4-3 Cover 2? We have no DE(s)........

[Jacknut]

What ends are available in FA? Switching to the 4-3 will provide some cover for a linebacking corps desperately in need of new blood.

[43FlyingHair]

Well, the interview/article posted on the Steeler website has calmed my nerves a bit. It sounds like Tomlin is more interested in putting players in position to perform their best, not institute a formation that might not help us any.

"I think part of good coaching is doing what your guys do and what they do well," said Tomlin. "We will maximize what they are capable of doing. If that means putting personal preferences and beliefs schematically aside, I am willing to do that. X's and O's can be overrated at times. You will find that we will be fundamentalists in our approach and we will put guys in position to execute and execute at a high level. What they are capable of doing, that's what we will do."

[steelersautomaton]

This is horrible. I am still in shock over this hire and how the people who orchestrated an offense that just a year ago won the Super Bowl (!) can be released. It's unnerved me. Do we all forget how long it took Cowher to get to the Super Bowl, his years on insisting on Kordell as our QB, even though every year he found some way to blow it. We now have to go all over that again. Ugh. I can?t believe they let Grimm go, why destroy a coaching staff that just won us the Super Bowl is unexplainable, As the earlier post stated, we don?t have the personnel for a 4-3, and the 3-4 gets it done, again we won the Super Bowl last year! Why has the PANIC button been pressed?

Of course I hope the Steelers win the Super Bowl next year hopefully and in the years to come. I just have this nagging feeling that?s it?s going to be a decade or so before we go to the big dance again.

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by steelersautomaton

This is horrible. I am still in shock over this hire and how the people who orchestrated an offense that just a year ago won the Super Bowl (!) can be released. It's unnerved me. Do we all forget how long it took Cowher to get to the Super Bowl, his years on insisting on Kordell as our QB, even though every year he found some way to blow it. We now have to go all over that again. Ugh. I can?t believe they let Grimm go, why destroy a coaching staff that just won us the Super Bowl is unexplainable, As the earlier post stated, we don?t have the personnel for a 4-3, and the 3-4 gets it done, again we won the Super Bowl last year! Why has the PANIC button been pressed?

Of course I hope the Steelers win the Super Bowl next year hopefully and in the years to come. I just have this nagging feeling that?s it?s going to be a decade or so before we go to the big dance again.

It took Cowher just 4 seasons to get to his first Super Bowl, and he went to the first of his AFCC's in his 2nd or 3rd season (someone can help me out there). That is not very long at all, and with the talent the team has right now, they have a very legitimate shot of getting back to the show in the next couple of seasons.

Dude, Cowher is gone. What did you expect the Steelers to do, sit around and wait to hire a head coach? This team isn't going to undergo very much change at all - Dick LeBeau is staying, Bruce Arians, who was WR coach will be the OC. My first choice was Whisenhunt, but obviously the brass didn't want to promote from within, so he went to Arizona. Grimm, yeah, his loss will hurt, but it can be argued that the OL regressed last season rather than progressed, and to be honest, it wasn't exactly the NFL's best during the first 12 games of the championship season. Besides, the Rooneys have had pretty good success hiring coaches outside the organization - both Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher came from other teams. The former is already in Canton, and the latter will be someday. So just relax and get behind Coach Tomlin - I think he is a good hire and will do a great job as HC.

[Haiku_Dirtt]

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

It took Cowher just 4 seasons to get to his first Super Bowl, and he went to the first of his AFCC's in his 2nd or 3rd season (someone can help me out there). That is not very long at all, and with the talent the team has right now, they have a very legitimate shot of getting back to the show in the next couple of seasons.

Dude, Cowher is gone. What did you expect the Steelers to do, sit around and wait to hire a head coach? This team isn't going to undergo very much change at all - Dick LeBeau is staying, Bruce Arians, who was WR coach will be the OC. My first choice was Whisenhunt, but obviously the brass didn't want to promote from within, so he went to Arizona. Grimm, yeah, his loss will hurt, but it can be argued that the OL regressed last season rather than progressed, and to be honest, it wasn't exactly the NFL's best during the first 12 games of the championship season. Besides, the Rooneys have had pretty good success hiring coaches outside the organization - both Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher came from other teams. The former is already in Canton, and the latter will be someday. So just relax and get behind Coach Tomlin - I think he is a good hire and will do a great job as HC.

Nuff said already.

But IMHO the loss of Grimm will ultimately be just a footnote in Steeler history.

[nicesteel4life]

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

It took Cowher just 4 seasons to get to his first Super Bowl, and he went to the first of his AFCC's in his 2nd or 3rd season (someone can help me out there). That is not very long at all, and with the talent the team has right now, they have a very legitimate shot of getting back to the show in the next couple of seasons.

Dude, Cowher is gone. What did you expect the Steelers to do, sit around and wait to hire a head coach? This team isn't going to undergo very much change at all - Dick LeBeau is staying, Bruce Arians, who was WR coach will be the OC. My first choice was Whisenhunt, but obviously the brass didn't want to promote from within, so he went to Arizona. Grimm, yeah, his loss will hurt, but it can be argued that the OL regressed last season rather than progressed, and to be honest, it wasn't exactly the NFL's best during the first 12 games of the championship season. Besides, the Rooneys have had pretty good success hiring coaches outside the organization - both Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher came from other teams. The former is already in Canton, and the latter will be someday. So just relax and get behind Coach Tomlin - I think he is a good hire and will do a great job as HC.

THAT was RIGHT ON! I actually got pumped from reading it!

[Atlanta Dan]

FWIW here is Ed.B.'s observation in today's chat on whether Troy is a good fit in a Cover 2scheme:

Ed, why are people saying that Polamalu would not be a good fit in a 4-3. He's fast, he can hit, and he's smart, that leaves only deep coverage as a potential weekness. Are his skills as a cover man in question?

Ed Bouchette: The cover 2, although misunderstood by many, generally uses two deep safeties to each cover half of the deep zone. The cornerbacks press a receiver, then "hand him off" to the safeties in the zone. I think you'll agree with me that Polamalu's virtues are not best suited to playing center field in a zone.

which is then followed by this:

With Troy P. coming into a contract year and the defense possibly switching philosophies do you think it makes sense to sign him to a big money contract?

Ed Bouchette: We don't know if they'll switch philosophies to the point where a great player like Troy Polamalu won't be used to what best suits his abilities.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07023/756136-66.stm

Ed spends a lot of the chat in CYA mode defending the P-G not going with Tomlin as the choice until Sunday.

As for Troy, I do not want to be a poster who claims the world is coming to an end (or, to use a LOL term to describe such posters, a "screaming howler panic monkey"), but for a player who was being spoken of as an all-time Steeler great a year ago this time it may not be a lock anymore that Troy definitely will hang around after 2007

[43FlyingHair]

After reading Tomlin's comments about using players in ways that take maximum advantage of their potential, and knowing what a smart guy Polamalu is, I have little doubt that whatever changes Tomlin makes on defense, they will find a way to allow #43 to do his thing. Personally, I would really like to see Polamalu retire as a Steeler, and he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who is going to chase the money, so I would think that as long as the Steelers remain committed to letting him wreak havoc on the field, he won't be looking to leave town.