For decades, the city of Pittsburgh was built on the foundation of being a hard-working city, one centered on the steel mills and blue-collar ethos that went into that way of making a living.
That hard-nosed, blue-collar mentality eventually rubbed off on the Pittsburgh Steelers on the gridiron, connecting the franchise with the city forever in the 1970s when the Steelers went on that dynastic run. That mentality has carried over for generations, too. It’s how the Steelers still operate, remaining a defense-first organization that values physical football.
But like the city itself has in the last two decade or so, it’s time for the Steelers to adjust and embrace change. Pittsburgh became widely recognized across the United States as a significant health care and innovation hub, transitioning away from the steel mills and other manual-labor positions.
Though the need for those manual-labor jobs and the true hard-working class remains, Pittsburgh has embraced change and is thriving.
It’s time for the Steelers to do the same, especially since they now find themselves searching for a new head coach for the first time in 19 years.
No longer can the Steelers focus on playing as similar brand of football that made them successful throughout their modern history. The game of football is constantly changing and evolving, and the Steelers have to get out of the antiquated mindset and adjust to the league, too.
That’s why I personally believe the Steelers should get in early on Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and give him the opportunity to be their next head coach. He’s a hot, up-and-coming offensive mind who has learned under Sean McVay for two years in the NFL. He also had a long track record of success in college under both Lovie Smith and Matt Campbell.
It would go against the mold of what the Steelers have done the last three times they’ve hired a head coach, landing a young, defensive-minded coach to oversee the franchise. But like the city itself, sometimes you need to change your identity some to experience that next level of success.
That’s not to say that the Steelers shouldn’t hire a defensive-minded head coach like Chris Shula, Jesse Minter, Brian Flores, Anthony Weaver or Ejiro Evero. There’s still a place for them in today’s NFL, if their teams are built correctly. Just look at the Seattle Seahawks (Mike MacDonald), Houston Texans (DeMeco Ryans), Buffalo Bills (Sean McDermott) and New England Patriots (Mike Vrabel) as examples.
What those coaches did though was hand the reins of the offense to innovative play callers, giving them free reign to do as they see fit. That didn’t really happen in Pittsburgh under Tomlin, especially after the Killer B’s era. The Steelers went back to a conservative approach built on running the football, throwing outside of the numbers and mitigating risk in the passing game.
Though Tomlin found a way to win regular-season games time and time again with that method, especially in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, it never worked in the playoffs. What does work in the playoffs is an aggressive offensive approach while still having talent on the defensive side of the football that can play fast and free.
There is still a need for running the football and leaning on the big men in the trenches on both sides of the football to win games, especially in the playoffs. But in today’s NFL you need the quarterback and a sustainable passing game to work. That hasn’t been the case with the Steelers.
So it’s time for change, from the head coach to the rest of the coaching staff, the roster, and even the organizational philosophy.
It’s no longer about the Jimmies and the Joes being better than the opponent and winning their individual matchups based on talent alone. Schematics are so important in today’s game, and the Steelers just haven’t been able to match up there.
Pittsburgh doesn’t have to completely get away from the defensive identity and hard-nosed culture it’s been built on for years. But it does need to shift and adapt to the times. And that starts with the head coach hiring.