Be Careful What You wish For

Interesting information. I'm not sure if the past has anything to do with the future though. If the hire comes quickly and there are opportunities for him to meet with Ben and other key offensive personnel, the transition could be successful. Don't know what to think about this.

 

I don't know T.E. do you think that might have more to do with the teams they had during those times and the outsider mentality they might have had? There is something to be said for a guy being with the team at least for a year before getting a big promotion and having learned how things are done in the organization, gaining the players respect as opposed to the "who does this guy think he is" or "So this is the guy that is suppose to show us how to be us" type of mentality.

I have said before that this doesn't have to be as big of a deal as ppl are making it out to be especially Ben. Likelihood that anyone new scraps the entire playbook right out the gate especially on this team, that has got to be a small percentage. More than likely they bring in a guy to address the key areas where Arains was lacking.

 

Hmmmm I disagree here. My understanding would be that if a new coordinator came in, it would be HIS offense. Plays may be similar in a playbook, but the coordinator is going to have HIS language and his expectations. This is the only thing that worries me about getting rid of BA. Bringing in a new coordinator will entail installing HIS offense and his verbage. So, I don't think it is just as simple as saying - "Here's the playbook that we've BEEN using. Keep using it and just address problem areas." Instead, I would think that a new coordinator would be responsible for teaching HIS offense.

This was one of the reasons that Dick LeBeau was re-hired when Tomlin came on-board. The team had been highly successful on defense, and even though Tomlin was a 4-3 type of coach, he did not want to mess with the success of the Steelers defense by hiring a new coordinator.

 

If that is the case that would be a departure from what they have done in the past. I believe T.E. and I had this conversation in another thread. I don't remember any of the OC's that Cowher had coming in and radically changing all that much the lone exception being the failed air it out K-gun the year after Maddox had his big comeback year but that was stupid to begin with. Even when they promoted Arians it was reported that he wasn't going to re-invent the wheel as much as he and Ben would collaborate and stream line the playbook which had become bloated in recent years. I definitely think any one new will put his stamp on the O but a not a complete scraping of the system.

 

I hope you're right, but I would wonder about the quality of an OC who came in and just accepted someone else's playbook as his own. Having lived in NE Ohio for years may have affected me on this issue. They change coaches about as often as I change socks - including head coaches and coordinators. Every time a new coordinator comes in, the offense or defense has to learn a new system. I hope that's not the case.

 

It may be a gradual change over time rather than just starting over from scratch where eventually the new OC gets his system in place.

 

The article fails to mention that Ron Erhardt was hired outside the organization.

 

they have to find the right guy , is tomlin job ,is he able to do it ? soon or later arians has to go .... better be soon

 

I would wonder about the quality of an OC who would come in and impose his system without considering what we had and a transition. That would be a poor approach, and one who would take this approach should not be hired. Sure, we need fresh ideas, but not an overhaul.

 

I don't think you guys understand the job of an OC.

An OC does not and will never use another OC's playbook. An OC uses his own playbook and takes it with him from job to job. A new OC will bring his own playbook and his own language. Whether it's a similar system to BA's depends on the guy hired. A few of the guys would be coming with a completely different system if they were hired. A playbook consists of thousands of plays and the OC will narrow down which ones he believes the team can run successfully, then he will narrow it down even further based on the upcoming season schedule. New plays will also be drawn up once the OC meets with Ben and they talk about some things and those plays will stay with the OC forever.

A new OC will not be using BA type plays, he will be using plays which he believes the team will run successfully, plays which are in his playbook

 

Every single OC in history comes in and imposes his own system. Just because in the past different OC's have seen similar doesn't mean they aren't running their own system, it just means they have similar ideas. A new OC doesn't care what we had before, he cares what will work. If something worked in the past, it's likely to continue to work and it will be taken into consideration when drawing up this years playbook. But if you don't want an OC who will impose his own system, well then I guess we will not have an OC at all.

 

...which could very well be BA type plays...

 

Absolutely. A lot of plays are similar, that's something else that seems to be overlooked. It's the playcalling that will be the difference, not so much the plays. Sure, we'll probably see RB screens, WR screens, no bubble screen, more passes to the TE, etc. but it's not like we're going to suddenly see nothing but different plays than BA called.

 

Sherman and Gilbride were stuck with a WR playing QB so it's understandable that they weren't successful. I do remember the Joe Walton era and that was ugly. The Steelers did not score an offensive touchdown until the 5th game of the season. The fact that Walton was run out of New York after a 4-12 record in 1989 should have been a sign.

 

My quick 2 cents is...
As long as Ben doesn`t pout about it, and the players buy into whatever the new co-ordinater is selling...
At least... We will not be as predictable as we have been for the past 5 years...
The tape other teams have on us, should now, mean nothing!
Even if we still use the bunch formation, which I kind of expect, but don`t necessarily agree with... It doesn`t mean there is a 75% chance of us running a bubble screen from it...
All of our previous tendencies should be broken, now, and mean nothing to the defenses who are trying to figure out what we are going to do, based on down and distance/ formation!
I am EXTREMELY optimistic, that our talent will finally be able to do what they should have been doing for years, now!!!
Of course it all depends on who winds up in charge of our offense.
Would they bring a fullback back into the equation?
I doubt it. Few do. (Even if I think that`s a shame).
Would they line up in two back sets?
I can only hope so, but again, we won`t know until we see who we get.
One thing I am 90 percent sure of, is it can`t be worse than what we`ve had!!!!!!
Just to throw it out there....
Does Batch have the credentials/skills to be an O.C.?
I agree he would be an ideal QB coach, but offensive coordinater?
Too close to what we have now, so no real change?
Or could look at the game from Ben`s point of view, and be familiar with the players(talent/skill level) we have, and figure out a good way to attack opposing defenses with it?

 

Those things were in the pass. I am highly confident that whoever thhey hire will get the job done. First offs, he will have a lot of talent. He will have a good QB, a solid running back group, very talented wide receivers. The only thing they need to do is with the first two picks in the draft, draft two offensive linemen who are able to start right from the start like Pouncey. Everything will fall in place. As long as they change their mentality towards a balanced attack, they will be fine. The most important thing is that they hire someone who can develop a good running game. Forget all that stuff that Arians was doing, one back, empty back field, five wide on third and 2 or 3. They need to adopt a philosophy simular to what it was under Noll and Cowher. Forget about all that stuff about the league is a passing league now. Thats BS!! Look at the 49ers, they run the ball, infect, they look like the Steelers of old when Bettis was running. They run the football and only pass when they have too. They run Gore and get physical with you. Thats how the Steelers use to play. Under Arians they became a bunch of Cream Buffs.