Watch Tower: Range of Opnions on Todd Haley Hire as Wide as Red Sea

Todd Haley is the Pittsburgh Steelers new offensive coordinator. And if the divergent opinions in the press are any indication, Haley figures to be a far more of a polarizing figure than his predecessor, Bruce Arians.

Coaching hires have been debated as long as mediums have existed to cover them. But as the Watch Tower sees it, the range opinons about the wisdom of the Haley Hire are as wide as the parting of the Red Sea.

Dejan Kovacevic Fails to Make His Case

The Tribune-Review’s Dejan Kovacevic was one of the first to pounce on Haley, declaring the entire affair to be nutty. He didn’t stop there, delving immediately in to specifics observing:

Let's start with Haley himself, whose behavior throughout his 15-year NFL coaching career has been outright certifiable.

To back up that claim, Kovacevic claims that last fall Haley had a room swept for bugs prior to an interview with the Kansas City Star. For good measure, Kovacevic reminded his readers that Haley made similar claims about a cellphone which he’d purchased prior to joining the Chiefs.

He doesn’t stop there, going on to cite a column by Kansas City-based columnist Jason Witlock who charged that Haley’s firings of Chan Gailey, Charlie Weis were rooted in Haley’s desire to ensure that credit for any success was to go to him.

• Citing another writer’s work is fair game, but Kovacevic quite frankly could have and should have done some of his own reporting to verify such a charge.

Kovacevic also admonishes Haley and for suing McDonald’s over finding a dead rat in his wife’s salad, going as far to mock some of the claims made by Haley’s lawyer.

• Kovacevic goes a little far here, Haley is not directly responsible for quotes made by his lawyer – and who wouldn’t think of suing if they found a rat in their salad?

Getting back to football fundamentals, Kovacevic asks how "how [Haley’s] pass-specialist pedigree will address Rooney's wish to bolster the run."

• Um, er, ah, what about the fact that Haley’s had the number one rushing offense in 2010?

Delving into how Haley’s fiery personality might impact the locker room, Kovacevic wonders:

We know a few of Tomlin's players — notably Roethlisberger — pushed for quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner to get Arians' old job, and Rooney evidently overruled that, too.

The first part of the claim is almost undoubtedly fact. Finhtner is the QB’s coach, and Tomlin very well may have promoted him to that position to groom him as a replacement for Arians.

But the final part of Kovacevic’s claim is a little more problematic. For Rooney to overrule Fichtner, Tomlin would first have to want to offer him the job. He may have wanted to, but there is no public evidence to suggest that, in fact the evidence is to the contrary, and again Kovacevic fails to support his claim with original reporting.

When Kovacevic defected from the Post-Gazette to the Tribune-Review, one of the main reasons he cited was the fact that PG sports editor Jerry Micco was reluctant to let him write a regular column.

Might we now understand why Micco was so reluctant?

The View from Cook's Kitchen

The Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook made no effort to skirt the issues surrounding Haley’s cantankerous disposition. In fact, he embraces them. After reviewing a litany of Haley’s public confrontations, Cook concludes:

He even had on-field disputes with former boss Bill Parcells. You might say he's a chip off the Parcells block.

And this is a bad thing?

I say not necessarily.

Conceeding that “every coach has enemies,” Cook goes on to argue:

I'm not naïve. I know that endorsement doesn't guarantee Haley will be successful with the Steelers. But it does tell me that Haley isn't always the monster he's portrayed as being. And even if his tough-love coaching style is tougher than most, it doesn't guarantee that his players will hate him and he will fail.

Cook largely confines his arguments to the subjective, avoiding delving in too deeply into the X’s and O’s, but he does conclude that Haley track record is that of an offensive coordinator that plays to his team’s strengths, something that was frequently, but not always true about Bruce Arians.

Blogsphere Amplifies Division on Haley

For once, the dichotomy evident on the professional press is reflected neatly in the blogsphere, and no where is this more clear than Behind the Steel Curtain (full disclosure, I also write for BTSC.)

When Haley’s name first surfaced as a candidate, Neal Coolong, BTSC’s assistant editor, wasted little time in going to town on the prospect, observing:

He's an interesting, if not obvious, candidate. Interesting in the sense he appears to be an incredibly poor fit for the job. [Emphasis added.]

Coolong attacked Haley’s coaching candidacy with zest, citing all sorts of red flags behind the coaches clashes with former players and coaches, his poor performance minus Hall of Famers like Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, and several questionable coaching decisions.

His colleague, Tim Gleason, aka Mary Rose took a completely different tact, lauding the hire in glowing terms:

By bringing in Haley, the Steelers have added to the mix an experienced, lifelong, successful offensive mind rather than a starter coach. That can only be a plus in draft preparations, in-house player evaluations and every other aspects of strategies and Xs and Os of offensive football. Haley will begin immediately to be an asset in drafting options.

Gleason extols’ Haley’s varied paths to success, praising him for revitalizing Kurt Warner’s career and for leading only the fifth NFL offense to have three 1000 plus wide receivers.

How’s that for diversity of opnion on the same site?

Pick Up the Phone and Do Some Reporting, Please

Everyone knows that Art Rooney II forced Mike Tomlin to fire Bruce Arians. The fact that Arians’ “retirement” lasted all of 8 days and that the Steelers have made no attempt to refute the story establishes this as fact.

Ron Cook wants breath additional legs into this story, charging that Rooney also forced Tomlin to hire Todd Haley.

Cook suggests that Tomlin’s lack of availability to the press, refusal to answer questions at Todd Haley’s press conference all signal that Tomlin cannot be happy with the way this affair unfolded.

And he’s right. Tomlin publicly endorsed his offensive coordinator only to have Art Rooney II pull rank on him. That’s a nasty brew to swallow.

But Cook extrapolates to the extreme:

Hey, all speculation is fair until we hear from Tomlin or more from Rooney. I can't say for sure one way or the other who hired Haley. [Emphasis added.]

The key to Cook’s entire column is the word in italic above “speculation.” Webster’s on-line dictionary gives a couple of definitions of the root word “speculate.”

• to meditate on or ponder a subject : REFLECT


• to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence

In other words, Cooks is taking a wild-ass guess. Which is fine, up to a point, but Cook then extrapolates to the extreme, where after extolling the Rooney’s wisdom of hiring Tomlin, he suggests:

There aren't better owners in sports than the Rooneys, at least there weren't before this offensive coordinator mess. [Emphasis added.]

Had it been established that Rooney did in fact for the Haley hire on Tomlin, that would be one thing. But no one knows that. But Cook simply doesn’t stop there, he continues aruging:

I'm guessing Tomlin will have the chance to be here for a long time. I'm just not so sure anymore that he wants to stay.

We're not going to have to wait long to find out.

Steelers.com has reported Tomlin's contract runs through next season with an option for 2013.

So in a simple 836 words, Ron Cook takes the Steelers change at offensive coordinator from the awkward firing of Bruce Arians, to Tomlin getting forced to hire someone he didn’t want to hire, to Tomlin planning to pack his bags.

Cook might be right. If he follows past procedure, Rooney will attempt to extend Tomlin’s contract this off season when he has two years remaining. If Tomlin balks Ron Cook will have bragging rights, and the Watch Tower will be the first to say so.

• But until then this is merely speculation.

But Cook is a professional who has been a credentialed member of the Pittsburgh sports writers for over 20 years.

If he’s going to go so far as to suggest that this is the beginning of the end of Mike Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh then he owes it to his readers to make the simple effort of going out and finding some facts to back up his claim.

Sure, he’s a columnist not a reporter, but professional columnists have the obligation based their opinions on facts. Otherwise, he might as well join the ranks of the bloggers.

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Omar Khan to Stay with Steelers

Free agency is still a few weeks away, but the Pittsburgh Steelers will start ahead of the curve.

First the Bulter did it. Now Omar Khan is following in his footsteps.

Linebacker's coach Keith Bulter had an offer to become the defensive coordinator of the Colts, but Art Rooney II and Mike Tomlin talked him out of even listening to what the Colts had to say. Bulter's contract had expired, but reports indicate that he's been promised the Steelers defensive coordinator slot when Dick LeBeau retires.

Now Rooney has done it again with Omar Khan. The St. Louis Rams had asked for permission to interview Omar Khan. The Steelers granted the Rams permission to interview Khan, who also interviewed with the Seattle Seahawks two years ago, but Khan has opted to stay in Pittsburgh, as reported by Ed Bouchette on PG Plus.

Khan might perhaps be biding his time, as Bouchette reports that Khan would rejoin Bill Cowher were Cowher ever to don the coach's headset again.

Omar Khan has been with the Steelers for 12 years, and serves as their director of bueinss operations and as their lead contract negotiator.

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No Steelers Decision on Hines Ward, Yet

The NFL Network reported ealier today that the Steelers had decided to cut franchise leading wide reciver Hines Ward.

The news was picked up by many outlets, and the rumors gained enough currency that Ward himself took to Facebook to announce that he'd heard nothing from the team.

Veteran Post-Gazette scribe Ed Bouchette went into action, knocked down the rumors, at least for the moment. Writing on PG Plus Bouchette informed:

Indeed, the Steelers and Ward may ultimately part ways, but the people I talked to have intimate knowledge of such things and they've assured me there has been no decision.

This is a clear case of Ed Bouchette doing exactly what he is supposed to: Going right to the source and getting the story.

Moreover, the decision to deliver it, at least first via PG Plus highlights the value that subscribers are paying to get. AND, PG Plus is rarely if ever updated on the weekends, but Bouchette posted it at 6:00 pm on a Saturday evening, earning him double Kudos from the Watch Tower

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Steelers Say Hello to Haley, Good Bye to Battle, Bryant McFadden

The Pittsburgh Steelers named Todd Haley their new offensive coordiantor this week, ending a lengthy search process to replace Bruce Arians.

As they said hello to a familiar face, Haley is in fact the son of Dick Haley who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Art Rooney Jr. and Bill Nunn as the team's director of player personnel during the drafts of the 1970's, they also began what will likely be a lengthy, and at times painful series of good byes.

The Steelers are projected to be 10 to 15 million dollars over the NFL's salary cap for 2012. To get under the team will need to clear a lot of space, and the only way to do that is to part ways with veterans, many of whom will walk out the door past two Super Bowl trophies that they had a hand in winning.

The process began today as the Steelers waived Bryant McFadden and Arnz Battle. McFadden was a rookie in Super Bowl XL and a starter in Super Bowl XLIII. He departed to Arizona after 2008, but returned via trade during the 2010 NFL Draft. McFadden was often injured during his second stint with the Steelers, although he did remain a consistent special teams contributor during the 2011 season.

Battle was one of the members brought in by the Steelers suprise 2010 free agent signing spree, and contributed heavily to the improvement on special teams that year. His contributions were missed when he fell injured during the 2011 season, but ultimately salary cap needs made him expendable.

These two cuts were both anticipated and fairly easy.

The next ones promise to be more difficult.

Stay Steel Curtain Rising will be commenting on those as they happen, as well as offering commentary on both Todd Haley and Bruce Arians' departure.

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Dermontti Dawson and Jack Bulter Headed to the Hall of Fame

The Road to Canton runs through Pittsburgh. Or at least it does in 2012.
The NFL Hall of Fame selection committee has met, and four of the six selectees strong ties to Pittsburgh, if not the Steelers.

After several years of close calls, the Hall of Fame selection committee voted to induct Dermontti Dawson. Drafted out of Eastern Kentucky in 1988, Dawson did a rookie apprenticeship at right guard playing along side fellow Hall of Famer Mike Webster.

Then Dawson did the unthinkable, he make Iron Mike Webster expendable (Webster would go on to play to more seasons as a starter in Kansas City) taking over the starting role and holding it down until injuries forced him from the line up in 1999 and 2000.
Dawson was an anchor on some of the best offensive lines of the 1990's, and the Steelers relied on his versatility and athleticism to make trapping and pulling plays that few other offensive lineman have been capable of.

Jack Bulter played for the Steelers during the 1950's, and when knee injuries forced him from the starting line up, he was the second all time leader in interceptions, in the NFL Today, a distinction he still holds for the Steelers. Following that Hall of Fame playing career, Bulter served as the Steelers BLESTO scout for 44 years until retiring in 2007.

The two other members of the 2012 Class with ties to Pittsburgh are Curtis Martin, who is both a native of Pittsburgh and an alum of the University of Pittsburgh, and Chris Doleman who also played at Pitt.

Keith Butler to the Colts?

Steelers Linebackers coach Keith Butler is not a man driven by impulse. He passed on the chance at the defensive coordinator’s headset in Pittsburgh West. He also had a shot in 2009 to join Tony Soprano’s staff in Miami. Again he said no.

At the time the word was that Butler had been tapped as Dick LeBeau’s heir apparent, and seemed content to wait his turn in Pittsburgh. And Ed Bouchette reported in the Post-Gazette that Butler has a handsake agreement that he'll get the job when LeBeau retires.

Butler’s patience, however, may have worn out as reports indicate that he will follow Bruce Arians to join Chuck Pagano’s staff in Indianapolis. Butler confirmed that he will interview for the position, and makes no secret about his desire to coach as a defensive coordinator, however Bouchette reported that Bulter insisted that a move to the Colts is not a "done deal."

The move marks the second significant shift in Mike Tomlin’s coaching staff, following Arian’s departure and it is likely the their will be more turnover, as Randy Fitchner and Sean Kugler are the top candidates fill the offensive coordinator slot which of course means that Tomlin would need to fill their positions as well.

Rumors that Jim Cadwell, who coached with Tomlin in Tampa, might be taking the Steelers offensive coordinator job have turned out to be false, as it was announced that the Ravens had named Cadwell as their quaterbacks coach.

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Watch Tower: Conspiracy Theories on Hines Ward, Kordell Stewart, and Russ Grimm

The Watch Tower was quiet during much of 2011. Rest assured lack of time and not lack of motive explains the absence. Unfortunately the long layoff means a lot will go uncovered, but those are the breaks. The media has given us plenty to chew over, and the Watch Tower first shines its light on the Hines Ward situation.

Having It Out for Hines?

Steelers Nation knew the day would at some point, and the juncture was reached in 2011 when Hines Ward lost his starting job. It was a sobering moment to be sure, but one that came with a captivating back story.

Writing on PG Plus, Ed Bouchette was the first to note Ward's demotion, commenting on Ward’s lack of play at Cincinnati, and discounting Mike Tomlin’s denial that Ward had dropped on the depth chart, reminding readers that Tomlin had spun the same line about Randel El a year earlier.

A few days later, Bouchette wrote an impassioned post on PG Plus strongly criticizing the Steelers coaches for not having the decency to inform Ward of his benching prior to the fact. Bouchette continued the full court press with the Ward story throughout the season, although he did appear to shift his tone when it suited him, observing on November 16th that:

It's not wrong that he lost his starting status or has been dropped to No. 4 or even No. 5 on the depth chart. But someone owed him at least a heads-up that it was going to happen and maybe even an explanation as to why. [Emphasis added.]

The “Dean” of the Steelers press corps is pretty consistent here. However, writing on December 21st, Bouchette, discussing Ward’s quest to get break the 1,000 catch mark, flatly changed his tone charging “They're not even giving him the chance.” It would appear that Bouchette, it was in fact wrong that Ward was now the 4th or 5th wide receiver.

It only took Bouchette another sentence, however, to drop a bigger bomb shell when he asserted:

It seems to me, someone has it out for him.

Going from not giving a player his due to actively trying to keep him from breaking milestones is a huge leap, and one which Bouchette made without offering any type of reporting or indirect reporting to support such a bold assertion.

The season’s final two games made it quite clear in fact, that the Steelers were going to try to do everything to give Hines Ward is 1000 catches, in fact if memory serve, Mike Tomlin even went into the finale having informed the TV broadcast team that this was his intention.

Bouchette’s bravado looked quite foolish, at this point.

Dale Lolley to the Rescue

However, in his post season write up, veteran Washington Observer scribe Dale Lolley scooped the competition with this:

There are some on the coaching staff who don't want Ward back. In fact, one member of the staff didn't want him back in 2010.

Lolley then went on to explain that management put its foot down and insisted that Ward be welcomed back, and predicted (as did Bouchette) that they will do so again in 2012.

This is a tremendous piece of reporting by Lolley (why he put this in his blog and not his paper is mind boggleing). If Lolley’s right, and there is every reason to suspect he is, someone on the Steelers coaching staff really does not like Hines Ward, because Number 86 caught 95 catches in 2009.

The said coach is also more than a little stupid, because Ward followed that up with 59 catch effort in 2010, scored a key touchdown in the playoffs vs. the Ravens, and would have been the Super Bowl MVP had the Steelers defeated the Packers.

Dale Lolley of course didn’t divulge who that coach is – he couldn’t lest he lose every friend he has in the locker room, but in responding to a reader’s comments he did offer that:

As for the coach who wanted to cut him, let's just say it was somebody who had some say in those things, but not the final say.

If nothing else, Lolley is, most likely, telling his readers that Mike Tomlin is not the one who has it out with Ward. That would leave the other offensive coaches. It wasn’t Scotty Montgomery, who joined the staff as wide out’s coach in the spring of 2010 ,and likely would have no standing to make such a bold claim.

Randy Fichtner is also an unlikely candidate, if for no other reason than one of the enduring images from the horrid loss at Cleveland in 2009 was Fichtner comforting Ward on the sidelines. So I guess that leaves us with Bruce Arians, although that’s only a guess….

Bouchette Beats a Dead Slash

During the 2011 off season season the Watch Tower took exception with Ed Boucette’s insistence that Bill Cowher showed too little patience with Kordell Stewart (click here to read.)

Bouchette, apparently couldn’t let it go. But while the first case was a clash of opinions, Bouchette followed up with some statements that were flat out wrong.

Comparing Kordell Stewart to Tim Tebow, Bouchette offered this:

He [Kordell] would start the next five seasons at quarterback, off and on, even though Cowher and his offensive coordinators did everything they could to find someone else, such as that big walruss Kent Graham, a Kevin Gilbride favorite. [Emphasis added.]

Just how does Bouchette conclude that Cowher and his coaches “did everything they could to find someone else…?” Reality fails that statement. After his awful 1998 season, the Steelers, with Cowher’s assent, gave Kordell a new, lucrative long-term, contract.

In the 1999 draft the Steelers made attempt to move up to take one of the five quarterbacks taken before their first round pick. Kordell’s 1999 season was worse than his 1998 season, yet the Steelers passed on the chance to take Chad Pennington during the 2000 NFL draft.

And after a strong, but not spectacular 2000 season, the Steelers again opted to allow Drew Breees and Quincy Carter to remain on the board, taking Casey Hampton and Kendrell Bell instead during the 2001 NFL draft.

Ed Bouchette is entitled to his opinions about how the Steelers coaches mishandeled Kordell Stewart – he’s right to a certain extent and he's got plenty of facts on his side – but he’s not entitled to ignore basic facts that happen to be inconvenient to his argument.

Did the Steelers Snub Russ Grimm?

Now that the Watch Tower has thrown Bouchette under a bus over Kordell Stewart, let’s give the man credit for some truly excellent reporting.

As most Steelers fans know, there was initially some confusion over who would succeed Bill Cowher, with conflicting reports that the job had been offered to Russ Grimm and Mike Tomlin.

Art Rooney II explained afterwards that he had gotten as far as discussing prelimary contract numbers with Grimm, but insists that no offer had been extended.

And that’s where the story stood for four years.

Russ Grimm was portrayed in the press as disappointed at not getting the job, but said all of the right things leading up to the Steelers game vs. Arizona in 2007 and again repeated all of the right things before Super Bowl XLIII.

However, prior to this year’s Cardinals game, Bouchette added something that was potentially explosive to the mix:

He [Russ Grimm] believes he was told by Art Rooney that the job was his after Bill Cowher quit. He even had a part to celebrate. Later, he was told that it wasn't a done deal and then that Mike Tomlin was hired. Bitter doesn't describe it. He is the Cardinals line coach and assistant head coach, just as he was in Pittsburgh.

Still pretty innocuous stuff, although the news of Grimm having held a party and his bitterness (in contrast to public statements) are new news.

Later on, responding to a fan’s question, Bouchette dived deeper:

Grimm believed all along the job was his because, in my opinion, they led him to believe it. Now it comes down to specifics. Those close to Grimm say Art Rooney told him "Congratulations, you are the new Steelers coach" and Grimm and his friends and family celebrated. However, the Rooneys insist that he was never told that and what he was told he misinterpreted.

The “’Congratulations’” quote amounts to an impressive, and unprecedented piece of reporting. Clearly it Bouchette’s sources are 3rd and 4th hand, but he takes the story farther than it’s ever been and in doing so he delivered the goods that make PG Plus worth the 17 Argentine pesos it costs monthly to subscribe.

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