How attractive is Steelers head coach job?
Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss the head coaching vacancy in Pittsburgh and analyze how desirable the Steelers job will be to prospective hires.
Video Transcript
Those are the three head coaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Some teams have had three head coaches in the past four years.
Years, or a lot more than that, it's amazing since the Steelers last hired a HC.
So, here's where we are.
Here's where we are.
Steelers are going to be hiring a coach.
Who should they hire?
Who will they hire, and who wants that?
Job?
That's what we want to tackle, and we're not going to spend as much time talking about that as we talked about Tomlin's.
But from the Steelers' side of it, that's the important next question.
Who do you think they will target, Chris?
Well, I think the first thing is, Is a little bit of what you're talking about here.
And desirability for the job.
It's, uh, we know it's the Steelers brand.
It's one of the marquee organizations in the sport.
The fan base is more than just Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are a national team.
They're a national brand.
They're one of the few teams like that.
In our, in our country.
So that's where it's special and appealing.
And then, of course, it's appealing because, you know, For, for...
Compared to other teams, you feel like, Hey, it feels like the coach is going to be able to go there and coach.
You're gonna coach, you're gonna be able to do your thing.
Right?
Like you said, Rooney wasthe Rooneys might meddle a little bit, but I don't think it's overbearing compared to some of the the other owners out there.
But when you get into the team itself, You already heard.
I don't think this is one of the...
If you're just looking at the roster, I don't think this is one of the top jobs.
Sport right now.
There is a whole bunch of other teams would look at to go, I think, are set up way better than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And that's what, you know, that's what would worry me if I was sitting out there that could be a head coaching candidate.
Like, you heard me discuss.
Yeah, we, we, okay, great.
We got some linemen, that's for sure.
I don't know if we really got our starting running back.
I don't know if we really got another receiver other than DK Metcalf.
Right?
Right, Friar, Friermuth, I think, is coming to the end of the contract.
Defensively, I mean, Patrick Queen's kind of been a disappointment in Pittsburgh.
But Cam Heyward's older.
No other D-lineman we ever talk about, Really, other than Cam Heyward?
That's not good.
The guy in year 15 is still, like, maybe your best D-lineman?
Then you got T.J. Watt.
Okay, still awesome.
You got Highsmith.
All right, you got Highsmith and Herbig.
Certainly.
I think Highsmith's coming to the end of contract.
But the secondary, no talent there.
Really.
So that's where I look at it and go, No, the cupboard's kind of dry in Pittsburgh.
There's work to be done there.
I think from a pure roster standpoint, it's down the list a little bit as far as job openings, uh, at least in my mind.
Yeah, but it's the Steelers.
It's the Steelers.
And, I hear you.
I think it's a mistake to make short-term decisions, 'cause they can and will have opportunities to turn things around.
And build up the team.
But I don't disagree with the fact that Now, you take a snapshot at this moment, it's not as attractive as Let's say the Tennessee Titans, where they have Cam Ward & $100M in cap space.
And they're going into a new stadium, and the expectations are low.
'Cause that's the thing: whoever takes this Steelers job is following a legend.
And in the eyes of the 30% of the fan base that was ready to fire Mike Tomlin at the drop of a hat, they're thinking wistfully of Mike Tomlin.
And they're gonna be thinking, "Man, this guy's worse than the guy we've been trying fire for 15 years."
And speaking of that, I did the research really quickly, 'Cause it didn't take a lot of brainpower, which qualifies me to do it.
The Steelers have had 3 coaches since 1969.
The Browns have had 9 coaches since then.
Steelers hired Mike Tomlin.
They've had, what's the number?
21 coaches since 1969... And they didn't exist for three years.
I'll participate in the fiction that the Browns are the Browns.
And the Browns aren't the Ravens, and the Ravens aren't the Browns.
Let's just assume it's one unitary franchise that's been in Cleveland since was founded, but for the three years that it didn't exist, They've had 21 coaches in the time that the Steelers have had three.
Right.
Yeah, no, it's amazing that way.
And that is the beauty of that job.
There's no doubt about that.
So yeah, there's a shine to it and all of that.
And as we know, in the modern-day NFL, it doesn't take a lot to flip your team.
Around.
But I do think this will be a little more work than maybe a Chicago Bears project, or some of those types of football teams.
I think it is, and of course, the-- Well, and Caleb Williams.
Well, and exactly, that's the other big thing.
That's exactly where I was going.
There's a quarterback situation.
And in a year right now where, hey, Pittsburgh's not gonna be drafting very high, And I don't think there's going to be a ton of quarterbacks out there that are gonna be like, "Oh, that's the franchise guy," right now.
I mean, so we'll see where that goes.
As we sit here right now, I mean, Mendoza, we know.
It'sit feels like, And maybe it officially happened, and I didn't even see it over the last 24-36 hrs.
Maybe Dante Moore, the kid from Oregon?
We know Ty Simpson from Alabama.
Are those guys going to be there, though, in the '20s when the Steelers are drafting?
I don't know about that, and I'm not sure necessarily those guys I'm sold on.
We know Mendoza's gonna be gone, right?
Dante Moore is young, and I still think he needs to develop a little bit.
Has the talent, right?
But are they definitely the guys that you just go, "Oh, slam dunks, we're going to go forward with them and win here?"
Where, you know, it's tough.
