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Steeler Hire Tomlin

JAGFISH

JAGFISH

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Wow they will have to scrap the 3-4 for a cover two.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

FROM PFT
POSTED 2:24 p.m. EST; UPDATED 2:37 p.m. EST, January 20, 2007

STEELERS PICK TOMLIN

Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers have chosen Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin to be the team's next head coach.

We've been banging the gong for Tomlin throughout the process, and we're glad to see that the Steelers picked him despite the fact that we endorsed him so strongly.

It's the third straight time that the Steelers have hired a head coach under the age of 40. And it's the first time in team history that the Steelers have hired an African-American head coach.

The move is significant, since it shows that the guy after whom the "Rooney Rule" was named is truly color blind when the time comes to picking the best person to lead his team.

Our concern, frankly, is whether the rank-and-file Steelers fans will be as charitable. We've spent enough time in Pittsburgh to know that, for a northern city, there's a strong undercurrent of racism there. Hopefully, all of the fans will follow the example that the Rooneys have set by making the best decision possible for the future of the franchise, regardless of race.

The hire surely will bring about significant change, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The 3-4 will be out the door, replaced by Tomlin's signature Cover 2. Assistant coaches like defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will become irrelevant, and popular players like Troy Polamalu might not have the skills to make the shift to the new system.

We really think it's the best move over the long haul. This franchise was still hungover from the completion of a 14-year quest last February in Detroit. A new direction was needed; Tomlin will bring it.

And we've got a strong feeling that, under Tomlin, it won't be another 14 years before the Steelers are hoisting their sixth Lombardi.
 
Tomlin was a solid hiring IMO...however, I wonder what will become of Russ Grimm now. Does he stick it out in Pittsburgh or go elsewhere.
 
In_Flames said:
Tomlin was a solid hiring IMO...however, I wonder what will become of Russ Grimm now. Does he stick it out in Pittsburgh or go elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Maybe he becomes the new OC? I read something about him and Whiz having an arrangement that the loser of the derby would stay on to help the winner. If he is willing to move his family I can see him in Zona.
 
Well, like the guy said...It'll be interesting how soon Tomlin changes to the 4-3 base Cover-2 defense from that vaunted 3-4 defense of Pittsburgh.

I like the hire in terms of a coach. He's young, bright, and very respected. Good for him to get the job.
 
Should be interesting to see how guys like Porter and Polamalu and Casey Hampton do in that system.
 
Tomlin was not hired

Silver's report in Sports Illustrated is baseless apparently. The Rooney's have emphatically denied the report. Tomlin himself denied the report when asked about it. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, one of the two big daily's in Western Pa. reports that Russ Grimm was offered the job, and accepted it.

Why in the world would the Steelers make that move? Hiring Tomlin makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The Steelers are one-year and a disasterous off-season removed from a Super Bowl championship. They are stocked to make another run now, so they're going to go out and hire a guy who runs a system that will require the gutting of the defensive side of the ball? The Steelers have been running a 3-4 since 1983, and a variation of the zone blitz since the early ninties. That defense has ranked in the top ten in total defense 14 times in the Cowher era, and top ten in scoring defense 9 times. Is there any logic at all to replacing it with a scheme that frankly doen't work against elite opposition. You don't win championships with the Cover Two. The Bucs are the only team to do so, and that was primarily because they played the Raiders, a team that ran a version of the West Coast Offense. The modern Cover Two was designed to counter the WCO, as a defensive scheme it is highly vulnerable to power running and zone-busting vertical attacks.

What sense does it make to hire a coach whose hiring will probably result in most of the staff leaving, and most of the defensive personnel being put out of a job, since guys like Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, Troy Polamalu, Joey Porter, etc, are not well-suited to run a Cover Two? Hampton is a pure two-gap NT, what's he going to do in a one-gap, over/under system? And what are Tomlins credentials exactly? One year as a defensive coordinator of a team that ranked first against the run, and dead last against the pass, and sixth to last in sack production. Tomlin is praised for his mental aptitude, but when he's asked specific questions he talks in platitudes, and athletic cliches. The Steelers scouting department is geared toward finding 3-4 players, they've developed it into a science which is why they can just plug in another guy once someone leaves in free agency. Hiring Tomlin would meaning re-training one of the most successful organizations in the NFL for the last 15-years to adopt a system and style of play that hasn't had much of any success. If the Rooneys went ahead with this it would be a disaster. Hiring Tomlin because he's 34 like Cowher was at the time he was hired isn't a reason.
 
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