Shannahan is Fired

[tk13]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Yeah, I didn't word that right...I didn't mean he lucked into Ben Roethlisberger...obviously they drafted him and thought highly of him...but they had no plans starting him until Maddox got hurt and then he rattled off like 8 straight wins and they finished 15-1...

But what I'm saying is...before Roethlisberger Cowher was thought of as nothing more than an average coach who many people wondered how he still had a job and why he was the longest tenured coach when he really had done nothing other than choke in the playoffs...

Now don't get me wrong...Cowher stopped using the Marty 'pound the rock' offense and turned the reigns over to Ken Whisenhunt and that offense was awesome...they used Ward and Randle El (both former QB's) and had a lot of awesome gadget plays and used a great mix of run plays and pass plays (and had Bettis and discovered Willie Parker) and even used one of the greatest gadget plays I've ever seen against Seattle in the Super Bowl...

Cowher and his staff were awesome that year...played great defense and balanced offense and weren't afraid of taking risks...

All I'm saying is...that season appeared to get in his head as they didn't show much the following season and then he decided to take some time off...

I'm just worried that he is complacent...and isn't willing to work around the clock like he used to...because he's been there, done that...and now he thinks he knows it all...

I don't know, I could be wrong...but I really like what I saw with the new guys this year...fresh set of eyes getting a chance to live their dream...and we're in a position to get one of those QB's that worked so well for Harbaugh and Mike Smith...plus we already have a roster full of young guys...it's a perfect situation for a young coach and a young GM.

Yeah, you make some good points. I didn't mean to bite your head off. Everyone just keeps saying Cowher lucked into this and that. I'm not sure he's my favorite pick just because of his past ties here but I don't think he's that horrible, he's better than Marty and Herm, and I think bringing up stuff from 1994 is tough because I do think he learned and became better as the seasons went along. I'm afraid he'd want too much power, but we'll see.

I'd much rather hire a GM and coach separate and let the GM do his thing.

The reality is though that most of these "defensive" coaches usually have to have help to get a great offense. Cowher, Dungy, even Belichick, I'm not sure he'd be much different than Cowher if he didn't find Brady. Otherwise they're just a team with Drew Bledsoe and a hodge podge group of WR's.

I don't mean to knock any of these guys really though... the reason the Steelers, Colts, Patriots, etc find these guys late in the draft is because they're good at evaluating players and then they stick to their draft board and take guys with potential, some of them pan out and some of them don't.