Chapter 1: What are the implications of hiring an offensive-minded coach for the Steelers?
All right, we're back with our number two of the show. Mine is Joe. He is off today. He'll be back tomorrow, and then I'll rejoin him on Wednesday. Sean Meyer is behind the glass. Taking your phone calls at 412-928-9370. We have a lot to talk about in case you just got up. In case you're riding around and you hadn't heard, Sean McDermott joins a list of fired head coaches.
And this one is a very interesting one because – I thought they were going to win that game. I thought if they did win that game that this would not be happening. You could say the same about a lot of scenarios, I suppose. But, man, that's a harsh reality for a guy who I thought did a pretty good job leading his team against Jacksonville to win on the road, Sean.
And then yesterday, or Saturday's game, I thought they should have won it. I thought they were somewhat jobbed by their one call on Brandon Cooks. If that's called a catch, which yesterday was the same play, and it was called a catch, that one was called an interception, they kick a field goal and they don't even go to overtime.
And I think the argument, and Joe certainly made this, is that it's more on the lack of talent around Josh Allen than coaching blunders at this point. Now, there's no doubt McDermott probably at this point had been given enough opportunities in nine years with Josh Allen the last several years. They've been a favorite and they haven't been able to get to the Super Bowl yet.
And they had some really crushing defeats like that one against the Chiefs where it seemed for sure that they were moving on and found a way to lose the game. But I do think you're starting to see teams now that are having pretty successful seasons saying we're moving on from a head coach because if we can't get over the hump,
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Chapter 2: How are current college quarterbacks impacting NFL readiness?
After multiple years with an elite quarterback, we need to try something different. So the first move you make is to try to bring in a different coach, maybe not even a better head coach, but just a different coach to see if that guy fits a little bit better with your QB.
But to your point and Joe's point, now both cases in Buffalo and in Cleveland, the head coaches let go when it seemed like he wasn't really the problem. The problem could have been roster composition. Now, No one will know how much input Sean McDermott had on his roster. No one will know how much Kevin Stefanski had on his, although I believe Stefanski did not have as much as probably he wanted.
I thought the owner got involved too much in the meddling of this thing, which led to the disaster of Deshaun Watson, and he pays the price for that. But Atlanta may be better off for getting him, but there's still a lot of guys out there. We want to hear what you have to say about who you think should be the next Steelers head coach and what direction they should be at 4129-2893-70.
Fan Twitter is brought to you by South Hills Key and Peters Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKey.net. And the text line is brought to you by Edgar Snyder & Associates, a personal injury law firm where they always say there's never a fee unless they get money for you. We got a lot of callers here, Sean. Where do we go next?
We are going to go to Neil, who is a big fan of the YouTube chat, apparently.
Hello, Neil, on YouTube.
What's up? Hey, Bob. Good morning, and thank you for taking my call. And shout-out to the YouTube friends today. Here's my take on the head coaching situation for the Steelers. I think, realistically, this could happen. Not saying it's going to happen, but the head coach would be Chris Shula. He would bring in Nate Schilhaus, his OC.
His defensive coordinator would be Raheem Morris because of the familiarity of it. And for the quarterback situation... Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent. He would know the offense that Sheil House would implement. I ain't saying he's the answer, but he could be a bridge signing to a two- or three-year deal and go into the 27 draft and draft your quarterback.
Let Mason, Jimmy G, and Will Howard compete for the starting job. That's my take. I mean, I don't think it's going to happen.
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Chapter 3: What coaching changes are being discussed for the Steelers?
He's got a young guy he's working with now, but great schemes. Drake May, another young guy. I get it. He needed some time, but it's awful funny. He looks 10 times different under Josh McDaniels. who might not have been a great head coach, but we can all agree he's been a really good offensive coordinator, especially, I guess, learning the position with Brady in his pocket.
So the point I'm trying to make is I think we have got to get the right scheme in Pittsburgh, and I'm okay with Chris Shula. I really love that guy. I think he did a great job last night. You know, he seemed to have an answer on a lot of big plays and had – And I like what he did there. And he fits what we like to do as far as head coaching.
But I really believe if we don't get the offensive scheme or the offensive side of the coordinator position solved, I think we could be in trouble. Last thing I'll say is. You seem helpless and hopeless sometimes. I feel that way. We don't know about Will Howard. Mason Rudolph, I like that guy, but we're not going to do anything with him overall. And so it seems a little helpless.
It doesn't matter if we get a top five pick, if we get a top 20 pick, or if we pick a six-round Will Howard. If you don't develop the guy, he could just be another Tim Couch or another dud that nobody's heard about.
Thanks, Roy. Appreciate the call from Virginia. And, yeah, I do agree with that. I mean, developing is very important. You have to be able to have somebody in charge. And, yes, an offensive coordinator is huge. A quarterback coach is huge. And for many years, the Steelers did not have one of those.
So, although I will say this, I don't know if the Steelers will go so far as to hire an offensive guy as their head coach. I still think they're going to stick to what has been a tried and true kind of way of dealing with this when they get a chance, and it's not that often that they do.
So a little bit of a tangent here, but I think it'll tie in. I'm not a fan of what college football is now with all the transfers and the NIL and guys getting so much money. I think most people agree with that.
One benefit, however, is I do think you will get more polished quarterbacks entering the NFL because guys like Dante Moore at Oregon, who probably would have been the second pick, certainly would have been a first round pick. He's now staying. quarterbacks that typically would have come out after three years are now saying, maybe I'll stay four, even five years.
Does that make it a little bit safer of a bet taking a quarterback when you get a guy who's been there an extra year or two as opposed to a decade ago when they were all seemingly coming out early?
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Chapter 4: What quarterback options are on the table for the Steelers?
Or you could be misled into thinking, well, that guy finally figured it out, took five years. Can he pick it? Can he pick it? And then the next thing you know, you're believing what you see in the fifth year, but you ignore what you saw in the first four. Not that it was bad. I'm not trying to say that. I thought he had a great Pitt career. My point is,
If you go down that route and believe what you see in development, that's a good point. It can happen that way, but it can also go the other way and you can be deceived.
We have seen a lot of quarterbacks in recent years as first-year players or certainly second-year guys make major impacts. Jaden Daniels a year ago, C.J. Stroud his first year, these were guys right out of the gate who were – at least mid-tier NFL starting quarterback.
So I do think the reality is you could get a guy, and as a rookie, he could lead you to the playoffs now, which felt like it never happened a few decades ago.
And you can also see a guy growing here, too, like Bryce Young. The first year down there, of course... Drake May was good as a rookie, but he took a massive step this year. I mean, it happens quickly, and that's why you see turnaround so quickly. Who goes from worst to first? Jacksonville did. Worst to first? New England did.
All these teams can change based on what you put around your team, how you develop your team, and who leads your team. Who's next, Sean? We'll go out to New Kensington with Zach. What's up, Zach? How are you?
Hi, Bob. Big fan, big fan.
Thank you.
Uh, you guys are talking about, you know, the Steelers head coaching. I'll go on with that. I wanted to talk about the Texans and the Patriots, but you can do that too. All right. Well, you know, with that game last night, um, the one thing I noticed is I felt like D'Amico Ryan lost the game for them and it wasn't for any decision that he made. I felt like it was a decision that he didn't make.
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Chapter 5: How important is roster composition in coaching decisions?
That had to be in the back of Domenico Ryan's mind. When that first half, that's seven interceptions in five quarters of football.
I felt bad for that Texans defense. I thought to myself, like, C.J. Stroud has to be, like, the 13th man hanging out with 12. And he comes walking over, and the defense is like, get out of here, dude. You little kid. We don't want you around. And he's just begging for attention. And, like, he's just bad.
I tend to agree with that just because I think at that point you had to do something for your team. This was do or die. It has nothing to do with the future of C.J. Stroud. I think Ryan Clark was trying to make it like you'd lose him. I don't know. I don't think so. I just think he was not having a good playoff run.
And any player who's not having a good playoff run and costing you, and he was costing them, you've got to make a change. And if he can't handle it, that's on him, not anyone else. Thanks, Zach. What did you want to say about the Steelers real quick?
Real quick, yeah, just if I were to say who the next head coach was, I'm going to go on a limb. I'm down with Mike McCarthy, and here's my reasoning, is when Tomlin stepped down, we all agreed here in Pittsburgh that there was going to be a dark cloud of football over top of this city for the next five years. Lean into it. Like your producer just said, let's fail.
And so pay a coach to have no pressure to fail. Be Fred Tarkenton and get Mario Lemieux. Just let it happen, okay?
Organically is what you're saying. Because they're not going to do it by design. Nobody does it because you don't know where this can go, this tank, if that's what you're suggesting.
But if 20 years of consistent winning isn't good enough for the city, then this is what you signed up for. Lean into it. Let it happen.
Thanks, Zach. Appreciate that. Well, like I said, I'm not a fan of tanking just because I think even if your plan is to tank for Tua or tank for Sam Darnold or tank for whomever you think, it doesn't always work the way you want. They're going to try to be – and I give them credit for that. I don't have a problem with that. I want to see teams that do compete.
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Chapter 6: What role does scheme play in quarterback development?
I thought he played well. I thought he was unselfish moving to safety when he knew that maybe his best position is corner. Although he got beaten off a lot, Sean, he did. And so I'd have to make a decision on that as well.
Yeah, I think he's a guy that you could be okay running it back with and saying, does he become safety from here on out full-time? I would assume that that's his move. We've seen a lot of really good cornerbacks make that transition. You think of Woodson, of course, in past years.
The Steelers' MO is they're not going to move off of these guys that still, they believe, have even a little bit left. So I would assume Ramsey's going to be back. Watt's going to be back. The question with Hayward is, does he want to be back? That's going to be his decision. But I do think that they will, by and large, keep the veterans in place.
Now, again, I think it's a different story if they bring in more veteran free agents. That, to me, would be a step in the wrong direction. But keeping the guys that they have that they think are still quality players, that's my full expectation of what they'll do. All right, let's go back to the board.
We have a lot of people calling in from, geez, Sean, all over the country it seems.
Yeah, well, we'll stay local. We're going to go out to Steven in Glassport. Steven, what's up?
How you doing, Paul?
Good. What's going on?
If the Steelers are looking for a new coach, I think they should get Bill Coward back as a coach again for – Are they looking for Mike Malarkey?
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Chapter 7: How have recent draft classes influenced quarterback success?
in that mindset where he wants to do that. Who's next? Mike in Jacksonville. Jacksonville, Florida. They got, man, another disappointment, although I think Liam Cullen did a very good job. Mike, what's going on?
Hey, good morning. I really don't care about the Jaguars. I'm a Steeler fan.
There you go.
Anyway, personally, I really don't care who the coach is because you really need to have the Jimmys and Joes for the coach to be really good. But if you're basing your last performance, this team definitely needs a nose tackle. I mean, yes, they need a quarterback. Yes, they need a wide receiver. But they still cannot stop the run consistently. And they need a nose tackle fiercely. Thanks.
Have a good day.
All right, Mike. Thanks. Well, they do need help defensively to stop the run. While they had some good games against the run, like, for example, Jonathan Taylor was neutralized. Like, for example, the Bears basically were held in check, but Buffalo ripped them apart. Henry ripped them apart. There are a lot of games that you can't allow that to happen. And I do like Keanu Benton.
I do like Derek Harmon. If Cam comes back, I mean, no reason to think he can't produce the way he has, but they still need more people there. They've had guys they've drafted later in rounds that have not produced anything. and they need more people.
Harmon clearly is an impact player on defense, but do you think that that selection will be one that Steelers fans lament down the road when they had some pretty dynamic offensive guys, including a quarterback?
That's Joe's guy, and Jackson Dart looked good, and it's one of the reasons I'm sure Harbaugh went to the Giants. I do have concerns about his health long-term, though. He has, and he's had a concussion. He's also had other injuries, missed some time.
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Chapter 8: What are the Steelers' immediate needs heading into the offseason?
and you can get your points across as well. We have a lot to get into. We're also going to break down some of these other decisions, like Broderick Jones, fifth-year option. Do they spend the money on him? What about Kenneth Gainwell? Had a very good year. He's going to bet on himself, and he'll get another contract. There are so many things to do. Jonu Smith was another guy that I don't know.
If they're not going to utilize him the way I thought they would this year, then what's the point of having him on as well? A lot of decisions that have to be made for the Steelers coming up, and we want to share those with you at 412-928-9370. Well, it is 1128. That's our time check. And it's brought to you by Nine Yards Golf Lounge.
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the Block Northway in Ross Township and Washington County. We're going to take more calls on the way. We'll also expand a little bit to the Penguins. I want to talk about their problems and where they are as a team. I think it's a good team, but they have some problems that need to be changed. We'll delve into that, as well as Kyle Tucker, $240 million for a guy who had 22 home runs last year.
What does this mean to the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates at all with any of the guys they want to sign, most notably Paul Skeens? We'll get into that and more right here. It's the Pomp and Joe Show, Sports Radio, 93.7 The Fan.
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