Pittsburgh Steelers team president Art Rooney II talked to the members of the media on Wednesday about several topics during his year-end wrap-up interview but he declined to say if any more coaching changes will be made moving forward.
The team already needs to fill the vacant offensive line coach position that was a result of Sean Kugler leaving to become the head coach of UTEP, and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Wednesday during online chat that it wouldn\’t be surprising to see a coach on the offensive side of the ball be fired soon as well.
If indeed Dulac turns out to right, then that means that running backs coach Kirby Wilson, wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery, tight ends coach James Daniel, and quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner are the personnel that would be candidates for the pink slip.
Wilson has long been speculated as being the man that would eventually assume the offensive coordinator job, but that did not take place after Bruce Arians was let go. Of course the home fire accident likely played a huge role in Wilson not getting the job, but we do not know for certain if indeed he would have been promoted even if he hadn\’t been severely burned. It certainly wasn\’t a banner year for the Steelers running backs in 2012, however, so you have to wonder if he is as safe as we all think that he is.
Like Wilson, Montgomery, Daniel and Fichtner are all position coaches that never receive much media coverage. There is hardly anything ever reported about each of them during the regular season so we only have the results to go on. On the surface you would expect both Daniel and Fichtner to be safe as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was having a great statistical season prior to being injured in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tight end Heath Miller was a main focal point of the offense in 2012 and posted career highs in both yardage and touchdowns.
That leaves us with Montgomery. The Steelers young wide receivers had a dismal 2012 season that was filled with drops and lack of separation at times in the new offense. The focus certainly wasn\’t there all season long from all three of them and that falls back on Montgomery ultimately.
Based on what little we know at this point, Montgomery could very well be the offensive coach that gets the ax, if indeed one is wielded like Dulac speculates.
What about special teams coach Amos Jones? He is not considered an offensive coach but there is certainly enough evidence on tape from last season that would suggest that his unit was very offensive. He might very well be walking on egg shells right now as well.
