Jason La Canfora caused some excitement among Steelers fans this morning by tweeting that the Steelers are expected to meet with recently fired head coach Mike Munchak, to possibly fill their OL coach vacancy.
Now, as of this writing it’s being reported that Munchak is interviewing on the South Side right now.
Coach Munchak is definitely well qualified for the job.
As a player Munchak was a 10 time All-Pro selection, and a Hall-of-Famer, playing guard for the Houston Oilers.
Just one year after his retirement as a player, Munchak joined the Oilers organization as an offensive assistant, and then was eventually named offensive line coach in 1997. He held that position until he was named head coach of the Titans in 2011.
During Munchak’s tenure as offensive line coach for the Titans, they regularly appeared in the top 10, and sometimes even top 5 in the NFL in rushing yards.
Munchak is a Pennsylvania native, and attended Penn State to play college football. There’s plenty of reasons for the Steelers to hire him to coach a young offensive line group in need of shaping.
I’ll admit that I, like much of Steeler Nation right now, is excited about the possibility of an all time great teaching young guys like DeCastro, Pouncey, and Beachum.
Here’s my question though… Does Mike Munchak’s philosophy fit what the Steeler want to do offensively?
I’ll admit that I’m not the most knowledgeable person to ask about blocking schemes, or the Tennessee Titans schemes… but I look at the line that Munchak helped build in Tennessee and it looks a lot different from the Steelers’ line.
Last season with Munchak in charge the Titans spent a first round pick Chance Warmack and signed Andy Levitre in free agency… Those two along with jumbo sized tackles Michael Roos and David Stewart is a serious stable of road graders.
Guys like Pouncey, DeCastro, Gilbert, and Beachum are more known for their athleticism than their power.
It was also said that part of the reason for firing Jack Bicknell Jr. was his failure in implementing the zone stretch scheme that the Steelers wanted to run.
Part of me thinks just get a guy in here that can teach how to block, and improve the guys making up the scheme… but then part me of thinks Munchak is a square peg for a round hole.
I imagine that will be a big part of the conversation between Munchak and Mike Tomlin today in his interview.
2 comments
he might also be used to help tomlin with his clock mgt. issues
No idea here, didn’t watch the Titans enough with him as HC… But I personally think that Mike Tomlin’s clock management issues are overblown.
If you watch a day’s worth of NFL games you’ll see a lot of questionable clock management flubs.