Chapter 1: What are the current trends in NFL coaching searches?
Bob, things are getting very exciting in here. I bet you've never been in a place where somebody else is getting their photo taken and not you. Oh, I like it. Smile for the camera, Joe. I will. It's got to be natural, though. I'm getting my photo taken for the Trib Column right now, Lim. It's live and on the air. Isn't this exciting for you as well? It's very exciting.
It is.
It's fun to observe. All right, Bob, I'll try to act natural during this segment.
You've got to smile really good. He's right there. It's so unnatural, but you've got to make it seem natural.
I know. All right, we have Chris Hoke coming on. You want me to talk? Super Bowl champion Chris Hoke, and there's just a couple things going on. What limits? What happened? I just got to connect Hokey. Oh, okay. Well, by the time... Look at the Ron Cook fathead. I know. This is miraculous.
He came in here, Austin wanted to find, but it needs to be raised. Just a little bit, yeah.
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Chapter 2: Who does Chris Hoke prefer as the Steelers' head coach candidate?
You know what, though? He does look tan, and I think he probably is very tan.
Oh, he's at the beach every day. It's nice at Fort Myers, yes. Every day it's nice. Okay, so when we get Hokie, let's ask him, Bob, who his preferred candidate is. Ask him about the end of the Mike Tomlin era.
and millions of other questions right yeah anthony weaver apparently uh interviewing with others and is a coveted candidate it would seem surprisingly enough i mean he was sort of off my radar when this whole thing started you yeah uh he certainly was on
John Harbaugh's radio. He spoke glowingly about him last year saying he was going to get an opportunity, and if he got one, he would just kill it and do well. So I think he's the guy who I described to you the other day as the CEO mentality guy. That's what everyone seems to say about him. So... You know, and that's a big part of what goes on here.
You've got to be able to have that part of your game in order. But he's a defensive coach. And if you look at the actual numbers, which you can use or not use, but if you use them, you'll probably come away thinking, eh, they're kind of middle of the road.
Here's my question for you. Clint Kubiak as opposed to the other Kubiak. No, Clay. Clay, right. If the idea behind Mike McCarthy, the attraction with Mike McCarthy, and I heard the PM guys had a good conversation about this, is that he's going to develop your next quarterback. He's got a good offensive mind, all of that. I hear that. But why wouldn't you want the younger version of that?
That's what I don't understand. This guy has done a tremendous job with Sam Darnold out in Seattle, right? Now Darnold was already under the tutelage of Kevin O'Connell last year. I get it. But Kubiak's done a great job with that offense.
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of offensive-minded coaches in the NFL?
He worked under Kyle Shanahan as the pass game coordinator in San Francisco. Listen, I'm a guy who's not young anymore, but I'd rather have the younger guy in that role. And then depending on how McCarthy's immediate future plays out, why couldn't you have him as a senior consultant like a Tom Moore type? You know what I mean?
That to me, people are talking about Sheil Haas and Shula as the dream combo. How about having Clint Kubiak as your head coach with Mike McCarthy as your consultant? And then you go out and choose your defensive coordinator and hand somebody the defense. Bob, I think Clint Kubiak. They might interview him. DeFabo said they still might.
Well, there are other guys they may bring in, too. Apparently, they're just going to take their time. And go with what they think is best. But also, I do like that role with McCarthy, like you said. But I don't know if he'd be willing to do it. Maybe he would be willing to do it. Because, I mean, what else are you going to do? He's a football lifer. And he's in his hometown and all this stuff.
So he might be interested in doing that. But when you're being interviewed for the head coach, I don't think your thoughts are, I'm going to be a consultant here.
No doubt. No doubt, but I don't know what other, does he have any other opportunities as a head coach or even a coordinator?
I don't know. You know, there are a lot of jobs still wide open. It doesn't seem like some of these cities are getting enough play. I don't know who's interviewing. Have you heard a list of Arizona candidates? No, I haven't even paid attention to Arizona. Actually, I'm going to look just because I want to see what's going on there.
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Chapter 4: How does Chris Hoke view Will Howard's potential as a quarterback?
Let's bring in the Hokenator. Is he coming in by video or what are we doing here? He's on the phone. He's on the phone. He's on the Sullivan Super Service fan hotline, Pittsburgh's trusted plumbing and HVAC provider for over 50 years. Hello, Dr. Hokenstein. Hey, what's going on, guys? Not much, man. It's just Bob and I in the studio with a Ron Cook fathead sitting next to us.
Well, I'll tell you what, it's almost as good as having the wrong cooking studio, isn't it?
Almost. Almost. So, Hokie, who's your preferred candidate of the known candidates? Let's start with that one.
You know what? I'll tell you what, that's a loaded question. But I would take, you know, for me, it would be the D.C. out in San Francisco. I think he's doing that. I'm sorry, out in the Rams. I like him. He's young. He fits the mold, kind of the guy the Steelers have always kind of gone after traditionally. And I like the shell house, like you said earlier.
I like bringing him in as the opposite coordinator. But the Steelers can be patient here. There's a lot of there's a lot of guys out here. And I think the Steelers might be able to land who they want at the end of the day.
Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of good names. I do think they're going to take their time on this, Chris.
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Chapter 5: What role does Ben Roethlisberger believe a quarterback should play?
Do you have a preference? Does it matter? The game has changed. Defense is still valued, of course, and I think you have to have a strong defense. Look at the teams that are left. Seattle leads the way in that, and Denver's very good as well, and so is New England. But the game has changed in that offense has been more highlighted. The rules seem to cater to offense.
Does it matter to you who your head coach is, whether it's an offensive or defensive guy?
You know what? I would like to see them go towards the offensive gap, but I'm kind of looking at what they've done in the past. You see the trend right now. It's a lot of these offensive-minded coaches. The Steelers need to be more creative, more aggressive offensively, and kind of change what they've got going on there. The hope is that they bring in a new quarterback.
We'll see what happens there. But you see the trend in the NFL is bringing in these These offensive-minded coaches, whether it's Ben Jones or the Steichem or whoever it is, right, you've got these offensive-minded coaches that are coming into these teams, and they're really changing the trajectory of these teams.
The teams that have been bottom dwellers for years, for decades some of them, are now winning. And so I think I would love to see the Steelers buck their own tradition and go out and get an offensive mind. The reason why I say the DC down and, you know, Shula down in LA is because that kind of fits what they've always done. But me personally, I'd like to see them go offensive.
Plus, Shulin is a name that resonates with the Steelers because Chuck Knoll worked with Don Shula, and Don Shula recommended him for the Steelers' job, so I think they do acknowledge that sort of stuff. All right, there's guys here that may not get a second interview, but it's interesting because Jesse Minter, we talked about him yesterday, the Chargers defensive coordinator.
He's been in pretty good demand, but I don't know, and again, there's still a lot of time for this to happen, but he doesn't seem to be as high on the Steelers' list. Do you like him? Do you like what the Chargers did defensively?
No, listen, I like him. I think he's a young coach. I think he fits kind of what they want to do, but you haven't heard.
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Chapter 6: Why is building a strong roster essential for the Steelers?
A lot of times you'll hear names of ones that they're interested in. He's just not one for some reason. You can't be interested in 10 guys. You've got to whittle this thing down. Did I read, Paul, that he was kind of a guy in Baltimore, that he was a leading guy out there?
So was Anthony Weaver, and so was Flores. All these guys have been down there, all defensive guys.
They're all great coaches. Here's my thought, though, on this coach. I heard you guys talking about McCarthy. I like the idea of bringing McCarthy in. I think Tom Moore, like what Starchy was saying. I just don't see the Steelers bringing in a coach who's been a head coach before.
I think they want to bring a young guy in, whether it's offense or defense, that's innovative, that's got great, great background, part of a great coaching tree. and go that route. I just don't think that they'll go a head coach. And I can be wrong, but I just don't see them going a head coach who's already been head coach before.
Chris Hoke on the Sullivan Super Service fan hotline, Super Bowl champion. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia Peters Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. The text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder & Associates, a personal injury law firm where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you.
Well, Hokie, you could argue that there's one open position that's even more important than coach, and that's quarterback. And I want to play you something that Ben Roethlisberger said on his podcast, Footballin'. So take a listen to this clip, and we'll get your reaction. I think it starts with him saying, you know, he would prefer if Rodgers came back. He'd like that. But in lieu of that...
I don't think it hurts to try and bring Aaron back. If you can, if he wants to, for another year, for the reason of helping Will Howard to grow for another year. That's scenario one.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the Steelers' coaching decisions on their future?
If Aaron is back, then I have no problem with Aaron coming back and helping Will Howard for another year. And if Will stays healthy, he's your number two. He might get some reps in. He'll get... all the reps in the preseason. He'll get lots of reps in practice in games where either one way or another, you just never know. He's going to get his reps.
If Aaron's not in the scenario, I would go with Will Howard this year. But what I would do is I would bring in a veteran quarterback that is like a league minimum type quarterback that is a great teammate, a guy that can still help
you can plug and play if you need to yeah right so if will gets dinged or if it's like hey struggling a little bit i'm thinking of guys like marcus mariota i'm thinking of guys like carson wentz and then and then you're like okay this can kind of help and and just keep growing will because again will's a fifth or six rounder like six rounder that cut off abruptly uh he's endorsing will howard what do you think of that hokey
Well, I think he didn't play too. I listened to what Ben said. I think Ben went on to say also that, you know, when he came in, there was already a monstrosity of talent, a lot of veteran leadership, you know, and so he said he wouldn't go out and draft a quarterback high.
He would build a team up and then bring a quarterback in with a loaded team versus going out and bringing a quarterback in with a team that's old and really just, you know, dragging along. So, I agree with what Ben's saying. I think you do some of that, but I think also that the Steelers need to bring in their franchise quarterback.
I'm not sold on Will Howard being the franchise quarterback, even though John Gruden thinks he's the guy. We haven't seen anything from him yet. I'm not saying he's not. We haven't seen anything yet. But I tend to agree with Ben that the Steelers need to build this team up. and find a way to keep that position serviceable until they find their franchise quarterback.
But they've got to be able to, if they're going to bring a franchise quarterback in, Starkey, they've got to have a supporting eligible group that can help them out. Right now, I don't know what the eligibles they have right now can help them out.
Well, that's what they need to change in this draft come up. They can certainly address what they need on offense to build a better roster on offense, and then they can worry about the quarterback situation. So you're saying you would not want Aaron Rodgers back regardless?
No, I didn't say that. No, I'm fine with that approach.
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Chapter 8: How can the Steelers effectively utilize their draft capital?
I'm just saying I think they need to work on their eligibles. And like Ben said later in his podcast, You know, if you don't draft a quarterback right away, get some eligibles there, get some guys around him. And maybe Rogers can help do that and help bring those guys along, too, because he's such a great leader. And then when you have some pieces...
then bring in that quarterback because you're setting them up for success.
If you bring them in now with, you know, really only having the eligible of DK Metcalf, who can't go up and catch combat catches, you know, drops balls every game, you want to have a couple more eligibles that are reliable, dependable guys that can really be highly productive so that when a young guy comes in, you set him up for success.
One name that hasn't been mentioned this entire two minutes is Mason Rudolph, and I know you're a big supporter of Mason. I still think that there's something there, but Ben didn't mention him. He mentioned Marcus Mariota.
What role, let's say Rodgers doesn't come back, how do you see this quarterback room working with what they have and what they need to, and who would be another guy you'd add to your roster?
Honestly, that caught me too when Ben said that. I thought Ben would say Mason, but for some reason he didn't. I mean, you know, I think Mason's better than those guys, Mariota, and I think Mason's better than Carson Wentz, who's way past his prime. But I think that, you know, Mason can be that guy. I think Mason's a great teammate.
Mason could be there to mentor Will Howard just as much as any of those guys could. So I would go with Mason Rudolph if they decide not to bring back Aaron Rodgers. I still think Mason, give him a leash, let him know that he ā Those are his keys to the team. I think you can see Mason play well.
Ben didn't even mention him, for God's sakes. No. He didn't. Nope. That was interesting, I thought. So what would it be, Hokey? What would your choice be? If I give you the choice of Rodgers coming back, maybe with Mike McCarthy, Will Howard getting a chance to prove himself or handing the reins to Mason Rudolph, which of those three would you opt for?
I don't think Aaron Rodgers would come back. I think that it's going to be unless they get a top guy in the draft. My thing would be go with Mason and Will Howard. Let's see what you have in Will Howard. Continue to build your team other places in the draft.
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