Steelers Coaches Have Double-Called Defenses

James Harrison on the Steelers coaches screwing up the defensive calls.

“I feel like it needs to be more disciplined, some of the things that they do coaching wise, I feel like some of the situations that we were in when we were there as far as time management, calling of defenses,” Harrison said of Tomlin’s coaching. “We had a situation where we had double-called defenses because, you know, one thing was said and then someone said something else. So, you got half the defense playing one defense, the other half playing something else. So, you get situations out there where it looks bad, like, oh, this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing. Well, he’s just playing a different defense possibly on that play than what the other half of the defense was playing.”

This explains a lot to me. How many times have we all seen wide open gaps in the defense and confused players looking at each other after a big gain.




https://www.steelersdepot.com/2018/...have-double-called-defenses-quite-frequently/

 

I mentioned this in the harrison thread but either way this is bad coaching because it happened quite often according to James. Communication amongst the players has been the blame for a couple of years now but it seems the blame needs to be on the coaches and that part starts with the head man as the guy that needed to fix it. Maybe he was part of the problem.

Let's go to the offensive side with RF. The talk so far is how prepared he is far ahead of just the next play and unaffected by confusion. I am paraphrasing of course but what a difference this should make compared to the Chinese fire drill happening on the defensive side.

This is the pros. This should not be an issue this many years in a row. If a player is seeing this and it continues, who should get the blame? The players? We are trying to win a championship and I'm not sure we can with this staff. Brings up the question in my mind if it really was a win with cowhers players and in their prime was enough to overcome the coaching at the time. What else is in a mess here? Drafting? Tackling? Situational play calling? Development? You make the call.

 

This is what happens when a head coach is changing plays counter acting the DC who should be the lone voice calling the defense, tomlin causing confusion on defense is the main culprit since he isnt a good defensive coach to begin with and butler should tell him either I run the defense or you can find someone else to let you co manage it.........

 

it was happening before last year diamond. i think the problem is MT. you have part of this correct but im going to add something to your thought here. is MT trying to mentor butler/ is butler just a figurehead for MT to become the head of the defense because he thinks he knows best? MT couldnt do this with DL still here but as soon as DL was on his way out MT started messing with the DBs in camp. remember he was trying to slowly teach the tampa two system to them a little at a time. he had these young defensive coaches like lake, olsavsky, porter, and butler in a new job. next we here of him calling defenses. the D has been a mess since. he could show these younger coaches just how much he knows and pass the blame when its not working. butler looks bad, the position coaches look bad but the real culprit is the head man. just my opinion though but man this all stinks like the confusion is self inflicted by one source and now he needs seasoned coaching to help fix it. (bradley and dunbar) much like he has done on offense with the coaching has begun. surround yourself with knowledge and make yourself look knowledgeable. (munchak, mann, now drake, daniels, saxon and fichtner). they have let this go on far too long and our window may have closed before its figured out.

 

I agree with most of this. I definitely think MT is overruling Butler and changing calls. Ive thought that for a while now. You cant have two guys calling the sets or your going to have mass confusion. That being said, Butler sucks. He replaced Lebeau and really didnt bring anything new to the table. MT wouldnt have to change play calls if he had confidence in Butler. If Cowher were still coaching Butler would have been fired 2 years ago.

 

I think LeBeau still being here for that SB was more of an impact than having "Cowhers player's". (an argument I find hard to prove one way or the other). MT was a new HC and he wasn't going to intrude on the defense with a respected LeBeau. Once Butler came on, MT saw his window to finally start getting his fingers in there.
The communication problems are definitely on the coaches though, whoever it is. Players can't execute when its a free for all. Haven't been a fan of Butler and these things keep coming up and reinforcing it. But does all the fault lie with Butler or with MT interfering. I don't think we will know for sure.

 

If a HC doesnt trust his DC he should fire him not micro manage him and there isnt a DC worth his salt that would put up with MT micro managing his defense ....

 

All of what you are saying is the reason he shouldn't be a head coach. But honestly as a head coach he kind of needs/needed to get his prints on how he wants to run things. Only that we are now realizing he isn't very good at it.

 

It was falling apart before Butler took over. 2013(?)season, when they started 0-4. The Vikes game in England always stood out to me as a bumbling mess. A lot of pre snap (and post snap) confusion.

 

Ugh those are some ugly plays.

 

This is it exactly. Anyone remember Tim Lewis? Cowher had no confidence in Lewis and made the change. MT should do the same. Bring in a solid DC and then stand back and let him do his job.

 

By halfway thru the season, that was the Vikes only W.

 

Any chance Harrison would have been less confused about the defense if he hadn’t been sleeping in the team meetings?

He’s just a grump. And I know grumps. And if I ever meet him, I’m telling him you posted this.

 

Heres a report that shows how lax tomlin has become:

a third report, which surfaced on Friday about star running back Le'Veon Bell skipping most of the walk-through practice on Saturday, the day before the Jacksonville playoff game, and then showing up late on the day of the contest (something that, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ed Bouchette, who brought this all to light, was not uncommon for other players during the season), is quite alarming, alarming enough to make that first report seem not so laughable.



https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...d-as-bad-as-he-does-right-now-news-rumors-nfl

https://defpen.com/is-mike-tomlin-the-nfls-most-overrated-head-coach/

 

This post makes about as much sense as me trying to read this in Arabic.

 

Butler has improved the pass rush from what it was in LeBeau's last few seasons. They set a franchise record last season with 56 sacks.

 

It's almost like, some of us have been pointing out coaching failures for years.

 

Id rather have less sacks and not get gashed for 200 yards on the ground. Id rather have less sacks and better communication in the secondary.

 

The coaches dont even communicate so how can you expect the players to do it, butler calls one defense and tomlin calls another, it's hopeless under that scenario?

 

Its only a matter of time for everyone to realize

 

What's that saying? Lies, damn lies and statistics? A lot of those sacks were against terrible teams, like the 0-16 Browns. They also gave up a lot of big plays in their obsession to get sacks. We got ripped up the middle on rushing plays because of it. They left massive gaps all over. I am ticked off that this team is a bunch of clowns, piling out of a little car. What an embarrassment. Tomlin should be grilled for this s---t. WTF is wrong with the Rooneys, allowing this mess?

 

Had to do it @Watt Wack

 

Don't know but if true that's some scary stuff for a Professional team in this day and age.
I will say I don't care for the lax policies in regard to players and discipline. The chin was no rocket scientist but he could and would hold you accountable for your actions. I do miss that much.
Hope Bradley helps.