FanPost

Does the Steeler Coaching Staff need a 3 year Plan?

Any large business, including sports franchises, must plan ahead to be successful. In the NFL with all the competition, the draft, free agency and salary cap, it is inconceivable that this wouldn’t be done. And there is no doubt in my mind that the front office does this, with reasonable success since the 70’s.

But how about the coaching staff? I would submit that the mantra of the current coaching staff – to play the players that will achieve the best outcome of that game and in that season – indicates that longer-term planning is not strongly considered. While Steeler fans want to win now, and I admit I actively promote that through the season, it may not be in the best interest of continuing success. "Next Man Up" is a great concept but if the backup has no playing experience, is it even possible to expect he can succeed?

Consider:

• The cornerback position was locked in to the tenured veterans – Ike, Allen and Gay – until Ike’s injury and the unsuccessfully long period of trying to get Allen over the hump. It was not until injuries forced each out that McCain and Blake got sufficient opportunity to get snaps and show their game capability, despite Lebeau and Lake’s early claims that they were surprisingly good.

• Harrison’s return totally overrode Jarvis Jones’ opportunity to get snaps and develop. Now Jones is going into his 3rd season without us really knowing if there is legitimate potential there.

Shamarko Thomas played less defense this year than last, none in the second half of the season. Meanwhile we had a slower Polamalu, a veteran Allen and the beloved Mike Mitchell getting all the snaps.

• Stephan Tuitt needed playing time to show he had what it takes but was overshadowed most of the season until DL injuries and Cam Thomas’ ineptness became impossible to ignore.

Martavis Bryant was on the practice squad while veterans Lance Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bay played along with eventual 2nd year bust Justin Brown. Bryant only rose up when the 4th and 5th receiver positions were so obviously lacking that J. Brown was pushed out to make way.

• A fading Heath Miller was backed up by Matt Spaeth and Michael Palmer. Leaving Rob Blanchflower on the practice squad with zero playing experience.

Alternatively:

• Shazier got the starting ILB position, totally crowding out Spence and Williams development until he was injured.

• Once the staff realized Bell was effective, they ran the wheels off him, driving Blount into the ditch (arguably a good thing), and then did little to give Archer and Harris time on the field to learn the position. This gave us no experienced backups for the playoffs.

This strikes me as a combination of over-caution and desperation all at the same time. It shows that there is not an effective strategy to develop the young backups on the team. In most cases it’s practice and special teams only, or out of desperation they’re thrown in to take most of the snaps (LB and RB). This approach has delayed most young player’s development until late in their rookie contract, resulting in the Keenan Lewis’, Jason Worilds’ and Young Money receivers leaving for more money before really allowing the team to benefit from 3 years of coaching and training investment. It also delays clarity on team draft priorities, since not much is known about their game capability until after its too late. And for each game it provides no pathway for the "Next Man Up" to be ready in case of injuries.

So for the success of the "Next Man Up", the plan needs to be to give the rookies and 2nd year players 20-50% of the snaps in most games, not more or less, until we build the team we can win a Super Bowl with. If it means losing a couple games in 2015 and 2016, so be it (given our schedule in 2015, we will be lucky to hit 8-8 anyway). Alternatively, having more experienced backups may actually give us better chances of winning critical late-season and playoff games. In the worst case, 2 more good draft classes from mid-position in the draft, along with a more consistent development plan, can yield a Lombardi trophy in 2017 if not before. Anything else is a crap shoot – like the last 3 years have been.

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