New Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy is in Alabama today checking out potential draft picks at the Senior Bowl. Prior to his departure, he started putting together his staff which has become a mix of people who’ve been with him in Dallas, Green Bay or both and a few holdovers from the Mike Tomlin Era. The question that most fans have is will any of these hires ‘move the needle?’ Here’s a look at two guys in particular.
Patrick Graham
The long-time New England position coach and Defensive Coordinator in Miami and Las Vegas will be under the most glaring of spotlights. He replaced the oft-maligned Teryl Austin which few fans are upset by. That good will towards Graham will only last so long. He needs to make serious changes to an aging defense whose performance did not match its salary.
While his defenses have never been really good, they haven’t been really bad either. He’s been tasked with building defenses with little overall talent and the offenses that were to support him were often really bad. He’s shown a willingness to be very flexible, moving his “allegiances” if you will from one front to another while using a mix of zone and man-to-man coverage. His preferred defense is the 3-4 but let’s be honest; teams are in nickel and dime packages three quarters or more of the time anyway.
James Campen
Few beat the drum harder for Pat Meyer to leave his position as Offensive Line Coach than I did. With that wish granted, I guess I should have been more careful with my wishes. While that isn’t necessarily fair Campen, I’m not overly impressed by the hire. While Campen’s experience is very impressive, he hasn’t coached the last two seasons. Why does that concern me? Normally it doesn’t but consider this; for the first 14 years of his coaching career he was with McCarthy. He then spent time in Cleveland, Los Angeles (Chargers), Houston and Carolina.
I’m not going to suggest that the above social media post means anything but… It sure does make it seem more likely that Aaron Rodgers is returning doesn’t it? No one denies Campen isn’t a proven and long time coach in the NFL, what concerns me is something that gave me a great pause under Mike Tomlin too. I don’t like too much comfort. Bringing in a familiar and friendly face only works if there’s honesty and a willingness to have tough conversations. I’m not sure this will occur under a guy who hasn’t coached in two years.
As should always be the case, any new coaching staff should be given time and patience. What the window looks like for these guys is anyone’s guess but I don’t think it will be very long.
