Terry Bradshaw is back on his you-know-what.
This time, the former Steelers quarterback is questioning coach Mike Tomlin’s decisions to move on from offensive coordinator Todd Haley and retain all of the defensive staff following the team’s playoff loss to Jacksonville earlier this month. He told the Sporting News:
“Haley was a great play-caller. They had great success together. For the life of me, I have not figured out why they fired Todd Haley. Didn’t they put up 42 points against the Jaguars?
“It would seem to me more like the head coach has to recognize the people he’s hiring to run that defense aren’t doing the job. Firing Haley made no sense. What did he do wrong? That’s why he was hired right away by Cleveland. It will take a while for (Ben) and the new coordinator to get their rhythm together. Each coordinator sees things differently, so it will be a different way of calling plays in the same offense. We’ll see how fast they adjust to it.”
Bradshaw has been a frequent Tomlin critic, so it’s not a surprise to see him come down on the opposite side of one of the coach’s decisions. He probably should have done some more homework before firing off this particular take, though.
Yes, Todd Haley’s body of work is impressive. He was the brains behind some of the best offenses in Steelers history, and if that was all that went into his departure, then sure, it would be a head-scratcher.
But it’s the decided lack of rhythm between Haley and Ben Roethlisberger that brought us here in the first place. Many have reported that the two men had a frosty relationship. New coordinator/then quarterbacks coach Randy Fitchner was brought down from the booth to act as a sideline buffer between the two men, according to a CBS report at the time.
Furthermore, Roethlisberger has specifically cited continuity as a reason he’s excited to work with Fichtner. At the Pro Bowl last week, he told the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo:
“I don’t think much will change. I think that was the key. That was important for everybody, that it didn’t change much. We have a window. We have the pieces. Why would you want to try and change it too much? So I think that’s one of the reasons they kept it in-house.”
So, uh, swing and a miss on that one, Terry.
As far as the defensive staff goes, it’s hard to defend after the unit gave up 45 points in a playoff game to one of the most maligned quarterbacks in the game. Bradshaw may have a point there.
Considering his half-baked comments about Haley, though, it seems more likely Bradshaw was just looking for an opportunity to keep up his weird beef with Tomlin, whether or not those criticisms were grounded in reality.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: January 30, 2018, 11:14 p.m.
Updated: January 30, 2018, 11:14 p.m.
