapolis Colts dominated the league during the regular season. About a month later, the Steelers defeated the Broncos and were headed to Detroit. Since we had already agreed to host a party, we didn't want to break our plans. We had 3 or 4 other couples at our home, and I was the only person who truly followed the Steelers. There were a couple people with Pittsburgh ties who rooted for the Steelers to win and a few others that wanted the Steelers to win because they wanted me to be in a good mood. However, there was one person at the party who was a Redskins fan. He openly supported the Seahawks because he felt that Seattle winning would look better for the Redskins, who lost to the Seahawks earlier in the playoffs. I still don't understand the logic behind this. I should note that although I did not kick him out of my home during the game, we are not friends anymore. I'm not sure if I've even talked to him since that night.

So now that the Steelers are back in the Super Bowl, I've had a bit of a dilemma about where to watch the game this year. I thought about going back to Pittsburgh but I really can't take off time from work since I have a big conference coming up and just took the hockey road trip vacation. We could host again but I don't want to deal with making sure everyone has enough food and drink while trying to watch the game. So instead, we are going over to our friends' house. There will be about 10 people there, and although no else is really a Steelers fan, they are all football fans. They understand the importance the Steelers have in my life, and the hosts have already assured me that no one will be rooting for the Cardinals. While ideally I'd like to watch the game with only Steelers fans, I'm going to watch the game with close friends which is all anyone can ask for.

Plus, I'm sure I'll be on the phone with my dad and brother throughout the game.


Mondesi’s House has had amazing pictures of Steelers fans and Terrible Towels around the world throughout the week.

The Post-Gazette’s Brian O’Neill compares Pittsburgh fans and Arizona fans.

The Baltimore Sun writes about Steeler Nation.

I participated in a Super Bowl preview round table on MVN.

I generally like the Cardinals because Steve Breaston went to my high school (go Woodland Hills) and I watched Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt. However, here is a reason to hate the team (h/t Courtney via The Terrible Blog)



Finally, the local NBC station interviewed the President of DC Steeler Nation. If they want a true taste of Steelers fans in the area, the station should have a camera at the Pour House tonight.



GO STEELERS!

Steelers-Titans Thoughts

- Just for a little perspective, over the past four games, the Steelers won at New England, against Dallas and at Baltimore before losing Sunday at a 13-2 Tennessee team. If someone told you before stretch that the Steelers would go 3-1, I think you would be happy.

- As for Sunday’s game, way too many turnovers for the Steelers. The Roethlisberger fumble inside the Titans' 5 was crucial. Even if the Steelers get a field goal there, it’s a different game.

- What was the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when the Titans were preparing for a field goal attempt near the end of the third quarter? Who was it against?

- Do we have a running game? Stop with the draw/delay plays to Parker.

- Cleveland got shut out by the Bengals today as Ryan Fitzpatrick threw only 9 passes and Cedric Benson had 38 rushes for 171 yards. If the Steelers can't run against the Browns next week, we're going to be in trouble in the playoffs.

- I think we've been spoiled over the past month or so by all of the turnovers and sacks by the Steelers defense. Only one sack today and the Titans had no turnovers.

- It also seemed like LenDale White and Chris Johnson had holes to run through all game, particularly in the second half.

- I hope Ryan Clark is OK. He, along with James Farrior, is the most underrated player on the Steelers' defense.

- Mitch Berger had a punting average of 44 yards on his 5 punts. I guess that means he keeps his job for another week.

- Justin Gage (!) had over 100 receiving yards.

- Keith Bulluck of the Titans was showing off some Terrible Towel rip-off at the end of the game.

- In addition, LenDale White and I believe Jevon Kearse stomped on a Terrible Towel as shown in the video below. What class! Disrespecting and stomping on a Terrible Towel is on the same level as desecrating the American flag. I'm completely serious about this as a portion of the proceeds from the sale of The Terrible Towel benefits the Allegheny Valley School in Pittsburgh, one of the largest providers of care for people with mental retardation in the state of Pennsylvania. All I can write is Karma.



I'd love to see the Steelers get a rematch against the Titans on January 18!


- In other Sunday news, everyone, including big, fat Tony Siragusa just minutes before kick-off, said that the weather was going to be terrible in New England. Therefore, I benched QB Matt Cassel in my fantasy league championship and started Chad Pennington instead. So of course, Cassel throws for 300+ yards and three touchdowns. Oh, Kurt Warner was removed in the third quarter after going 6-18 for 30 yards. Matt Cassel was still throwing the ball into the fourth quarter and wasn't taken out until New England was up 47-0. Another reason to hate Belichick. Although Pennington had a great game, Cassel scored 9 more points than Chad.

- When will Randy Johnson, aka The Big Unit, guest star on CBS’ The Unit?

- Finally, I’m a big fan of James Brown, the broadcaster, not the singer. (Actually, I like the singer too, but that’s not what I’m writing about.) However, I hate the way he throws the highlights to Shannon Sharpe. I’m going to have nightmares tonight hearing "Shannon" over and over again.

Steelers-Giants Recap

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a lead late in the fourth quarter at home and lost. Ben Roethlisberger was sacked five times, hit at least another dozen times and threw four interceptions. The team was 1 for 10 on third down, 0 for 4 on fourth down and had 8 penalties for 59 yards, many of them pretty stupid penalties. Plus, the Steelers defense who led the league in sacks coming into the game, failed to register a sack and rarely put pressure on Eli Manning. It was clearly not one of their best games.

However, let’s take a step back and put everything into perspective. The Steelers are 5-2 and have a one game lead over Baltimore, who they already defeated, in the AFC North. The 5-2 record is tied for second best in the AFC with New England and Buffalo behind only the undefeated Tennessee Titans. The Steelers are 5-0 against AFC teams, a very important playoff tie-breaker, which along with the Titans, is the best in the conference. Yes, the team has some work to do, but there’s no need to panic...yet.

A few thoughts from the game:

- Why was Dick Stockton so concerned about players getting out of bounds early in the game? Twice in the first half (Heath Miller’s catch on the first drive and Carey Davis’ catch with 12+ minutes left in the second quarter), Stockton stated that the Steelers failed to get out of bounds after making a catch.

- Ryan Clark and Brett Kiesel both played amazing games.

- Stupid Toyota commercial. I’m going to have "save by zero" in my head all day.

- Nate Washington has turned into an extremely solid receiver.

- The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror XIX" looks really good. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve seen the whole episode already during all of Fox’s commercials.

- Am I the only person wondering why Justin Hartwig, the Steelers’ starting center, wasn’t able to serve as the back-up long-snapper? Doesn’t Hartwig make a living snapping the ball and then blocking the guy in front of him?

- Can the Steelers have another bye week? I’m writing this on Sunday night, so I don’t know the health status of Ryan Clark, Greg Warren, Mitch Berger and any other Steeler. Regardless, with Willie Parker and Bryant McFadden already out, it seems like the team could use a week off to get healthy.

I will be at FedEx Field for next week’s Steelers-Redskins game. If I was told that the Steelers could only win one of these two games against the Giants and Redskins, I would gladly take a Steelers win against Washington.

More about the game is available on the Post-Gazette website.