Team coaches....

I have been very vocal the last few seasons on the need to replace our coaching staff.. right now, I have a hefty dose of crow to eat for a few of them, while 1 eval may still be spot on


Mike Tomlin --- still scratch my head about some of his decisions, but if your gonna blame him when things are bad, then you also have to credit him when thing are good

Teryl Austin --- I've been calling for his head for a while as well for his lack of game planning for what different opponents due well.... well... we just played Washington, who is lead by the this season's 2nd most prolific running qb behind Lamar Jackson, and schemed against him to the point where he was held to only 3 carries for 5 yds

Danny Smith --- for a few yrs, our special teams were truly dreadful, and I called for Danny Smith's head..... I'm getting quite fat on crow by this point... our special teams, since last season have been down right magical, and appear to be getting better every season

Pat Meyer --- near as I can tell, this has been the only one I've been totally right about... his blocking schemes call for guard help over the C, which constantly leave open blitzing lanes, and I can't begin to say enough about Broderick Jones' regression...

Arthur Smith --- jury's still out here, but his scheme seems to be built around the capabilities of the QB, which explains the offense under Justin Fields as opposed to Russell Wilson.... Still need to see the te's more involved, but so far, so good

 

Agree with most of this. Arthur Smith is the best OC we've had since Haley, IMHO.

 

Tomlin will be judged in the playoffs, and rightfully so with how our team has performed over his tenure. We've been playoff contenders every year he's been coach and never finished below .500. I think most fans (even his detractors) understand that for the better part of a decade he has been a low ceiling, high floor type coach that needs to get over the top again in order to cement himself as one of the all time greats. He is likely a HOF'er regardless, but if he can win over a decade and a half after his previous SB win, then there is zero dispute that he is a top 5-10 coach all time.

I'm still skeptical of Austin, as it seems our defense has clear and exploitable deficiencies that don't get fixed or addressed... as well as a high over-reliance on our stud pass rush to win the game for our defensive unit. However, it is hard to say that he sucks completely since our defensive personnel is amazing and he is still statistically relevant with a 2nd PPG in the league and the 8th YPG allowed in the league. We are 8th in takeaways as well.

Danny Smith has turned the ship around. We have the best ST's in the league currently and seem to make game changing plays more frequently than ever with blocks and returns.

Meyer... yeah. The OL hasn't progressed as we'd like and he hasn't made the young players better under his tutelage. I wonder if they are considering change or if they really think he is going to be the guy.

Smith is the best we've had in a while. There is purpose in his calls, it fits the style of the team/city, and overall the playcalling has been less and less of a point of contention. I expect it to continue to improve as he gets more games under his belt wearing the B&G.

 

Arthur is so much better the Canada, still I think Arthur could use more twicks to his game plan, like the toss sweeps to Harris, and not using Muth enough, using the I formation with Heywood at fullback that rarely works and teams know your going to run the ball and always stack the box.

 

What about the steady progress of some of the OL since He's been here???