Remembering when it wasn’t dramatic news when the Steelers hired a position coach

This past Monday, as I sat around trying to think of things I wanted to talk about with my co-host Bryan Anthony Davis on our weekly podcast, The Steelers Hangover, I said to myself, “Oh, shoot, I better read up on that Bryan McClendon!”

I’m referring to the guy the Steelers, as per several outlets (even the big ones), hired as their new receivers coach over the weekend.

After poring over McClendon’s Wikipedia Page, I discovered his resume was rather impressive: Former running backs coach (Georgia); former interim head coach (Georgia); former offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach (South Carolina); current receivers coach (Steelers).

Whoops, not so fast, my friend.

Turns out, much like Russ Grimm, when he thought he was the Steelers new head coach back in 2007, McClendon may not have actually been hired to take over on a permanent basis for the late Darryl Drake, who shockingly passed away during training camp last summer.

How come? Maybe, much like Mike Tomlin in 2007, Jerricho Cotchery, the former Steelers receiver, came in and blew his ex-bosses doors off.

That’s right, Cotchery, who played for the Steelers from 2011-2013, has been interviewed by Pittsburgh and is strongly being considered for the role (as of this writing, anyway. But even if someone else is hired by the time this is published, have they really been hired)?

Perhaps the Steelers will hire both McClendon and Cotchery. Much like Teryl Austin did as a secret defensive coordinator in 2019, maybe McClendon can team up with new quarterbacks coach Matt Canada and show Randy Fichtner what offensive coordinating is really all about.

Anyway, when did it become such a big deal to “be first” when reporting things like who the Steelers hired as a position coach?

Unless it’s someone with some celebrity cachet such as Joey Porter, Hines Ward or Mike Munchak (he should have been hired as the Steelers head coach, general manager, offensive line coach and capologist), who really cares?

Like the next season’s new regular season schedule, I remember the good old days, when I’d pick up the newspaper and see that the Steelers hired a new position coach and I’d go and place that newspaper on the floor, right under my dog’s water bowl.

Actually, most of the time, I wouldn’t know who coached a particular position until like his fourth year on the job.

Ah, the days before the Internet.

Those days are long gone. Not only do I have to pretend to care about who, when and at what day and time the Steelers are playing 16 teams next season (if they are scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, I will throw a hissy fit!), I now have to do research on their new position coaches?

I have to read comments sections on social media after these guys are fake hired, where people say things like, “They should have hired Louis Lipps instead!”?

That seems excessive.

Oh well, I don’t have to read up on Cotchery because I know a lot about him. I hated him when he caught that touchdown pass against the Steelers in the AFC Championship nearly a decade ago. However, I loved him when he was catching passes for the Steelers for the three seasons after that.

I predict he’ll get the job. You read it here first.