Pros and Cons of Steelers moving on from Mike Tomlin
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers would get a ‘fresh start’ with a new Head Coach
Well, that goes without saying, doesn’t it? Anytime you make a change in leadership, whether it be a change in the sports world or a change in the business world, a fresh start is the first thing you achieve, but it remains to be seen whether that fresh start lingers.
Considering that Bill Cowher was a defensive-minded coach and Mike Tomlin is a defensive-minded coach, it would stand to reason that if Rooney decided to move on from Tomlin, he would hire an offensive-minded head coach.
The NFL is a passing league and has been for decades. Yes, you can still win a Super Bowl on the strength of your defense, but you need to score points to give your defense the ability to play with a modicum of ‘wreckless abandon’, as it were.
The point at which the Steelers offense currently resides is one of ineptitude. The offense is ranked in the bottom quartile in every major statistical category. The defense isn’t fairing much better either, but the glaring opportunities lie with the offense.
If we get an offensive-minded Head Coach who can cobble together a staff that can unlock the potential of the offense, I think that can only be a good thing. Of course, the flip side of that coin is that perhaps the defense gets overlooked, but, again, the ability to score points can mask deficiencies on the other side of the ball.
If you look at the ‘elite’ teams in the league as we sit here today, they all have one thing in common and that is the ability to score more points than they give up. That’s not always the case, but the vast majority of the time it is the case.
Let’s take a look at the cons of moving on from Mike Tomlin.