The great Lynn Swann said it best this past week when he was asked about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his statement made at the Pro Bowl that he was going to sit down with Art Rooney II to find out which direction the offense was going to go now. Swann said," The last time I checked, he was a paid employee of the team." He later followed that up by saying, "I don't think you question an organization that's had the consistency and success the Steelers have had." Now that Todd Haley is expected to be officially named the new offensive coordinator sometime this week, we will Read more [...]

Alby Oxenreiter, Sports Director for WPXI, tweets this afternoon that it is his understanding that former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is the frontrunner for the Pittsburgh Steelers open offensive coordinator job. Since it was announced two weeks ago that Bruce Arians would not return for 2012, Haley was the only interview that has been 100% acknowledged by the Steelers website. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin also has reportedly had interest in Jim Caldwell, Alex Van Pelt and Hue Jackson as well, but if any of those interviews actually did take place, they only have fringe confirmation Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Jim Irsay, who is becoming more eccentric with each passing day, and the Indianapolis Colts wasted no time in hiring a replacement head coach for Jim Caldwell. Nor did they hesitate in hiring a new offensive coordinator. Within eight days, Chuck Pagano, one-time defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, was hired to replace Caldwell, with the embattled and “retired” Bruce Arians following a few days later. Some Steelers’ fans may be looking at the Colts with envy, not because the history and tradition of the Colts’ franchise, but because of the swiftness that Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 73 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I jump right into the continued offensive coordinator search by the Pittsburgh Steelers along with the news that linebackers coach Keith Butler has decided to stay with the Steelers instead of heading off to the Indianapolis Colts to become their new defensive coordinator. We discuss what Butler may or may not been offered and guaranteed to stay in Pittsburgh to be the successor to Dick LeBeau. Todd Haley and Alex Van Pelt are the latest names to surface that head coach Mike Tomlin might be checking into and we wonder if this Read more [...]

Fresh off of his first Pro Bowl appearance, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown called into 93.7 The Fan this morning from Hawaii to answer a few questions about his experience playing in the annual NFL All-Star game. Brown talked about playing defense and getting mentored by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. Brown then answered questions about what the loss of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians means and how he thinks it would be great if quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner were to get promoted. Brown goes on to say that the offense does not need much tweaking and that not much Read more [...]

Adam Schefter is reporting tonight that former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell plans to join the Baltimore Ravens staff this upcoming week, likely as the quarterbacks coach. Caldwell reportedly visited with Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on Saturday, presumably about a possible spot on the Steelers offensive coaching staff. Caldwell, who coached with Tomlin when the two were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been speculated as a possible candidate for the Steelers open offensive coordinator position since it was announced last week that Bruce Arians was not offered a contract Read more [...]

This is in no way substantiated, so for now you must consider it a rumor that is growing legs from a questionable source. I usually don't deal in this type of rumor mongering, but it does make a little sense based on connecting the dots. The rumor is that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has interviewed, or is going to interview, former West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart for a spot on his staff. It could be an interview for the vacant offensive coordinator position or perhaps as quarterbacks coach should Randy Fichtner end up being promoted. We just do not know that answer and are Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 72 of The Terrible Podcast is up with David Todd tied up in New York, Nick Richetta is back co-hosting as we open up by talking about the recent comments made by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in regards to the loss of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and his desire to talk to Art Rooney II when he gets back to Pittsburgh about the direction the offense will now take. We stay on Roethlisberger and discuss how much playing time is too much for him in the Pro Bowl this weekend. Nick wishes he wouldn't play at all. What about players being able to tweet on Twitter Read more [...]

While not totally unexpected and certainly on the horizon for a while now, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially took two punches to the nose on Thursday as it was reported the veteran nose tackle Casey Hampton would indeed require ACL surgery on the left knee he injured in the Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos and veteran backup nose tackle Chris Hoke made his retirement official. Heading into the offseason, Hampton has been at the top of the list of possible players the Steelers will need to cut or restructure to get underneath the projected salary cap number of $125 million when the Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Bob Dylan said “the times they are a changin’.” If he is following AFC North football, he may be considering a lyrical revision. It looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers are not the only AFC North team that will begin the 2012 NFL season with a new coordinator. On Wednesday, Chuck Pagano, defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, accepted the head coaching position of the Indianapolis Colts, taking over for the recently fired Jim Caldwell. Pagano, in his first year as the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, lead the defense to a third overall ranking in yards allowed, Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler was on with 93.7 The Fan this morning to talk about Bruce Arians and the interest he has, or lack there of, in the open offensive coordinator position. He also talked about what quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner brings to the table should he get promoted to the position. Kugler also addressed the Marcus Gilbert to left tackle in 2012 speculation as well as the health and progress that Maurkice Pouncey has had in the league thus far. Kugler also gave a breakdown of the draft process from the Senior Bowl on, as it relates to position coaches like Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner has been at the top of my potential candidates to replace Bruce Arians as the offensive coordinator since it was announced that Arians would not return in 2012. The reasons are obvious as he already has a good grasp of the talent on the Steelers roster, he has a good relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and he has had an association with head coach Mike Tomlin dating back to 1998 when they both were on the Arkansas State coaching staff. Tomlin in fact hired Fichtner to his staff when he was hired back in 2007. Fichtner also runs Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 71 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I get right to the Bruce Arians side of the story that came out last night. Arians said he was not offered a contract for next year and the Steelers said he retired, so we play around in the mess grey area in the middle there and discuss whether or not Steelers President Art Rooney II handled it right and if indeed he was the one that made the decision and not Mike Tomlin like he said would happen. Easy to figure who we think made that decision. We move on to talk about the recent report by Chris Mortensen as it relates to what Read more [...]

Finally a little more light is being shed on the Bruce Arians situation as Frank Bodani from the York Daily Record reports that Arians told him he wasn't offered a contract for 2012 and that made the decision to retire easy for him. Arians told Bodani that Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II didn't give him a reason why. Arians told Bodani, "I can't answer that question. Only the people there can. That's the business. I know the job we did as a staff. I don't have any regrets." Arians also said in the article that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is not happy that he is not returning, Read more [...]

The recent report by ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen suggest that Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II did not retain offensive coordinator Bruce Arians for 2012 because Rooney wants the team to shift the offense back toward its blue-collar identity of years past. Well, what exactly does he mean by blue-collar identity? That could mean several things, run more, work ethic, etc. I know what Mortensen is likely implying here and of course the media and fan base will jump right to the idea of running more as he hints in his report. First, there remains a ton of speculation to the Read more [...]