Special Teams Coach Ligahesky Sacked
Let's hope we can get Bobby April!
over 2 years ago
acrollet
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We could just let Logan run the team, but he might come up a little short.
You sure Ike isn’t reacquainting himself with his fingers, he certainly doesn’t use them for catching. - Brian (DaBolts) on "Face Me Ike"
I don't know
The guy seems a little shifty, but if he can get up to speed fast enough, he could probably return us to where we need to be.
by SteelerBuddha on Jan 7, 2010 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
We could let Limas run special teams but I fear he’d just drop the ball…
When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen
I see Limas
playing the corner next year. He’s shown the ability to break up passes, he’s hard to throw over. He has decent speed.
He also can’t be worse at catching and tackling than our current corners.
by SteelerBuddha on Jan 7, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Limas isn't confident enough to cover an NFL WR
Won’t work IMO.
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 3:00 PM EST up reply actions
That's 3 coaches gone
Now if they fire the coach I think they’ll fire then the four I thought would be gone (not all fired) will be gone. The last coach I had on my list was Horton.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill
Well, I guess
Horton had better start packing. Arn Has Spoken.
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by Rebecca Rollett on Jan 7, 2010 8:07 PM EST up reply actions
Fire Sale
What if we are firing too many people. I mean how drastic do the changes have to be after 9-7?
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
Albiet
Ligahesky had it coming…
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 11:46 AM EST up reply actions
And Zierlien was lucky to get past the preseason last year
The only managing Ben does is he manages to WIN games
by chewiesteeler on Jan 7, 2010 1:07 PM EST up reply actions
i agree
same argument applies to Arians, really… At any rate, i’m in favor of this move if we can get April. Otherwise, I’m not sure it was a great idea.
Agreed
April would be a fantastic pick up. Come on Tomlin!
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 11:52 AM EST up reply actions
Washington is reported to go after him which means
it will come down to dollars and I can assure you Dan the Man will offer more
I can tell you one thing. Mr. April has been coaching at the NFL level for 20 years. Do you know how many superbowl victories he has accrued in that timeframe?
You sure Ike isn’t reacquainting himself with his fingers, he certainly doesn’t use them for catching. - Brian (DaBolts) on "Face Me Ike"
April would be great
Our return coverage was so bad, at this point I’d take PixburghArn to coach. Anything would be an improvement….April is a fiery guy…Well, we can’t say that the braintrust isn’t serious about changes…
Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history
Still a good idea
Ligashesky was one of those retreads no one else wanted that Tomlin picked up because he was a rookie coach with little network hiring late.
Kinda like Arians, come to think of it.
But I’m certain that we can find someone better, even if it’s not April — some young talented college coach.
by syrsteelerfan on Jan 7, 2010 12:06 PM EST up reply actions
Think of this as a remodel
how drastic do the changes have to be after 9-7?
When Tomlin took the Steelers job, he had never been a head coach before, and he had to assemble his staff late, after many coaches had already taken jobs. He didn’t make any changes after the first year, and of course he could not fire anyone after winning the Super Bowl.
This year’s record, although it might be viewed well by some organizations, gives Tomlin an excuse to make some changes. After three years, he should have a better idea of what he wants from his coaching staff. Also, he has experience with the people he chose and knows which ones have panned out. My guess is he regrets some of his original hiring decisions. This is his chance to remodel the coaching staff to better fit his vision.
Unfortunately
This is his chance to remodel the coaching staff to better fit his vision.
… unfortunately it’s also a chance for us to see what his vision is.
And it’s firing the OL coach who improved a line with no talent, firing a ST coach whose units improved once they had a real KR and corrected Tomlin’s mistake of cutting Madison, and retaining a finesse offensive coordinator even though the Rooney’s wanted him gone.
I’m very disappointed. Not quite to Wexell’s level yet but I’m getting there.
by syrsteelerfan on Jan 7, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions
In Tomlin I trust
I hope you are right.
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 12:31 PM EST up reply actions
Sign Bobby Boucher!
He’d be a beast on special teams…
by cliff harris is still a punk! on Jan 7, 2010 12:06 PM EST reply actions
His name has already been removed
Just went to the Steeler web site, his name has been removed from the coach roster…Horton is still there……
Yes
very shortly thereafter
The only managing Ben does is he manages to WIN games
by chewiesteeler on Jan 7, 2010 1:09 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah
I remember talks about McFadden leaving came up shortly after the SB. I was like damn…can’t we even celebrate first?
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
normally there is like a month of lag time between the SB and the start of free agency
That gives teams, even in the SB, time to negotiate with their FA’s before the all the other teams get their shot.
I can say this
That apparently Tomlin is not happy with the way things were being ran. One guy shouldn’t make the difference on special teams and while I am happy they got Madison back there is still no excuse for the performance this year. We will really see a different football team next year, I think the only way BA survived is that he really is going to do things tomlin’s way next year. We’ll see.
Steelers football is 60 mins.
I (We, I suposse all) hope for Ligashitsky sucessor be Bobby April, the bills fired Him with all bill´s coaching team but We lost the opportunity of take Weiss for OC, He signed w/KC
Still We can bring here Montana or Marino or somebody that could be both inspiration and perspective for BB..
O sales tickets,...and let D rest a little, and D Win Championships.
We already have an OC
Bruce Arians
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill
Bobby April Question
I posted this before in another thread and it never got answered.
I remember when April was in Pittsburgh and I don’t remember the special teams being so stellar. I just remember Bobby April running up and down the sideline chasing his players looking like an idiot but garnering a ton of TV time.
Am I forgetting something? Were any of his ST units top notch after leaving PITT? Was the BUFF ST unit stellar? Or do we just remember Bobby April on TV.
When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen
The buff st
is continually one of the best in the league for the past 4 years
Steelers football is 60 mins.
by tannofsteel84 on Jan 7, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
Again, just a question so I can feel as comfortable with April as others on this thread; If BUFF ST is continually one of the top ST in the NFL why did they fire him?
When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen
he wasn't fired really
the article on espn reported that he opted out of the last two years of his contract because he only agreed to be a ST coordinator under Dick. He said he wanted to choose his own boss, so he left. It was a clause in his contract that allowed him to opt out
I think it's time to admit
that we all have a problem. I mean here we are actively debating who the Special Teams coach should be. It’s special teams for crying out loud. How damn complex can it be. I don’t think this was on the coach. I think we had guys who couldn’t keep their lanes and coudn’t tackle. Simple enough.
My impression of an ST coach
“Guys, look. It’s simple. The guys who has the ball? Tackle him! There’s 11 of you, and only 10 potential blockers. That means one guy should be free to tackle the guy with the ball. Stay in your lanes, don’t over pursue, force the guy with the ball towards a sideline, they should start about the 25. Now, someone give Reed a shot of Wild Turkey, and let’s DO THIS THING!!!”
"Chris! That's a terrible word! Pussywillows..."
-Lois Griffin
true, but normally two of your eleven guys are "safeties" right?
So really you’re always at a disadvantage on kickoffs, I can’t do the math on punts.
well normally the kicker and one other guy hang back
and try to get the angle on guy if he starts to break free. Basically not all 11 guys are screaming down the field trying to stay in their lanes.
Oh
I get it. But still, there can only be 22 guys on the field at once, therefore, there will always be one guy on the kicking team that can’t be blocked, because his counterpart is the return man.
"Chris! That's a terrible word! Pussywillows..."
-Lois Griffin
Sure, its probably not hard to be a mediocre one
But did anyone watch Boise State’s fake punt the other night? That team consistently out-schemes and out-coaches its opponents. If I was a ST coach, I’d want to come up with something creative, something surprising.
Did you notice lately that some NFL teams bunch up around the kicker right before kick off. They don’t run to their spots on the line until an instant before the ball is kicked. Why? My guess is that it is harder to recognize who is on the field, or notice if a couple of “hands” guys suddenly are lined up on the same side. It’s a way to disguise your intentions. (Or maybe there is some other reason that I can’t figure out?) Does it work? I can’t say, but it certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of thing our ST coaches would have come up with.
Sepulveda is a good athlete. Maybe we should let him throw a pass once a year? Maybe we should go after a punt more often than every leap year? Remember how Ben used to pooch punt once and awhile?
Lousy kick off and punt return coverage is not the only thing wrong with our ST. There hasn’t been any creativity or strategic risk-taking under Ligahesky either. I saw one fake reverse on a kick-off this year and that was it.
That is the question I was asking after the 2nd and 3rd return TD this year...
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
We had this debate earlier
Blitz wrote that piece on how bad our special teams are. All you have to do is follow Ligashesky’s record from college to the pros. He consistently helms one of the worst special teams units at any level. Such consistency regardless of team can’t be blamed on the players alone. It amazes me that he was able to keep getting hired at all.
fair enough
Just saying that when we put Madison back in there things picked up dramatically. The guy could tackle. I think our ST says much more about the players that we had on the squad this year than it does about coaching.
by SteelerBuddha on Jan 7, 2010 2:59 PM EST up reply actions
"we all have a problem. I mean here we are actively debating who the Special Teams coach should be. It’s special teams for crying out loud."
You’re right, but unfortunately the 2009 Steelers made it a HUGE problem. Like knock us out of the playoffs HUGE problem.
I don’t care if they have to reanimate Einstein and Lombardi, someone’s head needed to roll and that stuff needs to get straightened out!
I wasn’t even at the bar yet for the Chiefs game before we were screwed. BS
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
ST coach is the only one who doesn't get to choose his players....
OC and DC pick their top 11. ST coach may pick his LS, P, K, and a couple of ST aces, but has to glean the rest from the roster after playing 53 roulette.
Ligashesky may have been a disaster, but I don’t think he wanted Madison cut. It’s just that CT and LeBeau felt that Ratliff would be more helpful as a DB. Fail.
The key to the new special teams coach’s success is how he works with the rest of the coaching staff to make sure that he doesn’t get short-changed. He will need aces and top defensive players on those coverage teams. Ligashesky didn’t get them this year, and was doomed.
I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.
- Homer J. Simpson
I still don’t know what to think about ST this year. Half of it seemed like personnel and the other half seemed like there was always a huge lane open. Not to add Reed’s short kicks are not helpful.
Optimism. Positivity. Win.
by John Stephens on Jan 7, 2010 2:44 PM EST up reply actions
An august comment...
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by Rebecca Rollett on Jan 7, 2010 8:08 PM EST up reply actions
According to wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_April), “It is widely speculated that he[April] will return to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the same capacity in 2010.”
Wikipedia’s not exactly the best source, and there’s no source given for the above quote, but just thought i’d put it on here
Link got pasted including the last parenthese, so you’re gonna have to delete it before the link’ll work
If people are too damn lazy to
just go to Wikipedia.com, and type in “Bobby April”…I say “Godamn, man, godamn.”
"Chris! That's a terrible word! Pussywillows..."
-Lois Griffin
Bobby April
Has won two Special Teams coach of the year awards in the past five years. He was an assistant head coach in Buffalo. He would be a great addition but will be heavily courted IMO. And for guys thinking coaching isn’t important on special teams, that is exactly the attitude that got us in speculation season instead of playoff season. ALWAYS get the best coaches!
Consider it unleashed!
Amen
If ST coaching were so insignificant, where is there even such a thing.
Bad Andy, Good Pizza.
by count'em_six on Jan 8, 2010 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
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