Carnell Lake hired as new DBs coach

[Steelgal]

Just received a tweet stating Lake is the new DB coach. Also saw the same post on FB.

[birtikidis]

Congrats Carnell! Now show those kids how to cover their man!

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Hope he's in shape. We might need him to play DB.

[steelerkeylargo]

Yup he sure is. :Cheers :tt2 :Beer

[Crash]

Any coach can teach a DB to play 8 yards off the ball on 3rd and 5.

[Oviedo]

Just received a tweet stating Lake is the new DB coach. Also saw the same post on FB.

Also just announced on 93.7 The Fan (KDKA)

He is one of my all time favorite players. I hope he can coach as good as he played.

[hawaiiansteel]

great hire! :tt2


Steelers Hire Carnell Lake As New Defensive Backs Coach

by Dave Bryan
Monday, March 07, 2011

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201103/20110303steelers_330.jpg


It was just announced a little while ago that former Steelers safety Carnell Lake has been hired to replace Ray Horton as the new defensive backs coach for the Steelers.

Lake played 10 seasons with the Steelers and was a five-time Pro Bowl safety from (1989-98). Lake interviewed last Wednesday with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin for the job that vacated when Horton took the defensive coordinator job with the Cardinals shortly after the Super Bowl. Lake coached the defensive backs at UCLA in 2009, but had to step down after one season due to personal issues. In the one year with UCLA he did a great job and we documented that here in this post: http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/03/a- ... s-at-ucla/ (http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/03/a-look-at-the-one-season-that-carnell-lake-coached-dbs-at-ucla/)

Lake also won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1997 and interned with the Eagles during the summer of 2009 at their training camp. Lake also becomes the second former Steelers player hired by Tomlin as an assistant coach as former linebacker Jerry Olsavsky is a defensive assistant with the team.

http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic ... ch/4336746 (http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/steelers_hire_carnell_lake_as_new_defensive_backs_ coach/4336746)

[Chadman]

Hello Rahim Moore....

[Oviedo]

Hello Rahim Moore....

Hope not. I don't think the newest coach in the room carries much weight. Especially given that he missed the Combine and would be way behind in film review of prospects.

[Blockhead]

Hello Rahim Moore....
In the second maybe. I certainly hope not in the first.

National Football Post quoted several sources saying he is no better than a 3rd round talent.

[Oviedo]

Hello Rahim Moore....
In the second maybe. I certainly hope not in the first.

National Football Post quoted several sources saying he is no better than a 3rd round talent.

Moore in Round 2 at #64 would be a value pick.

[Blockhead]

Hello Rahim Moore....
In the second maybe. I certainly hope not in the first.

National Football Post quoted several sources saying he is no better than a 3rd round talent.

Moore in Round 2 at #64 would be a value pick.
Depends who you ask. I like Chris Culliver in the 4th more.

[steelblood]

Culliver is a great athlete, but his instincts are pretty average. I think Moore is waaaaaay better (and I don't really like Moore).

Lake's opinion will count when it comes to Moore, no doubt. After that, he'll be asked to break down the tape like any other position coach.

One thing for sure, if Lake develops any talent that will be one more than Horton ever did.

[Captain Lemming]

Any coach can teach a DB to play 8 yards off the ball on 3rd and 5.

Yup.
One key is being able to run really fast like he could. Kinda hard to "teach" elite speed. With rare exceptions that requires a high pick. Talent is somewhat important, I'd say.

Hey, our centers were garbage until.....yes, we drafted one high. How is that for a plan?

Colbert can have a much greater effect on the quality of coverage than either Lake or Lebeau can.

[Discipline of Steel]

His arms are ripped in that picture.

It says Lake won DPOY in 1997 but he never did. That year it was Dana Stubblefield. The Steelers have 7 DPOY since 1970:

1972 Joe Greene
1974 Joe Greene
1975 Mel Blount
1976 Jack Lambert
1993 Rod Woodson
2008 James Harrison
2010 Troy Polamalu

Five players have won it twice: Greene, White, Singletary, Smith, and Lewis. LT won it three times. Shows the big defenders are most likely to dominate year after year.

[NorthCoast]

The fact is Ike Taylor had only one thing going for him when he was drafted, speed. He has learned all other things while playing the position. Speed can make up for quite a few ills in skill.

[Captain Lemming]

The fact is Ike Taylor had only one thing going for him when he was drafted, speed. He has learned all other things while playing the position. Speed can make up for quite a few ills in skill.

True, he is among what I called "few exceptions". He was so pathetically "raw" everywhere else that he fell into the area we tend to get our corners (round 3 or later) despite being our "one" corner with talent.

Too bad he cant cover two or three guys by himself. :)

Until he can do that we still might to consider spending a premium pick on a corner for a change.

[BURGH86STEEL]

Any coach can teach a DB to play 8 yards off the ball on 3rd and 5.

Yup.
One key is being able to run really fast like he could. Kinda hard to "teach" elite speed. With rare exceptions that requires a high pick. Talent is somewhat important, I'd say.

Hey, our centers were garbage until.....yes, we drafted one high. How is that for a plan?

Colbert can have a much greater effect on the quality of coverage than either Lake or Lebeau can.

As in most instances, it usually goes back to the players. Blaming the coaches for what the players can't do or don't have is pointless.

[jj28west]

First thing that comes to mind about Carnell was his true unselfishness and "team comes 1st" mentality when Cowher asked him to play corner. Love the hire.

[fezziwig]

I think it's great and I believe we can finally have a coach that can teach techniques.
Our guys are fast, can tackle, I believe good team players but yet, they at times seemed to lack something. Horton could never do anything with them in my opinion. I think with Carnell being such a good talented player and the fact he listened on top of that as a player he, will allow us to see the improvements that our guys are capable of making.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Anthony Madison never earned Lake's number...

http://sportsocracy.org/imgs/carnell.jpg

[Scalaid6]

What our Db's lack are BALL SKILLS.

They need to work on finding the ball in the air

[grotonsteel]

I think it's great and I believe we can finally have a coach that can teach techniques.
Our guys are fast, can tackle, I believe good team players but yet, they at times seemed to lack something. Horton could never do anything with them in my opinion. I think with Carnell being such a good talented player and the fact he listened on top of that as a player he, will allow us to see the improvements that our guys are capable of making.

William Gay is slow. Kennan Lewis can't grasp the mental aspect of the game. B-Mac maybe a good nickle corner but i don't think he is a starter in the league.

I am not sure hiring Lake is going to improve Steelers secondary woes. I would like steelers either to sign some FA apart from Ike taylor or draft some DBs whether it is a Safety to replace Clark or a CB to replace BMAc early in the draft and let Carnell work his magic on them.

[hawaiiansteel]

Lake gets first NFL coaching position

Tuesday, March 08, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201103/lake3_160.jpg

Courtesy Pittsburgh Steelers
Carnell Lake, will coach Steelers secondary

Carnell Lake might be the only football player in history who went from All-American college linebacker to NFL Pro Bowl safety to starting cornerback.

He will call on that unique perspective as the new secondary coach of the Steelers.

Coach Mike Tomlin, who interviewed Lake, 43, last week, hired him Monday to replace Ray Horton, who left to become defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. Lake will be reunited with his former secondary coach and defensive coordinator with the Steelers, D!ck LeBeau.

A second-round draft choice of the Steelers in 1989 from UCLA, Lake converted to strong safety and made four Pro Bowls while playing 10 seasons for the Steelers. He voluntarily moved to cornerback when his friend, Rod Woodson, missed virtually all of the 1995 season with a torn ACL.

Cornerbacks on occasion move to safety, particularly later in their careers, which is what Woodson did after leaving the Steelers, playing free safety with the Raiders and Ravens. It is rare for a safety to move to cornerback, especially one of Lake's size -- he played at 6 feet 1, 213 pounds. That is an imposing size for a cornerback but Lake also had the speed to go with it and made the adjustment smoothly to help save the Steelers at that position.

Coincidentally, Lake and Woodson have landed their first NFL jobs as secondary coaches this season. Woodson will coach the defensive backs in Oakland.

After playing 10 seasons with the Steelers, Lake left as a free agent to play two seasons with Jacksonville and a final one with Baltimore in 2001. He made a fifth Pro Bowl in 1999 with the Jaguars and was named to the all-decade team of the 1990s in the NFL. He had been in private business until he worked as a coaching intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in their 2009 training camp. That helped lead to a job as secondary coach at UCLA in '09. He quit that job after one season for what was described as a family matter.

Lake was the only known candidate to interview for the job.

A Steelers spokesman said Lake was in coaching meetings Monday and unavailable for comment. He and his wife Monica have three children.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11067/11 ... z1G2DMkART (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11067/1130436-66.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml#ixzz1G2DMkART)

[Oviedo]

What our Db's lack are BALL SKILLS.

They need to work on finding the ball in the air

Ball skills are meaningless when WRs are running past you and away from you.

[Dee Dub]

Hello Rahim Moore....

Hope not. I don't think the newest coach in the room carries much weight. Especially given that he missed the Combine and would be way behind in film review of prospects.

I hope so!

Moore would immediately upgrade the Steelers secondary. He is the one thing the Steelers havent had in a long time....a free safety who can cover and who has ball skills.

[hawaiiansteel]

Moore would immediately upgrade the Steelers secondary. He is the one thing the Steelers havent had in a long time....a free safety who can cover and who has ball skills.


if Rahim Moore is still there when the Steelers select in the 2nd round then we may very well have to strongly consider him...