Heads Not Going to Roll in Pittsburgh (For Now)

I’ll be honest, I typically don’t pay that much attention to Mike Tomlin’s weekly press conferences, because typically you could play the same recording of him following every game.

However, I was interested in hearing what Coach Tomlin had to say following the Patriots game.

I thought that getting embarassed like the Steelers did by the Patriots on Sunday, might cause some changes in the depth chart, practice schedule, vending machine privelages, etc. Well, Coach Tomlin was grilled, and there was… nothing.

I think @SteelerBill13 said it best on twitter earlier today, “Any changes now by #Steelers is the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” I saw plenty of talk on twitter about this and that “not being the answer” to the Steelers’ problems.

Most of Steeler nation (myself included) is spoiled. Steelers fans are so used to success now, that when things go wrong they expect to be able to just flip a switch. It’s just not that easy. I mentioned already that I’d like to see a youth movement. That’s a change I want to see, but it’s not a change to save this sinking ship, it’s a move to (hopefully) give us a brighter future.

Plenty of people want to see heads roll. Before the Patriots game I would have said Tomlin and both coordinators are safe through next season. I’m still not ready to say that I think one of the 3 does get pushed out, but I feel a little less confident saying they all stay.

I am confident that they will not fire any of the staff before the off-season. If the Steelers had a late bye week I might think they let Haley go and give Kirby Wilson the keys to the offense, but not now. I’ve seen a lot of talk about Tomlin, Colbert, Haley, and Lebeu all being fired online in the past couple days.

I don’t think the Rooney’s will want to hit the reset button this offseason, but some change will have to be made to quench the bloodthirsty fanbase. The small number of coaches in franchise history tells me that Mike Tomlin gets time to turn this around. Despite poor drafting lately, I don’t think Colbert has just lost his magic touch. I’m optimistic about the 2013 class of rookies, so I think he stays.

Now, on to the two coordinators. I’ve read plenty of opinions on Dick Lebeau moving on, from people I really respect. I agree that it may be time for Lebeau to go, and it’s a business, but I just don’t see the Rooney’s forcing him out. They weren’t even able to outright fire Bruce Arians, who was hated in Pittsburgh, how are they going to do it to the man that’s been a father figure to generations of Steelers defenders? My hope is that Coach Lebeau sees the writing on the wall, and steps down on his own terms, without any outside pressure.

I’ll go on record saying that I loved the Todd Haley hiring, and still don’t hate Todd Haley’s offense. Part of me can’t ignore how good Ben looked, and how little he was getting sacked before going down in the Kansas City game last season. He makes the most sense to fire though.

The offense has been abysmal, and the fact that his replacement is almost definitely running backs coach Kirby Wilson makes for an easy transition. That’s the biggest change I see coming from this nightmare of a season, but that’s all, for now… but I might feel differently if we go on a very long losing streak.