1992-1995 Steelers

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  • whisper
    Legend
    • Mar 2020
    • 9423

    1992-1995 Steelers

    One of the rips on our current Steeler teams are that they just aren't that talented. They aren't, not compared to Cowher's.

    Cowher took over in 1992 and did inherit some decent talent from Noll's team https://www.pro-football-reference.c...991_roster.htm: O'Donnell, Hoge, Foster, Lipps, E Eric Green, John Jackson, Tom Ricketts, Dermontti Dawson, Carlton Haselrig and Tunch Ilkin on offense. Really, not too shabby, and that's an outstanding OL, back when the team knew enough to ensure we had a quality OL.

    On D, Pgh fielded Aaron Jones, Gerald Williams, Donald Evans, Bryan Hinkle (one of my favorite underrated players), Hardy Nickerson, David Little, Greg Lloyd, DJ. Johnson, Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake and Thomas Everett. I'd take the D over what we have today. The LBs? Sure, especially in the middle and, my God, they had Greg Lloyd, one of the best Steeler defenders of ALL TIME, even if he doesn't get the credit for it. The DBs? Without hesitation. The DL? As a unit, in a split second.

    It's no wonder that Cowher turned that team into an 11-win, playoff team right out of the gates. Noll's lack of touch had been greatly exaggerated in the 80's. Sure, he didn't repeat the 70's - where he assembled the greatest team in the history of the sport, but his teams were not total crap. They generally had great Ds and O-lines.

    But by the time 1995 rolled around, Cowher had upgraded the talent on that team, including the additions of Thigpen, John L. Williams, Dawson, Searcy, Buckner, Steed, Kevin Greene, Kirkland and Chad Brown.

    Check out the 1995 Pittsburgh Steelers Roster, Players , Starters and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.


    No wonder that team came within two BAD picks from NOD from winning it all (I always thought NOD was paid off to throw that game. Both those interceptions were out-of-this-world bad, worse than he had ever thrown in his career.)
  • Blitzer
    Pro Bowler
    • Nov 2022
    • 1069

    #2
    Look at Cowhers 1st draft. Searcy, Kirkland, Steed, Davenport 1-4 and then Perry in the 8th. That is back when we knew our identity and the players fed off their coach and vise versa. the 90s were a good QB away from being a dynasty

    Comment

    • Steel Maniac
      Banned
      • Apr 2017
      • 19472

      #3
      Originally posted by Blitzer
      Look at Cowhers 1st draft. Searcy, Kirkland, Steed, Davenport 1-4 and then Perry in the 8th. That is back when we knew our identity and the players fed off their coach and vise versa. the 90s were a good QB away from being a dynasty
      I agree with you.

      Comment

      • whisper
        Legend
        • Mar 2020
        • 9423

        #4
        Originally posted by Blitzer
        Look at Cowhers 1st draft. Searcy, Kirkland, Steed, Davenport 1-4 and then Perry in the 8th. That is back when we knew our identity and the players fed off their coach and vise versa. the 90s were a good QB away from being a dynasty
        A lot of talent on those teams, and opponents hated playing them. They were physical.

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        • Djfan
          Legend
          • May 2008
          • 5184

          #5
          Cowher also had great coaching around him, all of whom were teachers to the players.
          Steel City Mafia
          So Cal Boss (Ret)
          [URL]http://www.anewsong.com[/URL]

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          • Blitzer
            Pro Bowler
            • Nov 2022
            • 1069

            #6
            Originally posted by Djfan
            Cowher also had great coaching around him, all of whom were teachers to the players.
            Cowher hired those coaches. The 90s was an awesome time to be a Steeler fan. loved those teams and loved the HC.

            Comment

            • BURGH86STEEL
              Legend
              • May 2008
              • 6908

              #7
              The same holds true of the Steelers today.

              Comment

              • Northern_Blitz
                Legend
                • Dec 2008
                • 23499

                #8
                Originally posted by Blitzer
                Look at Cowhers 1st draft. Searcy, Kirkland, Steed, Davenport 1-4 and then Perry in the 8th. That is back when we knew our identity and the players fed off their coach and vise versa. the 90s were a good QB away from being a dynasty
                Part of that is because Cowher chose to build a strong team over having an above average QB.

                If we had that QB, we wouldn't have had the same team around them.

                Comment

                • BURGH86STEEL
                  Legend
                  • May 2008
                  • 6908

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Northern_Blitz
                  Part of that is because Cowher chose to build a strong team over having an above average QB.

                  If we had that QB, we wouldn't have had the same team around them.
                  I don't think this is fact. It's difficult to find a franchise QB.

                  NO and KS showed they could help their teams win games. NO and KS made it to AFCCG.

                  Another organization (JETS) offered more money than the Steelers were willing go pay. The Steelers paid KS based on his potential.

                  I don't understand why some fans believe MAJOR organizational decisions boil down to the HC? Cowher never had this power and neither does Tomlin.

                  In short, Cowher never had the kind of power that you believe.

                  d
                  Last edited by BURGH86STEEL; 12-23-2022, 09:06 PM.

                  Comment

                  • Blitzer
                    Pro Bowler
                    • Nov 2022
                    • 1069

                    #10
                    I just liked those teams. Great defense Great running game. It was a great time to be a Steeler fan. Wish those guys won a Super Bowl. They deserved it.

                    Comment

                    • BURGH86STEEL
                      Legend
                      • May 2008
                      • 6908

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Djfan
                      Cowher also had great coaching around him, all of whom were teachers to the players.
                      All the great coaching in the world doesn't matter if the players don't execute.

                      Almost every game in professional sports boils down to the available talent the execution.

                      Talent is A factor for any team to win games. Execution is the MOST important factor for any team to win,

                      Tomlin can be replaced. Bring in whatever coach you want. The coach will always have NFL level talent to coach.

                      Lombardi said something like, Draw it up on the blackboard but it's up to the men that play to execute the plan.

                      Tomlin told fans the same thing. BB told fans the same thing. I can go on and on.

                      Games generally boild down to exection by players.

                      Comment

                      • Northern_Blitz
                        Legend
                        • Dec 2008
                        • 23499

                        #12
                        Originally posted by BURGH86STEEL
                        I don't think this is fact. It's difficult to find a franchise QB.

                        NO and KS showed they could help their teams win games. NO and KS made it to AFCCG.

                        Another organization (JETS) offered more money than the Steelers were willing go pay. The Steelers paid KS based on his potential.

                        I don't understand why some fans believe MAJOR organizational decisions boil down to the HC? Cowher never had this power and neither does Tomlin.

                        In short, Cowher never had the kind of power that you believe.

                        d
                        I don't know.

                        It's possible. He did win a big power play with TD, right?

                        Maybe it's better to say it was a team philosophy to win with running and D rather than say Cowher.

                        Comment

                        • flippy
                          Legend
                          • Dec 2008
                          • 17088

                          #13
                          For those that remember how superior the coaching was during Cowher’s tenure, do you also remember how many coaches we had on staff vs the average numbers of coaches the rest of the league had on staff?

                          I don’t recall, but I also don’t remember other teams having significantly larger staffs than we did back then. And I think that’s a huge disadvantage that we have relative to the rest of the league today.

                          I also think the talent is somewhat comparable. We have a mix of really good players and a bunch of average or above average guys, but the difference comes down to the positions where those guys play.

                          For example if you have an elite C and NT, you’re going to likely dominate both lines of scrimmage. I think we’re lacking down the middle right now and that has a trickle out effect on everything.

                          I do think there is some luck on which guys are available when you draft and who you select. There were a number of years where Cowher and Colbert were making awesome 1st round picks consistently which really helped.
                          sigpic

                          Comment

                          • Blitzer
                            Pro Bowler
                            • Nov 2022
                            • 1069

                            #14
                            Originally posted by flippy
                            For those that remember how superior the coaching was during Cowher’s tenure, do you also remember how many coaches we had on staff vs the average numbers of coaches the rest of the league had on staff?

                            I don’t recall, but I also don’t remember other teams having significantly larger staffs than we did back then. And I think that’s a huge disadvantage that we have relative to the rest of the league today.

                            I also think the talent is somewhat comparable. We have a mix of really good players and a bunch of average or above average guys, but the difference comes down to the positions where those guys play.

                            For example if you have an elite C and NT, you’re going to likely dominate both lines of scrimmage. I think we’re lacking down the middle right now and that has a trickle out effect on everything.

                            I do think there is some luck on which guys are available when you draft and who you select. There were a number of years where Cowher and Colbert were making awesome 1st round picks consistently which really helped.
                            I pretty much agree with every thing you said.

                            Dont want to turn this into a Cowher vrs Tomlin deal, but I just liked the toughness Cowher installed on both sides of the team. It was punishing playing us back then. announcers still talk about our toughness even though it hasnt been like that in years.

                            Comment

                            • WindyCitySteel
                              Legend
                              • Nov 2011
                              • 14995

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Northern_Blitz
                              Part of that is because Cowher chose to build a strong team over having an above average QB.

                              If we had that QB, we wouldn't have had the same team around them.
                              I've gone through this exercise before. Go through this list from 1992 -> 2003 and find the obvious QB they should have picked where they were picking, who you thought at the time was the next franchise QB. There's no smoking Dan Marino gun in that list.

                              Last edited by WindyCitySteel; 12-24-2022, 10:21 AM.

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