Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Tuesday.
The Kickoff
There were 10 head coaching openings this year in the National Football League. Not one of those jobs went to a black man. This was a significant talking point across social media and on sports’ talk shows on Monday. While the Las Vegas job remains “open” there is rampant speculation that Seattle Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak will get the job. With Mike LaFleur getting the nod in Arizona, that means that the only minority hiring is Robert Saleh who is Lebanese. Frankly, it’s none of my business who these billionaires chose to hire. It’s their money and their franchise. I choose to look at it from the perspective of the players however. 70% of the talent in the NFL is black. It must be difficult to know that while you’re more than good enough to play in the NFL, you aren’t good enough to be a head coach. That’s essentially what teams are saying. To be fair, teams have done a poor job when it comes to creating pipelines for black coaching talent. I would also suggest that the Rooney Rule, while intended to be a good thing, has often led to more negativity than actual results. Take the Steelers for example. They interviewed Anthony Weaver and Brian Flores and still went with Mike McCarthy. If someone suggested that Weaver and Flores were interviewed strictly to adhere to the Rooney Rule I wouldn’t disagree. This is partly why Flores has filed suit against the NFL. Overall, the lack of black men leading teams isn’t a good look for a league that has largely gained its fame and fortune by using their talents on the field.
A New Danny
Well, it isn’t Danny Smith, the bubble gum chewing favorite of Steelers’ fans but it is a Danny. Pittsburgh is expected to hire Danny Crossman as its new Special Teams Coordinator. Crossman has coached for over three decades, the last 20 plus of which has been in the NFL. The former Pitt Panther defensive back has been a coordinator for Detroit, Carolina, Miami and Buffalo during his coaching career. He was the MVP of the inaugural World Bowl when he picked off three passes for the London Monarchs.
Senior Bowl in the Rearview
The Senior Bowl wrapped up this past weekend and I take no pleasure in stating that this draft class is very average. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some talented guys, but the overall top-end talent just isn’t there. I shared some thoughts on the guys I thought stood out offensively right here.
A Curious Switch
Ramon Chinyoung, Sr is the team’s new Running Backs Coach despite the fact he’s never coached it before in the NFL. During his brief time with the Cowboys he was associated with the offensive line. Prior to this he had been a successful high school coach where he again coached the OL. There are plenty of coaches who have gone on to great success coaching positions that previously hadn’t but I find this one curious. We’ll see how it works out.
Random Reads
Did you ever think you’d see Domata Peko, one of the most hated players by Steelers’ fans, becoming a coach here? Well, it’s happened. The former Bengals’ defensive lineman will coach the D-Line for Mike McCarthy… I think it’s fair to call our coaching staff “Green Bay East” considering all the ties… I will never understand the hype about Super Bowl Halftime Performers. I’ll never care enough to warrant being “upset” about who is performing. There’s also this really cool option where if you don’t care for the act, you can choose not to watch… I think we are on our 16th straight day of temperatures under 32 degrees. And I mean WAY under… I’ll have some thoughts on the move towards more International Games in another article this week… Did you see the story about a Greenland Shark being alive since the 1600’s? Someone on social media suggested the NCAA should give it another year of eligibility. LoL
Hot Reads is presented by
