However, I do think it’s a bit of a cop out to place it all on the players. Whisenhunt, at some point, had to see he didn’t have the horses to continue on with his vertical passing game once Warner retired. He continually made the player fit his system, even when it was clear they didn’t. I hate to make this comparison, as it’s coming from a Whisenhunt fan, but look at the change in Alex Smith when Harbaugh replaced Singletary. Same player, vastly different result. Granted, it didn’t stop him from handing the keys to Kaepernick but now Smith is actually in demand around the league. It’s all hindsight now, but I still would have liked to have seen what our offense would have looked like with Iupati and DeCastro at Guards, and Beanie given the designation as the #1 back.

Curious to see what Arians and Co. have up their sleeve.

Yes. Without knowing for sure, it seemed Coach Whisenhunt’s downfall was the wearing of too many hats. His decisions on personnel, especially QB, made what he does best (coaching) impossible.

I’m sure Goodwin knows his stuff or he wouldn’t be there. I also believe a new perspective is good from time to time. I supported the firings because I thought it had gotten a little out of whack and needed someone to look at it with a new perspective.

I just hope these coaches understand the men before them knew this game and lost because of players. I hope they don’t think they can fix the issues with our QBs without realizing the guys here before knew QBs.

Get new QBs, add talent through the draft, and don’t miss on FAs (yours or others you bring in). If you don’t do these things, it won’t matter how good of a coach you are, you will lose.

very nicely written. I liked Whisenhunt and wished he would’ve stayed. I truly believe he was a lot of injuries and one FA & draft away from returning us to the playoffs.

I truly believe Arians will get us there as well and it very well could be this year. I see us as the first SB team with home field advantage in the following year. Will the ref’s allow that?

Darren, regarding your response to John The Draft Guy,

“But you are right — it’s always about the players. Always”

That’s the best one line statement on this site.

RE: Players

I think there are always multiple issues that go into firing a coach. And for the head coach, it’s not always just about his actual coaching. That guy is wearing a lot of hats, making a lot of decisions.

But you are right — it’s always about the players. Always.

Ken Whisenhunt knew offense and was quickly grabbed up as an OC. The coaching wasn’t the issue.

Players are and will always be the issue. If you don’t have the right players, you can’t win. Look at Billecheck with the Browns, then the Patriots. Did he just suddenly become a great coach? No, he drafted well and got lucky with a kid named Brady.

On the other hand, Whisenhunt came to a loser team and went 8-8, then 2 years to the playoffs and a superbowl. Did he just lose his coaching edge? No, he promoted Warner and then lost Warner with no replacement.

Another example, Jim Caldwell wore out his welcome in Indy and was brought into the Ravens and replaced Cam Cameron and became the guy who got Flacco on track to win the SB. Funny, because he couldn’t coach up any of the guys who tried in Indy when Peyton missed 2011. Was it him or the QBs?

Sure, coaches make a difference and can fit schemes to the players and make them better. But if you don’t have players, you don’t win. The player you need most is a QB. You just can’t win without one. We don’t have one. I am not going to buy in to the fact that Coach Whiz couldn’t coach these guys up. I just don’t buy it.

So, if you want Mr Goodwin to keep smiling, get him a new QB to work with. Otherwise, you will hear the fans yelling Goodwin sucks.

One last point, Grimm took a lot of heat. and I have made this point before. Grimm wasnt given players to coach but he coached them up well enough when Warner was here. But with little talent on the oline and bad QBs, he took the heat. Funny, when the cards finally decided to draft olineman, Grimm coached them up and made two rookie tackles pretty good by the end of the year even with no RBs and terrible QBs.

RE: Zierlein

Zierlein hasn’t been the Steelers’ OL coach since after the 2009 season.

RE: KVB

No I don’t.