Steel City Blitz
When you’ve only had three head coaches since 1969 there isn’t a lot of information to go on in terms of who the next coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers will be. Based on the hiring of Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin, here are what seem to be the qualities that the Steelers’ organization looks for in a head coach.
All three of these guys were coaching on the defensive side of the ball when they were hired by the Steelers. Oddly enough, both Noll and Tomlin were offensive players in their playing days with Noll being an interior offensive lineman while Tomlin was a wide receiver. When Noll left the Colts in January of 1969, he was serving as their Defensive Backfield Coach while Bill Arnsparger served as the Coordinator. Cowher was the Chiefs’ Defensive Coordinator and LBs Coach while Tomlin served as the Defensive Coordinator for Minnesota.
All three of these men were in their 30’s when hired by the Steelers. Noll was the oldest at 37. Cowher was 35 and Tomlin was just 34 years young.
There are actually very few potential candidates who fit the profile especially as it pertains to age. If you look at the guys whose names have been thrown out the most, only Chris Shula remains in his thirties at 39 years old. Brian Flores is 44. Jesse Minter is 42. Miami Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver is 45 while Texans’ DC Matt Burke is 49. Packers DC Jeff Hafley is 46 and Jags DC Anthony Campanile is 43.
With all of this in mind, it makes sense that the Steelers announced five different coaches to interview.
-Current Rams DC Chris Shula
-Current Rams Passing Game Coordinator Nate Scheelhaase
-Current Chargers DC Jess Minter
-Current Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver
-Current Vikings DC Brian Flores
Only Flores has prior head coaching experience in the NFL. His one-year stint with the Steelers clearly left a positive impression on those in the front office. In this case of Scheelhaase, I wonder if this isn’t one of the Steelers’ classic “getting to know you” interviews. They’ve often interviewed coaches and players simply to get to know them for future reference. Scheelhaase could be in this category and he could also be considered offensive coordinator material should Shula get the head coaching position.
We’ll have much more on the coaching search and the career of Mike Tomlin coming up on the SCB Steelers Podcast this Thursday.
The post Fitting the Profile: Who Could Be the Steelers’ Next Head Coach? appeared first on Steel City Blitz.
