Tomlin is keeping the whole staff - I guess everything is great, then

[Diamond Dave]

Tomlin plans to bring entire staff back for next season

By Scott Brown (sbrown@tribweb.com)
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Mike Tomlin said at his final news conference of the season that he plans to bring his entire coaching staff back for the 2008 season.

The Steelers' struggled along the offensive line and on special teams, leading to speculation that Tomlin might make some changes.


"At this point my intention is to keep the staff intact," Tomlin said today at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "Generally I'm pleased with our staff."


The Steelers' special teams were a problem all season, and Tomlin said he will "leave no stone unturned" in turning the unit into a "great" one.

Tomlin said special teams had been one of his biggest concerns because the Steelers had lost "core" guys such as Sean Morey, Mike Logan and James Harrison from previous years.

Harrison didn't play as much on special teams this season because he became the starter at right outside linebacker.

[Steelers.exe]

Fucking lovely. :rolleyes:

[Steel Dino]

I am really starting to get the feelin' that Pittsburgh........................................ ...........................
will be the next years AFC Norths version of the 2007 Balitmore Ravens...

[THE flafan]

[SIZE=4]

"[B]At this point my intention is to keep the staff intact," Tomlin said today at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "Generally I'm pleased with our staff."





operative phrase

[BAS]

After listening to the press conference, he didn't announce any coaching changes but it sounded like he left the door open for them.

But it did sound like he was giving the coaches the benefit of the doubt and putting a lot of emphasis on the players performances - especially on ST where he suggested the personnel turnover was a root cause of their preseason focus.

Bad omens if you ask me.

[Hines57]

The honeymoon is over. Tomlin needs to get in someone's ass for the shitty special teams play.

[BillvinCowbert]

Well, Cowher was going to keep the coaching staff intact and then a few week later, Tim Lewis was fired.

I'm *hoping* that Tomlin is simply trying to avoid making a rash decision. Maybe he thinks that any kind of decision of that nature requires some additional time to review the season. Bottom line, Lig's history was NOT good, the team was supposedly focused on ST, and they were still awful. There is nothing to indicate that he CAN do the job better. I still think he ends up unemployed.

[ColdGinAgain]

I'm kinda thinking we should have hired Grimm. Arians.. OK, fine, he gets a one year pass because our O was pretty productive when Ben wasn't on his ass. But Ligashitface... no way. Special teams were beyond horrible.

Tomlin just lost A LOT of credibility with me.

[BAS]

I hope Tomlin proves to be a man of his word with his "show me" argument.

Ligasheshky "showed" absolutely nothing in improving special teams and should be "shown" the door.

[Tres Rios]

IF he makes no changes and the OL and ST suck again next season and (hopefully not) we say, finish 9-7 or worse, it will be his ass in the hot seat, not Arians or Ligawhatever.

[BermudaSteel]

"At this point my intention is to keep the staff intact," Tomlin said today at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "Generally I'm pleased with our staff."


The Steelers' special teams were a problem all season, and Tomlin said he will "leave no stone unturned" in turning the unit into a "great" one...

No fixee equals 6 winnies...

Excuse me....


BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFF!!!!!

[Rambo steel]

IF he makes no changes and the OL and ST suck again next season and (hopefully not) we say, finish 9-7 or worse, it will be his ass in the hot seat, not Arians or Ligawhatever.

Exactly. Not giving at least Lig the boot would be a big mistake for Tomlin, IMO.

[Steelersrule]

Exactly. Not giving at least Lig the boot would be a big mistake for Tomlin, IMO.

Lets start the Bill Cowher back to the Steelers in 2009 rumors now

[Irv24]

Can someone tell me the last time the Steelers special teams were above average?

[Sluzilla]

need a new ST coach for sure...other than that...a good fundamentals coach...which was most of what we were missing...

[Coryea]

Can someone tell me the last time the Steelers special teams were above average?

They weren't that bad in 04 or 05 were they?

[Sean]

Why isn't Larry Zierling's name being brought up as often as Bob Ligashesky's?

I'd say they were at least equally awful, which then makes this news of Mike Tomlin keeping the staff intact painful to hear.

[Stlrbum]

I don't think Tomlin was going to fire anyone after just 1 year as head coach. How many times did we want Cowher to fire someone on his staff only to have them stay around? Point is we fans don't always get what we want? While I am not happy with the ST and some of Arians play calls I am willing to give them 1 more year and see if some new players can fix the problems. The person in my opinion that needs to go is Zierlein. It's apparent the players don't respect him. When you have players blatantly refusing to use what you teach them there is a problem.

[Milkman Dan]

Can someone tell me the last time the Steelers special teams were above average?

I think this years special teams were no worse than last years. Hell, Most of Jeff's kickoffs went past the 10 yard line. Some even went into the end zone.

[Aries1247]

I... uh... I... just..... I got nothin. Refuckingmarkable.

[Ghost of Frenchy Fuqua]

Why isn't Larry Zierling's name being brought up as often as Bob Ligashesky's?...

It's spelled Zierlein, and despite what Tomlin said, I think both are on the hot seat (as they should be)...

[Vis Major]

"At this point my intention is to keep the staff intact," Tomlin said today at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "Generally I'm pleased with our staff."




flafan was ignored so I'm quoting it again.

Tomlin dodged the question. Give him time to go over the season.

[dobre shunka]

Well, Cowher was going to keep the coaching staff intact and then a few week later, Tim Lewis was fired.

I'm *hoping* that Tomlin is simply trying to avoid making a rash decision. Maybe he thinks that any kind of decision of that nature requires some additional time to review the season. Bottom line, Lig's history was NOT good, the team was supposedly focused on ST, and they were still awful. There is nothing to indicate that he CAN do the job better. I still think he ends up unemployed.


Yeah, my last remnant of hope is along those lines as well. That maybe he's giving LZ and Ligs a chance to move on quietly without embarrassment. Or, here's to hoping LZ has a Lewis bout of paranoia and Ligs has a Kenny Jackson waffle moment during their evals.

[Ghost of Frenchy Fuqua]

I don't intend to run for office.

Nor do I plan to run for office.

Translation: There'll be some changes made...

[BillvinCowbert]

Why isn't Larry Zierling's name being brought up as often as Bob Ligashesky's?

I'd say they were at least equally awful, which then makes this news of Mike Tomlin keeping the staff intact painful to hear.

Not an excuse, because the line was awful; but, that said, the line was bad in 2006. And even though Hartings was getting past it, he's was much better than Mahan was this year. And we had some major injury issues with Marvel this year.

So, one *could* argue that LZ was dealt a crappy hand. I'm not gonna go to bat for the guy, but I could see him maybe, possibly getting the benefit of the doubt because of that. That said, when you look at a team like the Rams, they were WAY worse off than us this year from an injury/talent perspective, and they managed to actually show some improvement. In week one, Cleveland was horrid, but from then on, they really excelled (yes, they had some nice talent).

Long story short, I'd probably can him and hire Hudson Houck. But I don't think he did any worse than Grimm did in 2006.

[Hines57]

LZ can stay on staff if he forwards us all that dirty email......:cool:

[omawho]

This shit is REALLY getting old...... And I don't mean Tomlin....

[Tres Rios]

Someone needs to be held accountable or Tomlin looks foolish after all his tough talk he came in with. At the very least the OL coach should be sacrificed to the fans.

I'm so sick and tired of our ST play being bad. I can't remember the last time big returns didn't bite us in the ass. Time to risk it and play a lot more starters on ST. Can it really just be just coaching when we've tried what seems like a dozen lately?

And also with ST, don't know why he's getting a pass but for wasting a 4th round pick on a punter Sepulveda sucked. We could have signed any free agent or undrafted kid for his production. Woo hoo, he didn't have touchbacks. Probably because he didn't boom any punts. HE was 21st in the damn league with an avg of 42.4 yards - over 7 yards under the league leader. Ranked behind such huge household names as Weatherford, Kluwe, Colquitt & Ryan.

[Sluzilla]

i'd be interested in seeing Sepulveda's average yardage he punted from...if he had a lot of mid-field punts...it would lower his average...not going to bat for the guy...just interested since he had so many inside the 10 and 20...

[Sean]

It's spelled Zierlein, and despite what Tomlin said, I think both are on the hot seat (as they should be)...

Sorry sion, didn't know I was taking part in a spelling bee.

Either way, my point was that I didn't understand why everybody's up Bob Ligashesky's ass whenever Larry ZierlEIN's unit was just as terrible.

[ColdGinAgain]

Damn... someone already beat me to www.firemiketomlin.com

Least they could do is make a damn site instead of parking the domain. Course it was probably the Steelers that bought it.

[BAS]

I... uh... I... just..... I got nothin. Refuckingmarkable.

Refuckingmarkable? On the facts of the news or the idea that you have no words to comment?

i'd be interested in seeing Sepulveda's average yardage he punted from...if he had a lot of mid-field punts...it would lower his average...not going to bat for the guy...just interested since he had so many inside the 10 and 20...

I'd be right there with you. I think the times that he punted from deep within their own territory were the exception, not the norm. He didn't necessarily always HAVE to get max distance. Coverage issues account for the returns.

Hang time is probably a whole different story, though.

[thatrain]

i'd be interested in seeing Sepulveda's average yardage he punted from...if he had a lot of mid-field punts...it would lower his average...not going to bat for the guy...just interested since he had so many inside the 10 and 20...

1-19 yd line: 9 punts, 45.8 avg, 59 yd lng, 412 yards, 34.0 avg net
20-39 yd line: 31 punts, 45.5 avg, 57 yd lng, 1410 yards, 41.1 avg net, 6 inside 20
40-40 yd line: 27 punts, 38.3 avg, 56 yd lng, 1033 yards, 35.9 avg net, 21 inside 20, 2 TB
39-20 yd line: 1 punt, 25 yards.

I still think he's a great addition. Half of our second day picks havent even played a down, so getting a guy who was a big upgrade over gardocki? Love it.

[Miller]

Tomlin says he thinks a lot of the problems with ST were personnel. Anyone want to discredit that? Anyone want to analyze that to see if it might actually be true? See if it's something that can be improved through free agency (like all those good Bills ST guys that are free agents)? No? Firing is the only way to make something better? The elite Kneejerk Squad of the Mouthbreather Battalion of Steeler Nation needs a sacrifice irregardless of whether or not coaching was the main problem with ST or they'll "lose respect" for Tomlin? BFD.

[Stlrs4Life]

Can someone tell me the last time the Steelers special teams were above average?


Bobbie April days? Not sure.

[thatrain]

Tomlin says he thinks a lot of the problems with ST were personnel. Anyone want to discredit that? Anyone want to analyze that to see if it might actually be true? See if it's something that can be improved through free agency (like all those good Bills ST guys that are free agents)? No? Firing is the only way to make something better? The elite Kneejerk Squad of the Mouthbreather Battalion of Steeler Nation needs a sacrifice irregardless of whether or not coaching was the main problem with ST or they'll "lose respect" for Tomlin? BFD.

If we're having personel issues on ST, it's probably a sign that we have fairly thin depth at positions like DE, LB, CB, S, WR, HB, FB. Being thin at those positions is likely due to failure to draft successfully in the late rounds.

[SteelerFan448]

Bobbie April days? Not sure.

Kevin Spencer won ST coach of the year in I think his second year here.

[Hollywood Bags]

Other than Lebeau we have probably the most unaccomplished and lowest paid assistants in the league.

[Hines57]

Other than Lebeau we have probably the most unaccomplished and lowest paid assistants in the league.
Shocking.........You mean the Rooney's dont want to pay their coaching staff well?

Just shocking.

[Tobe]

Tomlin is becoming a nutless wonder.

[Super Dave]

You don't fire people in the press....of course you shouldn't publicly call out franchise QB's either.

[jpele]

The person in my opinion that needs to go is Zierlein. It's apparent the players don't respect him. When you have players blatantly refusing to use what you teach them there is a problem.

Our O'line sucked last year,does that mean they didn't respect Grimm ? How do you know they refused to use what they were taught?

I think our line has been bad for a couple years and just maybe the running style of Jerome Bettis helped cover the problems.

[LetMePlay]

If our OL and special teams keep sucking then I would rather have Arians at head coach than Tomlin.

[Turbo Pig]

This is very bad news... He has kept the scape goats for next year should he need them... We really had a very bad year that was masked by playing an AWFUL schedule... We had one quality win and many horrible losses... This was a team that got lucky to be in a poor division with a 3rd place schedule... But, Tomlin and Co seem happy to make the playoffs.... We could have been a slightly below average team this year and gone 11-5 with our schedule by just beating the teams we should have... I think the steelers had 2 of the 3 worst losses by any team in the NFL this year (Jets and Ravens on a 9 game losing streak)... Those actually might be the worst two losses by any team this year... This team lacked the attitude to step on their opponents... Its like they were bred into thinking, we are on the way to the playoffs, lets just work towards that playoffs...

Then the giant choke...

[scrapdog]

It really deflates the enthusiasm for the upcoming season knowing we're keeping such an inept OC and probably the offensive line coach.

[jasen@cardiostack]

This is very bad news... He has kept the scape goats for next year should he need them... We really had a very bad year that was masked by playing an AWFUL schedule... We had one quality win and many horrible losses... This was a team that got lucky to be in a poor division with a 3rd place schedule... But, Tomlin and Co seem happy to make the playoffs.... We could have been a slightly below average team this year and gone 11-5 with our schedule by just beating the teams we should have... I think the steelers had 2 of the 3 worst losses by any team in the NFL this year (Jets and Ravens on a 9 game losing streak)... Those actually might be the worst two losses by any team this year... This team lacked the attitude to step on their opponents... Its like they were bred into thinking, we are on the way to the playoffs, lets just work towards that playoffs...

Then the giant choke...

i can not agree more. what will everyone be saying next year when either we win 5 games or ben saves our asses similar to this year and we squeek into the playoffs. if this team doesnt improve drastically from the coaching staff we are in big trouble.

[FAB802]

He has a lot of time to make coaching changes. I don't think the entire staff will be back next year. As for the Ol, they have been shitty for a couple years running. Special teams has been an issue here as long as I can remember. Even if we weren't near the bottom statistically we always seem to give up big returns at lousy times.

Tomlin isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Everyone needs to hope he looks everything over and makes some major adjustments to personnell and a couple fixes to the staff. Get the backups the Hell off the field by getting healthy on defense and address the OL. Amazingly that will make a lot of coaches look a lot better.

[SteelrzGirl]

There's like 8 mos until the season starts. I think Im going to let Tomlin have his first off season. Hard to predict whats going to happen on January 10th.

[TazmanianDevil43]

IF he makes no changes and the OL and ST suck again next season and (hopefully not) we say, finish 9-7 or worse, it will be his ass in the hot seat, not Arians or Ligawhatever.




Tomlin is going no where. Even if we have a losing season (which I doubt we do)

[Chicoman]

Bob Ligashesky & Larry Zierling should both be gone. I am very disappointed in Tomlin's decision to keep these guys. Both units took a serious step backwards last season especially special teams which might have been the worst in the NFL. He sucked dick in St. Louis and Tomlin's first mistake IMHO is retaining this chump and Zierling aka Porn Mailer.

Zierling when he's not sending porn to NFL officials isn't doing DICK with our O-line. We could get anyone in there to do a better job. FUCK Craig Woolfley could take over as O-line coach. When he worked with our guys in the offseason in 2004 he did wonders training our O-line to block. He even turned shitty guys like Oliver Ross into a descent starter and we went 15-1 behind that O-line. Another thing Zierling could get the O-line behind him to practice what he was trying to teach. That is a bad coach....the guy can't even get his players on the same page with him and they don't respect him it's pretty obvious. Now Tomlin decides to keep the guy. BAD FUCKING MOVE!!!

The Honeymoon's over Mr. Tomlin....don't keep yourself surrounded with sub-par coaching talent which is exactly what these guys are.

[Sluzilla]

for the record...i have no problems with Tomlin this year at all...

Arians has some questionable play calls...i'm willing to see what he does next year...

the OL continued to suck...so i'm OK with giving Zierlein a pass and seeing what he can do with new picks...

the ST were horrid...but can be looked at either way...they were bad last year also...but it was also an emphasis going into the year...i think he should be gone...

with the injuries this year...i have to wonder at the strength and conditioning coach also...

[JohnnyO]

Can someone tell me the last time the Steelers special teams were above average?
The couple years that Bobby April was the coach. Otherwise the Steelers have had pretty bad ST's for as far back as I can remember, and that's a long time.

[MeanJim]

I always thought Bobby April was an idiot too.

We need a major free agent on the offensive line, and 2 first day picks that can play right away. That will make all the coaches and every unit MUCH better, and we'll actually be a Super Bowl contender again.

[steelcan58]

I thought Tomlin summed up the teams shortcomings pretty well. Coaching - especially 1st year - can't overcome all personnel deficiencies. It looks like he has a plan to address them in the off season.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08011/848340-66.stm


First year leaves Tomlin wanting more
Friday, January 11, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Too late for Christmas and the playoffs, Mike Tomlin has a wish list for the 2008 season: Better play in the Steelers' offensive and defensive lines, and better coverage on kickoffs and punts.

That means more and younger players for those units, whether it's through the draft, free agency or some of his own players improving by next season.

And while his team won a division championship for the first time in three years and earned a home playoff game, Tomlin said he was not satisfied with his first season as a coach.

"I will always be disappointed when I don't win the World Championship," he said.

"I'm not big into moral victories. We did some good things. We won 10 games. We won our division. It starts there, but it wasn't as well as I would have liked. The goals I set for myself, I am not bashful about.

"One of the things that has bugged me the most since Saturday night are people with great intentions saying, 'Great start' and 'Great year.' ... I appreciate that, but there is something we are chasing here and we never will cease that chase."

Toward that end, the Steelers need players. Tomlin said each good special teams unit has four core players, such as Chidi Iwuoma and Sean Morey from Steelers past. Tomlin said this team had "not enough dynamic playmakers that you can build a core unit around," and that's one reason the kick and punt coverage teams played poorly.

"Our coverage unit is one glaring thing that has to improve," Tomlin said. "The protection of our quarterback has to improve. ... You always need big strong men in the interior on the rise."

The Steelers are getting old on their three-man defensive line, with two of three already in their 30s, plus the top backups.

"We're older in those positions," Tomlin said. "That will be our intentions, along with all areas of course. But in terms of having the personality that we want to have, there is no secret that we want to run the football and run it big time. We want to smash the run, so it starts inside and up front ...

"We could use young people, young developing people in a lot of areas. If I could identify anything at this point, I would say we need young big people."

Tomlin cited the inability of his No. 1-ranked defense to close out games at the end -- specifically, in regular-season games against Jacksonville, Denver and the New York Jets and their playoff against the Jaguars.

"We've got to be better in terms of rising up in moments late in football games. We got behind in some football games that we lost and fought our way back, but we weren't able to close the door in terms of energy, focus and ability to finish.

"When you look back at it, we have to execute better at crunch time. That's what great teams do. That's probably why we are not a great team at this point. We're a good team. That's what 10-6 teams are, what division champions are. We've got to be great."

He also cited their inability to run on offense when they had to, even though Willie Parker led the league in rushing after 14 games.

"We have to run the football more effectively and more often and later in football games," Tomlin said, "so we can wear people down and win games on our terms the way we like to."

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times the past season and 93 over the past two. Tomlin acknowledged that's unacceptable. Besides trying to improve a line that likely will lose guard Alan Faneca and perhaps No. 3 tackle Max Starks, they will need to infuse it with more talent.

"We have to play better," Tomlin said. "We have to get better technicians. We have to communicate better. We have to coach better."

The coaching staff will take a break next week, then hit the road for the Senior Bowl and begin preparations for the April draft, and possibly signing a few free agents starting in March.

"I am pleased with a lot of things," Tomlin said. "I am dissatisfied with some things. We are going to address those things."

Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.