Steelers' Potential Coaching Hires Bashed Following Alleged Leaked Report

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of a very important part of the offseason whenever a franchise makes a coaching change. Mike McCarthy is still constructing his coaching staff, and he has already been adding new positions that the Steelers have not had in the past. McCarthy has been known to put together a good coaching staff based off of his time with the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, and he has begun to do that for Pittsburgh. He still needs an offensive coordinator, although that position won't carry the same weight anymore as McCarthy will be calling the plays during games.

McCarthy has filled a ton of positions, but offensive coordinator still needs time. He has conducted several interviews, including one with former NFL quarterback Scott Tolzien. Tolzien was a backup quarterback for McCarthy while the two were with the Packers, and he now serves as the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints and Tyler Shough. He seemed like a favorite to be Pittsburgh's next offensive coordinator, but it was announced Tuesday that he would be staying in New Orleans.

The report announcing that Tolzien would be staying with the Saints seemed to portray the idea that he was passing on the Steelers and that he was withdrawing his name from the search. Team insider Mark Kaboly went on 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday night and cleared the air.

"When somebody all of a sudden pulls their name out, do you think they decided they didn't want the job, or they were told the team they were interviewing with was going in a different direction?" Kaboly asked. "That was the case. He interviewed, obviously he's only had a couple of years of quarterbacks coach. I think the experience pretty much shied them away from him."

Kaboly seems to believe that the franchise told Tolzien that it would be moving in a different direction, which is not what the various reports indicated. This is a common move, and Tolzien's agent probably got word out that his client passed on the job and wanted to stay with the Saints. A similar instance happened with Chase Haslett. He also decided to stay with the Saints after interviewing to be Pittsburgh's passing game coordinator and tight ends coach, although it was more likely Pittsburgh decided to go elsewhere.

It is neither coach's fault for the seemingly false report going around. It is an agent's job to do everything possible to protect their client's reputations, so that is what feeding false information to various national insiders does. The local reporters in Pittsburgh seem to know what truly happened, as the Steelers have a favorite to be the team's next offensive coordinator in Brian Angelichio of the Minnesota Vikings. Team insider Gerry Dulac provided some more insight into the situation in a piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"What do I think?" Dulac asked. "I think [the coaching candidates] were told they were not going to be hired by a team that has been in the postseason five of the past six years, so [the coaching candidates] said, 'I like it here with this other moribund franchise that hasn't been in the postseason in five years.'"

Dulac seemingly thinks the entire situation mostly revolves around the postseason, which would be completely asinine from the organization. Good, young coaches exist on teams that come up short. They exist all over the league. Ruling an assistant coach out for team performance is ridiculous. 

With Angelichio being the frontrunner to be the team's next offensive coordinator, the franchise still needs a tight ends coach. Angelichio has an extensive background in coaching tight ends, but he can't and shouldn't do both. 

Steelers' Situation Is Much Different Than The Browns

When it is reported on the national level that an assistant coach is passing up on a promotion to come to a certain franchise, it is not a great look. It puts an organization into the same bucket as the Cleveland Browns, who had several potential head coaching candidates turn them down during their search. It is important to note that a lot of those instances were probably true due to how much of a dumpster fire that organization is, while coaches passing up on an opportunity in Pittsburgh is completely different. 

The coaches the Steelers interview only turn down the job when they know they aren't going to be offered it. Very different story in Cleveland.

What do you think about Kaboly's remarks? Let us know in the comments below!

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