The Pittsburgh Steelers have a very important hire coming up when they decide who their next offensive coordinator will be. It’s the most important hire of Mike Tomlin’s career and one that will have long-standing implications on the team’s offensive future, especially at the quarterback position. As a guest on The Steam Room podcast hosted by Ernie Johnson and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher talked about just how important it is to surround yourself with the right assistants.
Cowher said when he took over in Pittsburgh, the “leave your ego at the door” culture was already well-established, and he leaned on hiring the right assistants to enforce and continue to build the culture.
“It starts with your coaching staff. And I think that’s the biggest thing to me, surround yourself with the right assistant coaches. I mean, the head coaches have probably 18, 19 assistant coaches. And so, I coached the coaches to let the coaches coach the players. And then I talk to the players up there. So I never wanted to intercede and get involved with those guys, and let the coaches do their thing. They get to know the players individually, knowing the right little buttons to push at,” Cowher said.
Cowher came up as an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer, and he said that’s one of the biggest things he took from Schottenheimer. As a position coach or coordinator, you work a lot more closely with your position group, so you get to know players better and what motivates them more so than the head coach, who is dealing with an entire team to lead.
The Steelers had one of the smallest coaching staffs in the league last season with 19 total coaches, but Mike Tomlin did leave the door open to potentially add to the staff as the team evaluates the staff as a whole this offseason. Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator will also be a hire from outside the organization, which is refreshing given their internal hires recently haven’t worked out. By going outside the organization though, Tomlin is going to have to find someone he trusts to buy into and uphold the culture while knowing how to get the most out of the offense.
Pittsburgh’s offense has a lot of talent but they haven’t been able to find success, averaging under 19 points per game over the last two seasons. Tomlin outlined what he’s looking for in an offensive coordinator during his press conference on Tuesday and he said whoever the hire is, he wants them to be someone who can take advantage of that talent. George Pickens and Diontae Johnson should be one of the best wide receiver duos in the league, but scheme issues under Matt Canada and poor quarterback play has definitely held the Steelers offense back a little bit.
Whoever the new coordinator is will need to be able to get the most out of Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback in 2024, likely Pickett, while fostering relationships with the offense and letting the talented pieces on their offense shine. It’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers do add another offensive assistant or who they hire to replace Glenn Thomas and likely Matt Tomsho, assuming he leaves this offseason as well in addition to who they hire as an OC, but Cowher’s comments emphasize just how important Pittsburgh’s hires are this offseason, as if it wasn’t already clear enough.
