Steelers News: Gay, Coates, Tomlin
By Kim Myers
The Steelers draft picks have been made and the offseason workout program is in full swing.
Steelers season never truly ends for Steeler Nation so while the team starts to put in the work to prepare for the 2016 NFL season we’ll be busy looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered. Here’s your Steelers Morning Huddle for Monday, May 30th.
A Tribute to Troy
Teresa Varley noticed that there was a No. 43 sighting during Wednesday’s OTAs at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Troy Polamalu didn’t return to the team, unfortunately. Cornerback William Gay wore Troy’s number as a tribute to the retired safety.
An interesting time and place to make a tribute to Polamalu considering he rarely attended OTAs.
"“I just came into practice today and was like, ‘Where is the No. 43 jersey, I want to wear it today. He is a good friend, great brother, and a tremendous player. I just wanted to honor his number in OTAs. If anybody knows, Troy never came to OTAs during his time in Pittsburgh. I just wanted to put it on and act like he is out there.” – William Gay"
Time to shine
The Steelers offense is still expected to blow everyone’s minds this season even with the year-long suspension of Martavis Bryant. That’s because the Steelers have the best trio of running back, wide receiver and quarterback in the league with Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger.
With that trio in place there really won’t be any worry about the potential production of the offense. However, with Bryant’s role vacant it leaves the opportunity for a player like Sammie Coates to showcase his potential.
The PPG’s Paul Zeise explains how Coates caught two passes for 61 yards in the 23-16 loss to Denver in the divisional round of the playoffs and had only one reception during the regular season prior to that but can take a giant step forward this season in Bryant’s absence.
Sixth ranked coach
He’s No. 1 in your hearts but only made it to No. 6 in the USA Today’s ranking of all 32 NFL head coaches by Steven Ruiz. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the highest ranked AFC North coach and ranked behind Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Bruce Arians, Mike Zimmer and Sean Payton.
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Ruiz praised Tomlin for his handling of the assistants, particularly the decision to leave Dick LeBeau in place when he first arrived rather than installing his own defensive scheme right away and he also notes that the unpopular hire of Todd Haley has turned out to be a pretty good move.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Where would you rank Tomlin?