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We certainly know the coordinators, Dick LeBeau and Bruce Arians.
We know about their potential heir apparents, Keith Butler and Randy Fichtner.
We know the long-term veteran DL coach and assistant head coach John Mitchell.
We know about the improvements made by Sean Kugler and Carnell Lake.
Yet, we never seem to hear anything about the guy who is coaching the position that is deepest with young talent (coaching up guys who all have round 3 pedigree or later). Many people may not even know the name of WR coach Scottie Montgomery.
When QB coach Kenny Anderson retired after the 2009 season, WR coach Randy Fitchner was promoted to QB coach at that time, and Tomlin nabbed Duke WR coach Scottie Montgomery to replace him. Other than a non-descript 3 year NFL career in which he caught 16 passes for 160 yards and 1 TD in total, there didn't appear to be much to get excited about with this hire.
However, consider that Wallace, Brown, and Sanders have all been developed under Montgomery's watch. Scottie wasn't here for Wallace's rookie year, but he was here for his breakout second season (60 catches 1,257 yards 21.0 YPC average 10 TD's) and Wallace is poised to improve upon those numbers in his 3rd NFL season (2nd with Montgomery). Montgomery has been Brown and Sanders' only WR coach at the NFL level, and he had them competing with one another for playing time from the very start of their rookie seasons, and by the end of the year, they were making clutch catches to clinch playoff victories. Now this year, Brown is on pace for a 70 catch 1000 yard season (remarkable for a 6th round pick in his second year), and Sanders was impressive as well before getting hurt. You'd have to think that Montgomery has played a major role in developing this "Young Money Crew" but you rarely hear anyone giving him any credit as the Young Money Coach (at 33 years of age, he is actually 2 years younger than one of his wideouts, Hines Ward). Perhaps it is time that we recognize his contributions to the team's exciting young WR corps.
We know about their potential heir apparents, Keith Butler and Randy Fichtner.
We know the long-term veteran DL coach and assistant head coach John Mitchell.
We know about the improvements made by Sean Kugler and Carnell Lake.
Yet, we never seem to hear anything about the guy who is coaching the position that is deepest with young talent (coaching up guys who all have round 3 pedigree or later). Many people may not even know the name of WR coach Scottie Montgomery.
When QB coach Kenny Anderson retired after the 2009 season, WR coach Randy Fitchner was promoted to QB coach at that time, and Tomlin nabbed Duke WR coach Scottie Montgomery to replace him. Other than a non-descript 3 year NFL career in which he caught 16 passes for 160 yards and 1 TD in total, there didn't appear to be much to get excited about with this hire.
However, consider that Wallace, Brown, and Sanders have all been developed under Montgomery's watch. Scottie wasn't here for Wallace's rookie year, but he was here for his breakout second season (60 catches 1,257 yards 21.0 YPC average 10 TD's) and Wallace is poised to improve upon those numbers in his 3rd NFL season (2nd with Montgomery). Montgomery has been Brown and Sanders' only WR coach at the NFL level, and he had them competing with one another for playing time from the very start of their rookie seasons, and by the end of the year, they were making clutch catches to clinch playoff victories. Now this year, Brown is on pace for a 70 catch 1000 yard season (remarkable for a 6th round pick in his second year), and Sanders was impressive as well before getting hurt. You'd have to think that Montgomery has played a major role in developing this "Young Money Crew" but you rarely hear anyone giving him any credit as the Young Money Coach (at 33 years of age, he is actually 2 years younger than one of his wideouts, Hines Ward). Perhaps it is time that we recognize his contributions to the team's exciting young WR corps.
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