Steelers Coach Montgomery Leaves Staff; Salary Cap Updates

Another has left the roost. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery served three seasons as wide receivers coach at Duke University, his alma mater.

These are the facts: Montgomery is the third Steelers' assistant to leave since the end of the 2012 season. The others were offensive line coach Sean Kugler, who left for the head coaching job at UTEP, and special teams coach Amos Jones, who made a lateral move to the Arizona Cardinals.

The 34-year old Montgomery played at Duke University from 1996-99, and ranks second on their all-time list receptions list and is fourth on all-time receiving yards with 171 catches and 2,378 yards respectively. He was the Blue Devils' Most Valuable Player 1998 and 1999. - http://tinyurl.com/ah9fg35

What is just as important, however, is how this affects the team continuity and preparations for next season. There are enough issues at hand with regard to the actual players, let alone the ones in charge of guiding them. And, as alluded to before, Jones and now Montgomery, who, according to many, were supposed to be Tomlin's guys, only took lateral transfers?

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

So now, per Ed Bouchette, Tomlin now has two openings on his staff to fill. As he tweeted from his Twitter (@EdBouchette) account on Friday: ".... Unfilled ST asst he may use elsewhere."

Who will it be, though, to fill the WR coach position? Some have suggested Hines Ward might fill it. Well, allow me to address that as elaborately and eloquently as I can.

Nope.

Ward has said that coaching may be in his future, but in so many words said that it would be 'no time soon,' and that if and when he did it would probably be at his "alma mater."

Mark Kaboly suggested this with respects the opening: "Steelers might not have to go far to find Scottie Montgomery's replacement. Bobby Engram is only right next door at #Pitt."

Whomever it shall be remains to be seen. What we have already seen, however, is that, either Tomlin is cleaning house and is dead set on presenting the best possible product for 2013 and forward, or the coaches under Tomlin are chafing badly under his headship. Let's hope, for continuity's sake that it's the former.

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As we presented in our last blog, Pro Football Talk reported that the Steelers have a credit of $758,000 which is a carry-over of unused cap space from 2012. It's also more than originally expected or known.

In light of the extra monies provided the Steelers and to break down the Cap situation of the Steelers, we thought we'd turn to Ian Whetstone of Steel City Insider again as last season.

In part, he said "the Steelers currently have 44 players signed for 2013...and when including the Exclusive Rights Free Agents -
$555,000 CB Van Dyke, DeMarcus
$480,000 RB Batch, Baron -

{and} Dead Money {hits} -
$344,824 DT Ta'amu, Alameda
$37,368 WR Clemons, Toney
$34,422 CB Frederick, Terrence
$23,256 RB Batch, Baron
$3,334 CB Carter, Terry
$3,334 DE Igbinosun, Ikponmwosa
$3,334 OL Lee, Ryan
$3,334 WR Maze, Marquis
$2,667 LB Lindsey, Brandon
$2,667 DE Stoller, Jake
$1,667 WR Dixon, Connor
$1,334 TE Saunders, Weslye -
there is a $133,101,630 current Cap commitment."

He further said there is a "$121,000,000 projected 2013 salary cap
Unknown 2012 cap carryover (should not be more than a few 100k)
Unknown 2013 cap adjustment. {editor's note: as stated at the outset, both have been increased since the original posting.}

"The Restricted Free Agents:
RB Dwyer, Jonathan
P Kapinos, Jeremy (I think)
DT McLendon, Steve
RB Redman, Isaac
WR Sanders, Emmanuel
LB Sylvester, Stevenson

"Projected RFA Tenders:
$2,879,000 First-round tender
$2,023,000 Second-round tender
$1,386,000 Original round tender

"Unrestricted Free Agents
S Allen, Will
QB Batch, Charlie
WR Burress, Plaxico
LB Foote, Larry
OL Foster, Ramon
DT Hampton, Casey
LB Johnson, Brandon
TE Johnson, David
CB King, Justin
QB Leftwich, Byron
OL Legursky, Doug
CB Lewis, Keenan
RB Mendenhall, Rashard
S Mundy, Ryan
TE Pope, Leonard
OL Starks, Max
WR Wallace, Mike
LS Warren, Greg"

So the Steelers do have the adjusted figure of a $121.1 million Salary Cap. Yet with all of their UFAs, even with having three $250,000 veteran Cap credits at their disposal, they still have no choice but to clean house. Especially considering that Baltimore Ravens team president Dick Cass said at the team's season-ending press conference that the "cap is not expected to go up dramatically in 2014....It should not be much more than $122 million in 2014.”

So, the nine-year extension of its Sunday broadcast television packages with CBS, FOX and NBC that will run through the 2022 season, was expected to blow up. It turns out that the cap will remain flat after all. Which means a careful stratagem will be needed continually into the seasons to come as well. All of which should start in mid-February.

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TIDBITS: Who could the Steelers lose in their March purge? As we wrote last June, James Harrison could be one who would go. - http://tinyurl.com/bjlqooe

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Ravens say they won't restructure contracts to keep their team together. If so, Anquan Boldin says he would retire before wearing another jersey. ...yeah, ok. - http://tinyurl.com/ax7442g

Third's The Charm For Steelers Special Teams?; Bicknell jr. Wants "Guys Who Can Move"

Brad Miller-US Presswire

Three special teams coaches in three seasons. Amos Jones took over after Al Everest was fired immediately prior to the start of the 2012 season, and now former Washington Redskins special teams coach Danny Smith has taken over for Jones after his contract wasn't renewed. Is the third a charm?

If It Ain't Steel laid out the Steelers special teams' rankings under the guidance of Jones and Everest in part three of All the King's Horses, showing that both the kickoff and the punt return units were average, and that defending kickoffs and punts in 2012 were just bad. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-2012-steelers-all-kings-horses-pt-3.html

At first glance, it would seem that Smith, a Pittsburgh native, is a wonderful choice to reinvigorate the special teams unit and rein in a discombobulated bunch. According to Redskins.com, "in 2011, Smith's special teams unit ranked first in the NFC in kick return average allowed (20.8 yards) for the second consecutive season. Additionally, the unit ranked fifth in the NFC in opponents' average starting position (21.8-yard line on kickoffs).

"He also helped Brandon Banks become one of the league's most consistent return specialists. Banks finished the season with career highs in kick returns and kick return yards with 51 kick returns for 1,174 yards, which led the NFL in both categories....

"In 2010, Smith's unit ranked first in the NFC in kick return average allowed (19.0 yards) and second in the NFC in opponents' average starting position (23.7-yard line on kickoffs)."

You excited yet, Steeler Nation? Well, slow your roll. The team's website should be expected to paint a flowery picture of its personnel. We're not saying that it's sophistry, but what's presented isn't the entire picture.

Behind The Steel Curtain interviewed Kevin Ewoldt, managing editor of HogsHaven.com, and he 'mentioned how much the players like Smith,' but suggested that the fans "generally are not too fond of Danny Smith."

As HogsHaven.com further pointed out, 'Football Outsiders' rankings of the Redskins special teams units has them ranked 27th last season.' In fact, they were ranked '25th, 6th, 11th, 16th, 18th, 27th, 26th, 22nd and 30th in the NFL since 2004.' - http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamst

So don't start the parade just yet. There are pros and cons to Mr. Smith. There were definitely highly-rates individual numbers to hang his hat on, and there may be "talent" issues involved in some of the lower rankings. But there is still the consistency of those lower rankings - a matter that would be up to him directly to solve.

BTSC, in our link posted above, did also bring out how "much respect there is for Danny Smith around the league," expressing the fact that "a few years ago, at least five teams (including Pittsburgh) sought permission to interview Smith, but all were denied because the Redskins were intent on keeping him."

As Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Thursday, he wanted "a guy who can inspire a large group of men," and we've noted that his players like him. We see that his bosses obviously did too. That smacks at character. - http://tinyurl.com/ahzu3l8

So, a little new blood and fresh outlook could still be a positive thing, and he doesn't exactly come into a bare cabinet personnel-wise. Then there's the fact that he is a local boy. Let's hope the third's a charm...and that Thomas Wolfe was wrong.

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On Tuesday, Bob Labriola of Steelers Digest tweeted some comments from the Steelers new offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr.

Labriola tweeted these tasty morsels from his Twitter (@BobLabriola) account regarding what Bicknell said of his priorities: "I always talk about how important the run game is, but protecting that QB is our No. 1 job."

Bicknell stated an obvious fact: "I believe the offensive line is the foundation for the football team."

He provided a saliva-inducing statement for any true Steelers fan: "If you can walk off the field and know we dominated the opponent physically, that's the most important stat."

He offered plaudits for the offensive line's anchor: "All you need to do is look at Maurkice Pouncey and figure out what you want in a center."

And, being a zone-blocking teacher and coach, he revealed the importance of athleticism on the line: "(O-linemen) can get too big. Then again, it's not about being too big, it's about not being able to move....I want to be able to have guys who can move, run, and have some quickness off the ball to be able to get into people."

Sounds good, but of course you know that, using that criteria, this means that certain OLinemen won't be back.

The 2012 Steelers - All The King's Horses..., pt. 3: Special Teams

by Jayden and Jason

They had a great fall...
It's fitting that this final piece covering the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 season begins with an ending. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Saturday that Amos Jones, the Steelers now-former special teams coach, accepted the same position with Pittsburgh West, formerly known as the Arizona Cardinals. - http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-assistant-coach-amos-jones-heads-to-cardinals-672084/

In part one of the All the King's Horses series, we addressed where quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, offensive coordinator Todd Haley and even team president Art Rooney II all had a hand in the demise of the offense. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-2012-steelers-all-kings-horses-pt-1.html

In part two we took on the defense and how numbers can be misleading. Yes, they were ranked No. 1, but there were key components missing that prevented the unit from being truly dominant. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-2012-steelers-all-kings-horses-pt-2.html

Now, the third installment covers the final field unit: special teams.

The lone bright spot for the special teams unit this season was the Wunderkind himself, Shaun "Sushi" Suisham. Sushi was 34-34 in extra points and 28-31 in field goals, with two of those missing kicks being from 53 and 54 yards, which was good for 90.3% and seventh in the league. That's basically where the good news ends.

Drew Butler, the son of former NFL kicker Kevin Butler, was an undrafted free agent rookie signed by the Steelers who beat out Jeremy Kapinos for the starting punter position. But he was inconsistent and ranked 18th overall among NFL punters, and his 43.8 yard average landed him all the way down at 26th among his brethren. While punt coverage, or lack thereof, can affect averages, it ultimately still falls on the punter.

Speaking of "coverage," it almost seems a bad word to use in this case considering that's something the Steelers' special teams did so little of this season. They were ranked 12th and 23rd in opponents kick and punt returns in 2012, allowing 24.0 and 10.2 yards respectively.

The punt unit also allowed a touchdown, which was the straw breaking the Steelers' back in the first Baltimore Ravens game, and committed costly penalties in several other games that altered field position as well as outcomes.

The Steelers ranked 12th and 23rd in returning kicks and punts also, averaging 25.3 and 7.3 yards in each category, with Antonio Brown averaging only 6.8 yards on 27 punt returns.

Days before the season, head coach Mike Tomlin fired then-special teams coordinator Al Everest and Jones was promoted to the head position. They were no better in 2011 under Everest.

The Steelers ranked 19th in the NFL in opponents' kick returns and 25th in punt returns. They ranked 25th and 14th in their own kick and punt returns.

It is unclear why Everest was ever let go in the first place, but 'philosophical differences' seemed to be the reasoning. One feather in Everest's cap was that there were no returns for touchdowns, something that had plagued the previous regime.

And now Jones is gone too. Who'll replace him? We don't know, but it couldn't be difficult to make a lateral shift. Based on his team's performance, Jones comes off as if he could go bobbing in a barrel of boobs and still come out sucking his thumb.

Since the Steelers organization hasn't said much of anything about it, we believe that he simply didn't have his contract renewed.

The Steelers special teams unit this season often seemed disjointed, out of position, overly aggressive and overly penalized at different times. Fumbles and missed tackles also plagued them. It's an ugly, ongoing trend that all the Rooney's horses and men must rectify in order to put this back together again.

UPDATE: After the posting of this blog, Ed Bouchette reported that the Steelers were granted permission to interview Washington Redskins special teams coach and Pittsburgh native Danny Smith. Rather than write another piece on this, we'll let Behind The Steel Curtain do the talking for us: http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2013/1/28/3925028/pittsburgh-steelers-special-teams-coach-coordinator-interview-danny-smith-washington-redskins

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TIDBITS: Two-time Super Bowl champ "Big Play" Deshea Townsend will lead Mississippi State's cornerbacks. - http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/20567462/mississippi-st-hires-2-defensive-assistants

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Mike Tomlin has to replace more than one position coach, including the offensive line coach. Russ Grimm won't be on the short list. Per Ed Bouchette, Grimm thought he had the Steelers head coaching job when Bill Cowher quit. Instead, the Rooneys gave it to Tomlin, and Grimm bitterly left with Ken Whisenhunt to Arizona. To quote Bouchette, "there is no way he would come back for the same job as line coach."

Skip Bayless Wrong In Vilifying Ryan Clark For Ravens Comments; Steelers Make Special Change

"Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. You can't simply say, 'Today I will be brilliant.'"

Few sports broadcasters today exemplify that quote more than ESPN personality Skip Bayless. His comments on Thursday's episode of First Take regarding Ryan Clark's interview on the NFL Network this week prove that statement yet again. 

Clark, the starting free safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers, answered questions regarding the rival Baltimore Ravens. As expected, Clark spoke on the games themselves and how last year's games affected him.

"I will say this about the Ravens: Playing that first game last year and watching them dance on the field, seeing them fake an extra point while up 27 [points] already, it allowed me to understand how much they actually dislike us as an organization," Clark said. 

He admitted that seeing them do that left an impression: "It brewed and stirred up a little hate in me, also for me to understand how I have to approach playing them and how I have to look at them."

Clark rightly felt incensed at such a junior varsity move. There was a bit of poetic justice, though, as the Ravens promptly went out the next week and were beaten by the Tennessee Titans, 26-13. They had obviously put too much emphasis on beating the Steelers. Not once, but twice. 

After the week eight 23-20 win over the Steelers, the Ravens players gave their head coach, John Harbaugh, a Gatorade bath. Well, they blew their wad again and Joe Flaccid and co. went limp into the Seattle Seahawks game and lost 22-17. Clark referenced that also, noting a difference with the Steelers' team and organization.

"I still feel like, this organization, we worry about winning championships. We don't focus on beating one team," Clark pointed out. "It won't be Gatorade baths because we beat the Ravens. It won't be parties, it won't be bottles popping and confetti. It will be one game on our journey to win the Super Bowl and I always look at that."

The reason this is being written, though, is because of the usual crack analysis by ESPN's Skip Bayless. And by crack I mean he must be smoking it, because he took issue with what Clark initially had said during that interview. Clark was asked about his personal feelings of the Ravens and responded positively. 

"I get that question a lot and I don't really hate them," Clark told them. "I was working out with Terrell Suggs this summer before his injury and he's a really cool dude. He said it himself that people don't understand that we only hate you two or three weeks out of the year." 

Skip Bayless took exception with this.

Speaking to guest analyst former NFL player Marcellus Wiley, @marcelluswiley on Twitter, Bayless asked, "You bridged the gap between the old NFL and new NFL, what happened to the old NFL that I grew up loving? What happened to the man's game? What happened to blood and guts, and Steelers hating Ravens, hating Steelers, and Cowboys hating Redskins, Redskins hating Cowboys?" 

"This just turns my stomach to see a Raven and Steeler, both of them decent guys, but suddenly it's all peace and love because they worked out in Arizona in the offseason....If you're a Steeler, you don't associate with the Ravens because it can creep into your psyche that you kind of like the Ravens." 

Huh? "Like the Ravens?" We're talking on the field here. "Like?" Like them? Sorry, not on the field. After Stephen A. Smith told him that he was ridiculous, Bayless got a very poignant response from Wiley when he spoke about rivals. 

"Do you know that the best underlying emotion, when you're talking about competition, is love, not hate? Think about sibling rivalry: when you go against your brother, you want to go after your brother much harder than you want to go against a guy who was drafted to another team," said Wiley.

Wiley is not only right, but this is by no means anything new. Players, even of rival teams, often actually befriend one another. They text, call, hang out, golf and apparently work out together in the offseason and have for years. 

As Wiley referenced, Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas were very close all during their playing career, even famously giving each other a quick peck on the cheek at the tip-off of games. They also gave us some historic performances against each other and even almost got into fights and had to be separated a couple of times.

Bayless, though, didn't respond to a basketball example. So, I'll provide a reminder that Reggie White used to gather players from both teams to pray after the game. After the battle, they left it on the field. 

Another example is a little closer to home. After Ben Roethlisberger faced and was eventually absolved of sexual assault allegations, it was Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis who reached out to the maligned quarterback. Big Ben has even been quoted as saying that they text and or call each other regularly in the offseason. 

More impressive than reaching out to Big Ben was what he did before the 2010 Ravens-Steelers game at M&T Bank Stadium. Lewis took stadium security with him before the game and had all 'Ben is a rapist' type signs taken down and removed. A class act move and something that should be respected. 

So, what's Bayless' problem? Where was the vitriol regarding Lewis and Big Ben? This is a career for the players, this is their job. They know how keep it in perspective after the game is done, how, again, to leave it on the field. Wiley pointed that fact out also. 

"The fans are the ones who are supporting this mythology that we hate everyone on the other team."

Ryan Clark is boisterous, but he isn't belligerent. He expresses his opinion, but he isn't contemptible. He interacts with Steelers fans on Twitter and is always personable. Skip Bayless, despite having various valid points when you listen to the entire podcast on ESPN, was wrong overall in his assessment of Clark's sentiments and of the NFL.

I understand that Bayless is paid to cause controversy, to create headlines and to stir contentions among fans. The latter simply won't happen with this fan. Ryan Clark's respect for his enemy, per se, is commendable and he doesn't have to hate the Raven's players or team. 

Besides, I hate them enough for both of us.

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Before a completely asinine Mike Wallace-to-Colts trade rumor on Thursday, some real news was released. Al Everest, the now former Steelers special teams coach was fired. 

The first alerts that came down to me were by Mark Kaboly and Jay Glazer. Kaboly tweeted that "Steelers special teams coach Al Everest just walked out the team facility with a handful of his belongings."

Jay Glazer tweeted this from his account "@JayGlazer: Steelers have parted ways with special teams coach Al Everest."

Shocking news. You don't see this type of thing happen two weeks before the start of the regular season. Like Kaboly said shortly after it happened, it's "hard to believe that Steelers ST coach Al Everest was fired for the play on the field. Had to be philosophical differences."

Amos Jones, who was the assistant special teams coach, along with Jerry Oslavsky and Ray Jackson, and reportedly in charge of a lot of what the special teams did anyway, has been promoted to fill the position. He is the third special teams coach under Mike Tomlin - Bob Ligashesky and then Everest.

Mike Tomlin had been disappointed with special teams efforts against the Colts. He said, "I didn't like our return game. [The play] was below the line." The Steelers special teams hadn't had a great preseason to the point of Everest's firing, but it was horrible either.

Tomlin released a brief statement, as can be found on the Steelers website, regarding the move: "We are continually evaluating our coaching staff and support staff, and we have decided to go in a different direction with respect to the coaching of our special teams. I want to thank Al for his contributions and efforts, and I wish him well in the future."

Everest had been an NFL special teams coach for 16 seasons and was starting his third season running the Steelers’ squad, and has since admitted his firing was a "shock" and said there were "professional differences." - http://t.co/zJ32YuFF