what are the Rooney's thoughts now?

They must be burning hot now. Giving up 610 yards and 55 points is a complete embarrasment. if they don't improve over the next 8 games, expect biggest changes since the pre Noll days. Amazing.

 

Even if we went 0-16 this year I would STILL be SHOCKED if the Rooney's fired Tomlin. It's just not their way of doing things but I'm sure they aren't happy with how things are going. I really don't know who to blame specifically because their is so much to go around. Ultimately I think it's a personnel issue and coaches have to have some accountability there. I really just don't know if any coach in the league could win with the unit and I would imagine the Rooney's might feel the same. But there's really no way for me to know that honestly.

 

Its hard to blame Tomlin during this season... we all know this was a transition year with new players. Colbert and Tomlin as a drafting team is not cutting it though. The scouting and talent evaluation is just not cutting it right now.

Lebau I think is getting a little old. Yeah he looks good for being in his 70's, but if you listen to interviews you can hear he is slowing down...

 

His players aint getting any younger either. I still think Lebeau could suit up Sunday and cover better than Willy though. LOL.

 

I know they all have passion but to me Dan has got to be livid. Art Jr and associates really run the place like a bunch or Board Members and Chairpersons but Dan really carries the torch of Art Sr. None of them can be very pleased right now though.

 

The Rooneys have seen this type of season before and games like the last one before.

1983 lost 45–3 to the Lions
1989 lost 51-0 to the Browns
1989 lost 46-10 to the Bengals

I'm guessing that they realize that this is a re-building team (perhaps more than they previously thought) and that it's going to take a few years to turn it around.

 

IF we are in a rebuild do we rebuild with the same coaching staff too? If we are gonna rebuild do you think we should just get totally fresh blood from a coordinator perspective because I think Tomlin is absolutely safe?

 

For what its worth, i read earlier on facebook that some guy for usa today was reporting that Tomlin's job may not be secure as we may think. Ihavent seen this anywhere else so who kno's

 

If I was the Rooney's I would be thinking we need to turn it around to make a few good runs with Ben for the tail end of his career. We need to turn it around within 3 years for that to happen.

The way we develop guys on defense it could take forever. I'm really thinking we need to unload all the dead weight cap wise and go after a few positions in Free Agency that could really help us from day one.

We have trouble developing Offensive/Defensive Linemen and CB's. I would make a splash on one or two. Just enough to stop the bleeping that all the inexperience is causing this year.

 

I was telling someone today that we are so cap strapped that I really see no end in sight and the way contracts are structured with guaranteed money I don't know that we can just cut guys and then automatically have money to throw around. I was thinking that if we COULD do that though I would let some defensive guys go and put some great linemen in front of Ben and let our O carry our D for a while.

 

We don't know what the Rooney's thoughts are because they are low profile owners, unlike Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who runs to the microphone after every game to give his opinions.

 

I just hope they don't fire Tomlin and make Haley HC.

 

The Rooney's don't fire people. They "retire" people. LOL. Just ask BA.

 

Here is something to keep in mind when talking about the subject. There are alot more considerations for the Rooney's now then there were through the 70's and 80's, maybe even the 90's. They do have some other people that they have to answer to whether they are minority owners or not. Like it or not the team is more than just football, it is a recognizable brand and that brand has a dollar amount tied to it. Remember when Ben had his little Georgia party and the trade rumors started swirling. Many didn't believe it but any move the Rooney's would have made would not have been about football played on the field and more about protecting the brand. Sure we would love to say Tomlin's job is safe and he will get the same amount of time as Cowher did to right the ship but the situation is different now.

 

Tomlin was asked once if he felt like being the Steelers coach was the ultimate NFL job security and he said that he didn't really think it was because Chuck and Bill didn't have job security simply because they were the Steelers coach. He said they had it because they were winners. I guess we will find out if he is right if things continue to go the way they are.

 

no if you cut big contracts you take big hit for one year then you are clean on the book , if we have to rebuild we need to start now to have 2015 season cap cleanead

 

I don't necessarily think that the coaching staff should be safe no matter what but I'm just going off of history. Some other posters have made good points about how the climate in the NFL is different now so we'll see.

 

If I was Rooney, I would either fire or strip any rights on player personnel/draft decisions from Tomlin, Fire Colbert, Hire a sure fire GM, and ask DL to retire. It's time to turn the page, and close this chapter out.

 

If you do that, you might as well fire him.

 

In this era head coaches aren't safe after a couple of losing years, whisenhunt got fired for losing to the seahawks 50 something to nothing, Arians came in and got rid of 23 players off the roster, if a head coach lets a team age until they are incompetent then they deserve to be fired, tomlin deserves to be fired just like Leslie Frazier is going to be fired for letting the Vikings deteriorate, that's just the nature of the business, there are on average 7 head coaches fired every year, and those are the ones who let a team who made the playoffs, end up in the cellar the following year, 8-8 to steeler fans is a losing year, and this season is God awful, fire tomlin before he has a player revolt on his hands and destroys steeler history one game at a time....

 

You my friend are spot on....

 

One of the biggest questions Tomlin will have to answer is this: You won SB43 with a sub-par O-Line. Why can't you resolve this same issue, now?

 

Because the defense lost several cornerstone defensive players over the past 3 or 4 seasons. A few of the really good/great defensive players on the team are getting older. As a result, the defense is no longer capable of carrying the team.

People seem to believe that it's easy to replace a James Harrision, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, James Farrior, ect. Replacing those players isn't as easy as drafting prospects coming out of college. The simple fact is that any given year there may be only one player comparable to Casey Hampton, James Harrison, ect. coming out of college. The better the player, that more difficult it is to replace that player.

The Steelers don't have a franchise QB that is capable of carrying the team. I don't believe Ben is going to get better as he ages. Important questions for the future are: How much money does Ben and his agent think he is worth? Do the Steelers want to offer a 4 or 5 year contract extension to Ben based on the way he's played recently? If I were the organization I'd wait to extend Ben when his contract is up. Who knows, maybe they could get a couple of 1st round picks for Ben?

 

*** This is how I think the Rooneys see it, not as I see it ***
Haley .... out as OC, may move him over to scouting
LeBeau .. retirement, may be back as "consultant" though
Tomlin ... was safe, now undecided, will wait out the season to decide
Colbert .. safe till his contract expires