Regime Change

Some or most of these guys are likely fairly good at their jobs. But that is beside my main point. The "logic" fans are using to evaluate is wildly inconsistent.

Austin ang Graham are versions of the same guy based on team rankings at various points: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/AustTe0.htm versus https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/GrahPa0.htm

But the hires are being viewed wildly different.

If Tomlin had stayed on and RETAINED the ILB coach....what would the fan response be? That same coach is being retained because he worked with McCarthy before and it is a good thing based on fan response. That is logically inconsistent.

The big knock on Tomlin's assistants was that they were old(er) and were only ever going to be assistants or position coaches. That is the EXACT career arc of almost all of McCarthy's hires.

Again....this does not mean they are bad hires or bad coaches....but that the response criteria are comically inconsistent. That's all.

I hope all of these guys are incredible coaches. I hope they have jobs in Pittsburgh for years and years to come.

 

You are comparing Austin and Graham, but the problem with that is they coached at two entirely different levels of organizations when it comes to support systems.

It would be like saying Tomlin would have accomplished exactly what he did in Pittsburgh if he went to the Raiders or the Browns. That argument doesn't hold water because there is no way in hell Tomlin would be able to repeat what he did with the Steelers at a $hit franchise.

This isn't something that can even be argued. You know this.

 

Lions and Bengals were well run organizations during the period in question? Really? That is a new take.

Steelers fans demanded change. Many spent the last 5-10 years calling for sweeping change.

I do not care how you slide the scales around and shift the parameters....this is not that.

The Mike McCarthy hire and him stalking his staff from top to bottom with experienced old heads from his previous coaching stops is about as close as you can get to the status quo in Pittsburgh and still have any change.

It might work out great. Who knows? But the same people that were calling for BIG changes are now celebrating what has got to about the most incremental set of changes you can make while replacing a coaching staff.

Using anywhere NEAR the same critical lens and detailed thinking that most fans have on the past 5-10 years of Steelers football and you have to arrive at serious skepticism about the 2026+ outlook. If you do not, then you are just changing the parameters for evaluation to suit your feelings.

I do not dislike the Grahamn hire. Not who I would have picked. But what do I know? Not a darn thing. But I can't sit here and realistically believe this dude is some bolt from the blue innovative hire and that he's going to spread his version of defense throughout the league.

 

Nowhere did I say that the Lions and Bengals were well run organizations when both these DC's were there.

You are making my point. Look at Austin's defenses when coaching at those horribly run franchises and compare that to how much better his numbers were with the Steelers organization.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/AustTe0.htm

Then compart that to Graham who has not had the chance to be a DC at a well-run organization with ultimate support before. He now has that chance and I hope he can take advantage of that and step up in a big way. Here's Graham's record as a DC.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/GrahPa0.htm

My point still stands that Mike Tomlin would have had nowhere near the success if he was at any of the teams that both Austin and Graham have coached before arriving in Pittsburgh. That's the point.

 

Ah! I get it now. I think.

I’m not saying Graham can not or will not be effective here.

I’m saying it’s the same old thinking. Head guy hires from the same stale list of names. No new ideas. No new perspectives.

The publicly announced hires for the 2026 Steelers coaching staff are different but they are also more of the same.

 

Gerald Alexander is not with the Steelers anymore, he signed with the Vikings, it sucks to lose him but Vikings made a very good hire so congratulations to Gerald and the Vikings

 

I'm so happy we are finally starting over. a new season all new coaches and everything -- maybe just maybe -we can win a playoff game or 2 or 3 and get to the Superbowl -And not just get there win it --