I really haven't given the whole coaching thing a lot of thought because ... well, I think it'll be Whis or Grimm. And while I was firmly in the Whisenhunt camp all season, I'm starting to wonder if Grimm would be a better fit. Here's what I wrote on SCI last week:
With all of this in mind, I wonder how proficient Ken Whisenhunt might be at motivating the troops. I have no doubt that he really knows football, but so do a lot of other guys who have since been canned as NFL head coaches. Since Whisenhunt wisely turned down the Oakland career-killing head coaching job last off-season, I was pretty much convinced he was the heir apparent in Pittsburgh. Russ Grimm was always in the conversation but I had a hunch that head-to-head Whisenhunt would get the nod. I still like Whisenhunt for the job, but in the back of my mind, I wonder if Grimm is better suited to fill Cowher's role as hard-ass while delegating the X's and O's minutiae to the coordinators. Just something to think about when not thinking about all the other Steelers-related stuff about to go down in the next few weeks and months.So now, I'm kinda in the Grimm camp, but basically because he's more animated than Whisenhunt. Yeah, it's not rational, but I think there's something to be said for motivating the troops.
In terms of Xs and Os, Whisenhunt seems sharp (since Grimm's the o-line coach, I have no idea how he'd do on Jeopardy against Belichick and Martz) but one of the smartest things Cowher did wasn't formulating game plans, it was surrounding himself with really smart coaches. If Grimm can leave the heavy lifting to the assistants and just keep the team focused, I think things could work pretty much like they have been for the last 15 years.
But like I said, I'm just pulling stuff out of my ass on this, so take it for what it's worth.
So, here's Cowher's new house in Raleigh, NC. I don't know what's more amazing: that he only paid $2.5 million for a 7,000 square foot mansion, or that he didn't quit sooner to move into that thing.
I feel like I should sufficiently bash Len Pasquerelli for this steaming pile, but maybe I'll save it for later. Instead, I'd like to point you to possibly the greatest sports-related event from this weekend. (I know I haven't talked about college basketball here in, what, a year? But in case you don't know, I hate Duke. A lot.)
Anyway, I had the pleasure of watching the Blue Devils choke away the Virginia Tech game ... at home, no less, and the fact that smarmy Greg Paulus got a face full of nuts was easily the highlight of my weekend.
Deron Washington, you're the HSS Player of the Week. Whatever that means.
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