What's the problem with the F word?

FIRED! Why do the Steelers seem to have an issue firing underperformers? I've mentioned on another thread that Rooney forcibly "retired" BA at the end of last year and would still contend that he wasn't fired. Tomlin seems to have an issue firing anyone for some reason. He planned to keep Amos Jones after the worst special teams performance in the history of the NFL. Amos was too embarrassed to stay in Pittsburgh so he decided to "fire" himself and head west. The S&C coordinator is still here in spite of the fact that most octogenarians at The Villages are in better shape than a certain fat and lazy LB currently drawing his enormous paycheck by sitting in the hot tub for most weeks during the season. The RBs have regressed. We have two number one draft picks invested in defensive linemen who just don't seem to belong in the NFL at this point in their careers, at least not at the echelons of a number one draft pick. Even though these units have grossly underperformed, the respective coaches of these units, John Mitchell and Kirby Wilson are resting comfortably on their laurels, waiting patiently for the day that they become the offensive and defensive coordinators of our storied franchise.

When you as the HC are allowing this type of underperformance, everyone becomes lethargic and mediocrity becomes "the standard". Coaches no longer coach with an edge knowing that there seemingly is no accountability. They lose that sense of urgency knowing that their individual units hold their very livelihoods in their hands with their performance. This kind of contentment trickles down to the players who grow soft and willing to accept average performance because they see the lack of accountability all around them.

Coach T, this is one F word you need to learn how to say, FIRED! If you don't learn how to say it with a little more regularity, you may end up hearing it much sooner than you expected.

 

This period between the Super Bowl and draft day in April is pretty damn slow, eh? Not much to talk about. That's for sure . . .

 

F BA!

 

You really have no idea what goes on behind closed doors nor do I. Where I work in 20 years I have seen maybe 6 people fired, but I've seen probably 200 people laid off. A good portion of those people I know they would never hire back, nice way of saying you're fired. Who really cares what they call it, these guys are gone.

Hey remember there was a bit of a movement here calling for Kirby Wilson to be our OC last season. That didn't last long.

 

You're absolutely right, I don't know what happens behind closed doors. These are simply my thoughts and opinions on the matter based on my observations as a pretty serious fan of the team and based on some things I've read in the press. My opinion is that Tomlin is much too willing to accept mediocrity and underperformance and all of this "the standard is the standard" bullcrap is just lip service.

 

LOL! Oh there's always plenty to talk about, DS. You've been a member of this MB long enough to know that haven't you?

Edit: I just noticed that you just joined in December so maybe not. Stick around long enough and you'll see.

 

Maybe the people you want to be fired have clauses in their contracts. Maybe Tomlin can't speak for the Rooney's when it comes to having to buy someone out of their contracts. Maybe it's all corporate nonsense that discourages firing anyone. Maybe it's all of those things. Maybe it's the same reason I can't just fire my crew for underperforming because legal fears a lawsuit.

 

Jack wants him fired.

 

You guys might want to re-read the post. I know the implication is certainly there but I don't explicitly call for his firing. In another thread I said that I'd fire the S&C coordinator TODAY and let Wilson and Mitchell know that unless there was significant improvement in their respective units in the upcoming season that they would be FIRED! (there's that f word again)

Think of it this way. The Steelers have invested significant capital in certain assets (Mendy, Hood, Heyward, etc.) and it is up to these coaches to make sure that the team realizes an adequate return on these investments. At this point in time, these investments are in the red.

 

I don't remember the timing for sure, but I seem to remember several suggesting Wilson be the OC before them tweets. I could be wrong though. People here wanted him to be the OC non the less. My point was look how quick he went from having support to calling for his head. And he can't just leave he has to be fired, it's the only way. Lol

 

One of the problems is that firing is one of the few public signs we can see of anything happening within the organisation. Other than that, we have to wait for things like America's Game to reveal what went on, or for there to be some kind of blow-up (remember when Ben was in trouble the second time, and a lot came out about bust ups in the team meetings between him and Porter?). But those things are always in hindsight. It would be a poorly run organisation if discussions about the team's day-to-day running were aired in public.

With a team like the Steelers, it's all the more tougher for us because of they traditionally haven't been a team to be a constant state of hiring and firing. Historically, teams
that have been quick to hire and fire have not fared as well. So we're often faced with a wall of silence, which we might intepret as resting on laurels.

In some ways, this thread reminds me a little of the discussion we were having the other day about hiring Batch or Ward as a coach. It's a similar logic: there, it was "hire someone who is younger, as they'll be better"; here, it's "fire someone who;s underperforming, as anyone else will be better". But neither of those arguments guarantee anything better than what we've got, and that's why I think both of those arguments miss the point.

There are many, many reasons for underperformance, and what I would hope is that Tomlin is in the office going over what went wrong, what can be done to fix it and the extent to which those fixes need more severe changes like firings. If he is doing this (and I see no reason why he wouldn't be - no coach of the Steelers would be happy with 8-8) then that may well still appear to us on the outside as sitting on his ass doing nothing.

(Having said all this, if we go 8-8 or 9-7 again next season, I might have to start retracting some of it...)

 

You still don't understand what "the standard is the standard" means? If you need to be enlightened just asked.

You believe that any professional football coach wants to accept mediocrity? The organization can't go around firing people simply because a season doesn't go as planned. One season isn't always enough time to evaluate coaches or players. Sometimes financial considerations prohibits the organisation from releasing players and coaches that are under contract.

 

I think I understand what "the standard is the standard" means but correct me if I'm wrong. It means that Tomlin expects excellence every time our players step out on that feld. It means next man up doesn't give us an excuse to accept a drop off in performance. Unfortunately, many of our players and some of our coaches apparently aren't getting the message.

 

not this year they didnt