The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to try and improve the team after yet another failed attempt at the Lombardi Trophy. Even after Matt Canada's firing, it took about a month for the team to start scoring at a higher rate, and its resulted in Head Coach Mike Tomlin wanting to look beyond his staff for his next offensive coordinator.
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Pittsburgh Steelers interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and play-caller Mike Sullivan.
The Steelers are known for having a bare bone coaching staff. It has consisted of the smallest number of coaches in the NFL for years. Tomlin addressed that and claimed that he is open to building it up.
"I'm looking at all components of staffing as part of the annual end-of-season review, and additions in terms of expertise are certainly a component of that."
Other teams have coordinators for all kinds of things besides just positions. The only Steelers' assistant coaches that are not a position specific coaches are Jason Brooks and Matt Tomsho. There is a lot that needs to be done to grow this staff and improve the team, especially the offense.
Who Can The Steelers Learn From?
The San Francisco 49ers have seemingly produced coaches out of an assembly line. Three current head coaches have worked under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. One of the reasons that Shanahan can replace these coaches so easily is the amount of help he has all over the place. In fact, some of Steeler Nation has been calling for the team to bring in one of his assistants to run the offense: Klint Kubiak.
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Former NFL quarterback Brian Griese has become an assistant under Kyle Shanahan, and he could become a candidate for a promotion this upcoming offseason.
The 49ers' coaching roster does not look like the Steelers' roster. Of course, some of them double up on positions, like their special teams quality control/game management specialist. They have quality control on all sides of the ball, as well as passing game coordinators on both sides of the ball. Their offensive line coach is also their run game coordinator.
There are many other examples of expanded coaching staffs. If Tomlin truly wants this team to reach its full potential, he needs to understand that those kinds of assistant coaches matter to a team. You have to do more than go dumpster diving for a few assistant coaches and call it a day.
Tomlin is known for being one of the most hands-on coaches when it comes to assessing the team, but he needs to hire some of these kinds of guys to do the job with him. You can't expect the team to thrive when Tomlin has to do all the quality control or defensive run/pass specialist kinds of things. He needs to bring in coaches to do all that for him.
-544x306.jpg "Steelers Kenny Pickett and Mike Tomlin")
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Steelers' Kenny Pickett (8) and Mike Tomlin discuss strategy on the sidelines.
Tomlin's last offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, tried to do everything offensively on his own as well. In response, the locker room grew toxic, and he was fired as a result. Tomlin had to split up offensive responsibilities with his assistant coaches to force them to work together. Even though Tomlin trying to do everything doesn't lead to that level of toxicity, he needs to split up his responsibilities to other coaches as well: not just to coaches on the roster, but to guys that he can and should hire for that purpose.
What do you think about Mike Tomlin's comments on growing his coaching staff? What other kinds of assistant coaches do the Steelers need? Let us know in the comments.
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