Add More Coaches

[flippy]

We really are at a competitive disadvantage to other teams. In some cases we have 10+ fewer coaches than other teams in the league.

How are we supposed to do the best job developing all of our young talent when there aren’t enough coaches to focus on helping them?

We put a lot on Canada not being good enough, but even he is really early in his NFL career and probably needs to learn as much about the league as some of our young players.

Why can’t we go get an offensive Brian Flores as a player coach on the offense to not only help develop players but also help develop Canada?

How bout we give Tomlin, Canada, Austin, and Smith 5 more coaches each to add on their staffs?

We just need a little help across the board.

And there’s other things we consistently fudge up like punting, managing the clock, using challenge flags, etc.

We spend $100m+ on the product on the field. What’s another $5-$10m in salaries to add more coaching help that we are lacking?

[Chucktownsteeler]

Do you have any data baking this hypothesis up?

[Buzz]

I think it's true we could benefit from an expanded coaching staff

however, I doubt our current HC is really pushing for any coaching help, and unless and until he does, tightwad Rooney is certainly not going to look to spend the extra money on it

the standard is the standard

[flippy]

Do you have any data baking this hypothesis up?

I don’t have a list of all the teams and how many coaches they have but have noticed over the years that many teams have a lot bigger coaching staffs, front offices, analytics staffs, training staffs, scouts, etc.

Just looking quickly at a couple of good teams and their coaches, here’s the numbers.

Coaches ——-

Steelers - 20
Bills - 27
Cowboys - 28
Chiefs - 29

There are countless other stories about how other teams invest heavily in analytics and we mostly rely on Tomlin’s gut. Ok. Oversimplifying, but we’re under investing compared to others.

I get money isn’t everything, but what is our competitive advantage for developing talent vs others???

[whisper]

I think it's true we could benefit from an expanded coaching staff

however, I doubt our current HC is really pushing for any coaching help, and unless and until he does, tightwad Rooney is certainly not going to look to spend the extra money on it

the standard is the standard

Yea, that old narrative pops it's head up once again. The Rooneys are cheap. But then the apologists will point to us being at the cap each year proving they aren't. But that is only half the story.

Pgh has the cheapest coaching staff; many of their coaching decisions, like free agent decisions, are based on what guy is the cheapest. The Steeler way. Sure, Shades is a top paid coach, like T J is a top paid edge rusher. But it's who paid it after him that is the problem.

Pgh has the cheapest paid scouting dept. It's so small, they don't even travel west of the Mississippi to scout, I've been told. Could that be true? They give up on half the country to see because it's too far?

Up until they got new digs at X field, they had the cheapest weight room budget in the NFL: $100 annually. I'm not kidding. I was there. It was a joke. High schools had better weight rooms. How did they determine what weight/workout systems to use? By whoever gave them stuff for free. Again, I'm not even kidding.

[Steel Maniac]

Yea, that old narrative pops it's head up once again. The Rooneys are cheap. But then the apologists will point to us being at the cap each year proving they aren't. But that is only half the story.

Pgh has the cheapest coaching staff; many of their coaching decisions, like free agent decisions, are based on what guy is the cheapest. The Steeler way. Sure, Shades is a top paid coach, like T J is a top paid edge rusher. But it's who paid it after him that is the problem.

Pgh has the cheapest paid scouting dept. It's so small, they don't even travel west of the Mississippi to scout, I've been told. Could that be true? They give up on half the country to see because it's too far?

Up until they got new digs at X field, they had the cheapest weight room budget in the NFL: $100 annually. I'm not kidding. I was there. It was a joke. High schools had better weight rooms. How did they determine what weight/workout systems to use? By whoever gave them stuff for free. Again, I'm not even kidding.

Wow. wow.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Agreed on the coaching staff. I think that position coaches are very underrated and often coordinators get credit/blame for the work of position coaches. Look at some of the recent receiver issues for example:

DJ has a case of the dropsies. He went to school at Toledo, so I'll assume he did not have top flight coaching. He always managed to succeed on talent and athleticism, and now he is facing a football receiver problem. I'd love to see how it is being worked on to be resolved. The one time we heard on how he was working on it, it was by catching tennis balls during the off-season. I don't know who came up with the idea, but sound like he is on his own working on it, not being coached.

Claypool came in as a raw lump of clay (pardon the pun). Grew up in Canada, went to ND to sit, and eventually improved year-over-year to become a 1,000 yard receiver his final year. All of the tools you want in a receiver but raw as can be. Like DJ, he experienced success by being more athletic than the other guy, but he was also a size mismatch. Three years, no leaps forward on his raw potential.

Pickens is the most talented at catching the ball of the three, but what he is best at is what he already had coming into the league. His biggest area of need is his route running. He was not taught how to combat catch, that is more like throwing a bone into the middle of the ring and the toughest dog always comes out with it. Keep an eye on his ability to separate and get open year 2. That will be on coaching.

On the other end, look at receivers like AB and Hines. One came from a small MAC school, the other bounced around between QB, WR, and RB through college so needed the focus. Richard Mann was the Steelers receiver coach for 5 years during AB's career and was always highly spoken of. I'm sure that much of his success is a combination of AB's intense work ethic combined with a coach who knew how to always point him in the right direction. Same with Hines and receiver coaches like Kenny Jackson, BA, and Fichtner.

Hoping I'm wrong on Frisman Jackson, but would like to see some noticeable improvement in the weaknesses of the receivers.

[Northern_Blitz]

I'm generally a fan of things that could improve the team for expenses that don't hit the salary cap.

But it's not my money they're spending.

[flippy]

I'm generally a fan of things that could improve the team for expenses that don't hit the salary cap.

But it's not my money they're spending.

That's an interesting way to put it. Improving the team without hitting the cap.

Wish we could get more insight from the Rooneys and Tomlin around how the Steelers are trying to improve the team from the business/organization side of things.

A lot of other teams seem to have a more entrepreneurial spirit investing in different areas to gain competitive advantage. We seem to stagnate a bit on the business side of things.

There's probably some good and some bad in the overall approach.

[Steel Maniac]

I remember when the bengals were the team being cheap on having the proper amount of staff. And they had bad facilities too. Boy did we laugh at them. Everyone talking about how cheap Michael Brown was. Boy..did we hammer them.

[Northern_Blitz]

That's an interesting way to put it. Improving the team without hitting the cap.

Wish we could get more insight from the Rooneys and Tomlin around how the Steelers are trying to improve the team from the business/organization side of things.

A lot of other teams seem to have a more entrepreneurial spirit investing in different areas to gain competitive advantage. We seem to stagnate a bit on the business side of things.

There's probably some good and some bad in the overall approach.

I guess the counter argument might be that there is probably a point of negative returns (not just diminishing).

The "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing could be an issue with a staff that's too big.

But who knows what the "right" size staff is. And if such a thing does exist, I bet the number wouldn't be the same team-to-team or even season-to-season on the same team.

[whisper]

I guess the counter argument might be that there is probably a point of negative returns (not just diminishing).

The "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing could be an issue with a staff that's too big.

But who knows what the "right" size staff is. And if such a thing does exist, I bet the number wouldn't be the same team-to-team or even season-to-season on the same team.

Well, this we do know: Whatever side of thing fall for the Steelers in such decisions will fall on whatever side is the cheapest side. That we know; we've seen it countless times. More scouts or less? Less. Happens to be cheaper. More coaches or less? Less. Happens to be cheaper. Strength and conditioning coaches. More or less? Less, happens to be cheaper. Deciding on what work out systems to put in the gym. Free stuff given to you or the best stuff? Free. Happens to be cheaper.

[Steel Maniac]

Well, this we do know: Whatever side of thing fall for the Steelers in such decisions will fall on whatever side is the cheapest side. That we know; we've seen it countless times. More scouts or less? Less. Happens to be cheaper. More coaches or less? Less. Happens to be cheaper. Strength and conditioning coaches. More or less? Less, happens to be cheaper. Deciding on what work out systems to put in the gym. Free stuff given to you or the best stuff? Free. Happens to be cheaper.

You would hope that with a new GM in place, that would be the perfect opportunity to expand the scouting dept.

[whatever]

Whoooaaaa,
“Hey go root for another team, the Steelers have 6 super Bowls, don’t ever question them, where’s the proof that more coaches would help?, you are not a real fan”.
Man, that is kinda fun to say those things.

[Buzz]

Whoooaaaa,
“Hey go root for another team, the Steelers have 6 super Bowls, don’t ever question them, where’s the proof that more coaches would help?, you are not a real fan”.
Man, that is kinda fun to say those things.