If Mike Tomlin is ultimately fired...

[Steelerette]

TBH if we're going to go the route of cleaning house completely and letting the new GM participate in the coaching decision...

then I want Phil Savage

[st33lersguy]

I would rather have an OC or a DC from another team

[steelreserve]

Not only that, we may as well let Ben walk after his current contract is up if that were the case. Because we'd go right back to the "we don't need no stinkin' QB!" philosophy...

And go back to 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football? No thanks. I don't pine away for Cowher the way so many other fans do, like they were married to him or something.

Cowher's not the answer. And I liked Cowher. He was the right choice in 1992, not 2015.

Go outside the organization.

Do you guys really think that if Cowher came back (which I find highly unlikely), he'd immediately go back to the same thing he was doing 15 years ago? It's not as if he can't see, just like everyone else does, that the game has evolved in the meantime. You could say Chuck Noll or Vince Lombardi's philosophy wouldn't work today and you'd be correct, but only because you're locking them into the same exact philosophy they were using at the time, when that's what worked in the league. It wasn't their offensive schemes that made them successful, it was that they were good coaches and figured out how to win.

No, the point of that was not to compare Cowher to Lombardi or Noll, so please, don't even start.

At any rate, if you ask me, yes, Cowher II would be a big step over this shitfest. They have better options than that, though, and I'd also like to see them go in a different direction. It should probably be from outside the team, because the toilet needs to be flushed at this point. Just wouldn't be so quick to write off Cowher's ability, even though he probably is not the right guy for us.

[fansince'76]

Do you guys really think that if Cowher came back (which I find highly unlikely), he'd immediately go back to the same thing he was doing 15 years ago? It's not as if he can't see, just like everyone else does, that the game has evolved in the meantime. You could say Chuck Noll or Vince Lombardi's philosophy wouldn't work today and you'd be correct, but only because you're locking them into the same exact philosophy they were using at the time, when that's what worked in the league. It wasn't their offensive schemes that made them successful, it was that they were good coaches and figured out how to win.

Yes, I do, because he spent a decade-and-a-half with that style, he is the number one disciple of Martyball, and he probably still thinks that the number one way to win a game is to "physically impose your will" and shove it down other teams' throats, mainly on the ground.

Cowher was a good coach, but that was it. And he definitely had his warts, most notably his stubbornness and inflexibility. To win in the NFL in 2014, you need a QB first and foremost, and you also need to know how to manage QBs, and he was very much lacking in that department. And like Mojouw pointed out in another thread, he was one very fortunate tackle by Roethlisberger away from being a slimmer Andy Reid.

I see that Whiz's team just got waxed again while perusing the scores of other games and have now fallen to 1-3. That's about how I'd expect Cowher to do today, as Whiz is the closest thing to a Cowher clone there is. Well, clone is probably not the best choice of words, but he is the most prominent member of Cowher's coaching tree active in the league right now. And he also has his own issues with QB management.

[Mojouw]

As much as I'm sour on Tomlin right now, let's have the rest of the season play out. If we finish anywhere north of 7-9, he's in no real danger. Not saying that's good or bad, but rather, how it is.

Some of the trouble of letting Tomlin go is -- who really is out there to replace him?

1) Todd Haley. I don't think it would be as bad as people think, but I'm in the minority on that, plus he wouldn't be my first choice anyways.

2) Mike Munchak. Just can't see it happening.

3) Someone who gets fired after this season. Can't see it happening.

4) Rob Chudzinski. I would be on board with this one. Cleveland was drunk when they fired him.

5) Darrell Bevelle (OC Seahawks). Who was the last offensive-minded head coach the Steelers had? Bill Austin. In today's NFL, maybe it's what we need though.

Careful with that Bevelle choice, he was terrible with the Vikes a few years back. Amazing how good talent up and down the roster will make a coach look like a genius.

[tube517]

Do you guys really think that if Cowher came back (which I find highly unlikely), he'd immediately go back to the same thing he was doing 15 years ago? It's not as if he can't see, just like everyone else does, that the game has evolved in the meantime. You could say Chuck Noll or Vince Lombardi's philosophy wouldn't work today and you'd be correct, but only because you're locking them into the same exact philosophy they were using at the time, when that's what worked in the league. It wasn't their offensive schemes that made them successful, it was that they were good coaches and figured out how to win.

No, the point of that was not to compare Cowher to Lombardi or Noll, so please, don't even start.

At any rate, if you ask me, yes, Cowher II would be a big step over this shitfest. They have better options than that, though, and I'd also like to see them go in a different direction. It should probably be from outside the team, because the toilet needs to be flushed at this point. Just wouldn't be so quick to write off Cowher's ability, even though he probably is not the right guy for us.

I am not discounting Cowher as a good coach. Sometimes, you just need a new face.

Also, I don't think Cowher got along with Art II so that would be something they would have to deal with and is a separate issue.