Lolley: Coaching wheels turning

[Palmetto Steel]

From Dale Lolley's blog, "NFL From The Sidelines"...

Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Coaching wheels turning

Mike Tomlin met with Todd Haley on Tuesday as he continues his search for a new offensive coordinator.

Previously, Tomlin met with former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, who was later hired as QB coach by Baltimore.

According to the NFL Network, meanwhile, the Steelers have also made some inquiries regarding former Pitt QB Alex Van Pelt.

Van Pelt, a 1993 draft pick of the Steelers who never played with the team, was most recently QB coach in Tampa Bay. He previously served as a QB coach and offensive coordinator in Buffalo.

It's likely, however, the Steelers are interested in Van Pelt as a quarterbacks coach if they choose to elevate current quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner.

One other name that could surface in Tomlin's search is current University of Colorado offensive coordinator Rip Scherer.

Scherer, like Tomlin, is a graduate of William & Mary and is the cousin of Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert.

The 59-year-old Scherer served as assistant head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2005 through 2008 and quarterbacks coach in Carolina in 2009 and 2010.

© The news that Keith Butler decided to stay with the Steelers rather than accept the defensive coordinator position in Indianapolis isn't all that surprising.

Butler continues to be the leading candidate to eventually replace Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator with the Steelers – though when that happens is anyone's best guess – and his family likes it in Pittsburgh.

© The Steelers have given Tampa Bay permission to talk to current defensive assistant Jerry Olsavsky, while also granting offensive assistant Harold Goodwin permission to speak with Indianapolis and Chicago about openings.

UPDATE: Goodwin was hired as Indianapolis' offensive line coach on Tuesday.

Both are good men and quality coaches who deserve shots to become position coaches.

In fact Goodwin stepped in as the Steelers running backs coach when Kirby Wilson was injured in the fire in his home a few days before the team's playoff loss at Denver.

Speaking of Wilson, according to Lance Zierlein, who runs a great blog out of the Houston area, his father, former Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, said that Wilson is now sitting up and doing much better.

He still faces a long road to recovery.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/sidelines/

[Hambert5958]

Speaking of Wilson, according to Lance Zierlein, who runs a great blog out of the Houston area, his father, former Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, said that Wilson is now sitting up and doing much better.

[War Machine]

Good to hear that Kirby Wilson is on the mend. He's got a long road ahead and I wish him nothing but the best.

In the mean time, no mention there of Tom Clements. I think, from a look at the potentials that have been buzzing about, he would be my preference, but there again, I'm not privy to the interviews or the minutiae as the guys on the South Side are.

[bdeff]

Good to hear that Kirby Wilson is on the mend. He's got a long road ahead and I wish him nothing but the best.

In the mean time, no mention there of Tom Clements. I think, from a look at the potentials that have been buzzing about, he would be my preference, but there again, I'm not privy to the interviews or the minutiae as the guys on the South Side are.

Ditto on the Kirby thoughts!!!

One of the more tumultuous off-seasons in a while, but i think that a little upheaval may do this team some good. In my inexpert opinion, they seemed complacent, but i guess I shouldn't complain about a complacent 12-4 team.

[Crash]

I'm from the same area of Pittsburgh Clements is.

They can hire ME!

[Kipper]

Speaking of Wilson, according to Lance Zierlein, who runs a great blog out of the Houston area, his father, former Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, said that Wilson is now sitting up and doing much better.

Was this before or after he sen out some porn?

[Kipper]

I'm from the same area of Pittsburgh Clements is.

They can hire ME!

He could use an assistant

I don't mind Clements too much. Got a preference for OC, crash?

[Crash]

The OC doesn't matter if he's forced to play 1975 football.

I want 3 wide as a base offense. Get rid of the garbage 2 TE sets and use their speed. Spread teams out.

The OL blocks fine for Ben when they don't have to account for so many people at the LOS when they have 2-3 TE sets on the field.

Ben/the offense excels in no huddle and hurry up because the speed stays on the field, they don't mass sub [sometimes after every play] and tip off if it's run or pass based on the formation.

The base offensive set IMO is more important, than the actual name of the OC.

[Kipper]

The OC doesn't matter if he's forced to play 1975 football.

I want 3 wide as a base offense. Get rid of the garbage 2 TE sets and use their speed. Spread teams out.

The OL blocks fine for Ben when they don't have to account for so many people at the LOS when they have 2-3 TE sets on the field.

Ben/the offense excels in no huddle and hurry up because the speed stays on the field, they don't mass sub [sometimes after every play] and tip off if it's run or pass based on the formation.

The base offensive set IMO is more important, than the actual name of the OC.

I'd certainly like to see a 3WR set be a base as well. Single back, 1 TE, spread teams out. Run from the same formations as you throw in instead of changing personnel which tips off everyone from the Defense to the casual fan sitting at home. I'd like to see the rB included more into the game plan as well. Use the RB more as an option and you have 4-5 wide when you include the TE most likely running routes between the seams. Use the Passing game to set up the run game instead of using the run game to set up Play Action. A successful passing game is going to get people to bite on play action, Tom Brady had people biting left and right on play action in 2007 despite how little they ran the ball.

That said, the play calling in the red needs to get better. strategically it sucked for most of Arians time here. Nothing is more frustrating than watching your Offense pile up yards and move free enough between the 20's to suddenly hit a brick wall in the and near the red zone. Most times it was a combination of predictability (red zone runs on 1st down near 60%) or overthinking. Steelers have the tools to be a Top 5 offense in the league

[VtSteeler]

Re: Lolley: Coaching wheels turning
I'm from the same area of

We went to Canevin High school together.He's a year younger. That means I get a better parking space than you.

[Steelreign]

I don't know him but I have seen him on TV..........what of my parking space?