The Art of the deal

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. How befitting a proverb for an organisation trapped in a void of purgatory, slipping further toward irrelevance. As the winds of change caress those around us with new veils of hope, the Steelers front office closed the tunnel long before we even had a chance to see if there was light at the end of it. 

The more things change, eh? This piece is not a personal attack on Mike McCarthy, the 17th head coach in Steeler history and the fourth since 1969. Rather, it’s a thinly veiled bang on the glass. 

The hiring of McCarthy is the safe bet, the diet coke of coaching movements, the vanilla sponge cake with no filling. An uninspiring hire designed to keep a ship circling the waters of mediocrity in case the wind may pick up. While new, fresh ideas are being utilized, new cultures are being cultivated, the Steelers reminded us all today that they know best, thank you very much! Who knows, maybe we might only lose a wildcard game by two scores next year. 

I have said for a couple of years now that the Steelers organisation better portrays a gentlemen's club than that of a football team. So imagine the shock when the native yinzer is reunited with the GM he worked with in New Orleans. My word, my estimations of Omar Khan have plummeted today. Whether this is Dan Snyder levels of sleaze (The culture was damn good), or if this is merely an arrogance of an organisation that knows better than its fickle fans? I would be much happier to believe the latter if such arrogance boasted silverware. Instead it’s tested the patience of even the most loyal followers for whom a hire of this nature does nothing. If the Steelers truly believe this hire will bring them success, I have bad news for them. Say what you want about Mike Tomlin, he squeezed the last ounce of potential from his players like a python; my confidence in Mike McCarthy doing the same is slim. 

But to all of this, there is a very cynical and troubling thing here. Art Rooney II comes from a proud and noble lineage, and in one move he has bastardised two incredibly longstanding and meaningful Pittsburgh sanctities. One, he has butchered a Steeler hiring process that has produced 3 home runs in 3 searches; the quest for young, fresh minded first time coaches. Secondly, he has, in my opinion, completely circumvented a rule named in his fathers honour. The Steelers interviewed just three coaches in person, two were Brian Flores, Anthony Weaver... I wonder what those two coaches have in common?

The process we just endured served nothing but to deliver us false hope that real change was on its way; in the end, it was always McCarthy, right from off. A lot has to be answered for that Chris Shula or Nate Scheelhaase were not even given the courtesy of further consideration. But truthfully, i fear even more in the coming weeks needs to be asked as to why Dan Rooney’s legacy was so horribly forgotten this week.