Welcome to Joe Starkey’s mailbag, where the Post-Gazette columnist and 93.7 The Fan radio host answers your questions about sports, life, Larry Zierlein and everything in between. If you want to ask Joe a question, tweet him @JoeStarkey1 or email him at jstarkey@post-gazette.com. On to the questions …
Dan Shryock, @Dan_Shryock: Waiting for the Pirates to announce a strategy for SS. I’m not looking for names, just a plan. Are they going to stick with what they have or look elsewhere? Do they seek a temporary solution until Cole Tucker arrives?
Starkey: You’ll be excited to hear this quote from GM Neal Huntington, Mr. Shryock, as told to our new Pirates beat writer Nubyjas Wilborn. It is not defeatist or depressing at all. No, not one bit.
“We like Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman,” Huntington said. “And we like what we feel is the level they can produce at in comparison to what else is truly out there.”
Have they planned a parade route, just in case?
As for the NL Central, where teams (most of ‘em, anyway) are making big offseason moves, Huntington said, “It’s a great division. We recognize that and we respect that. It was a great division last year and we finished above .500 in the division. If we continue to take care of business in the division and get back to a winning record against the East and West, then we can expect to be in a position to compete to win the division and fight for a playoff spot.”
Translation: If we can win more baseball games in most parts of North America, we might be good.
Have they planned a parade route, just in case?
Huntington also uttered this quote, which really should be distributed as a recording, because I feel like I’ve heard it 9 million times before. Only the numbers have changed: “We have the ninth-best record in baseball over the last six years. We are one of a few teams that have made the postseason three times in the last seven years.”
I can see the banner now, right next to those commemorating the five World Series titles:
“NINTH-BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL, 2013-2018”
Alex Benner, @LWOS_Alex_B: What does Munchak leaving mean in terms of the O-line next season? Including whether Foster will return or not.
Mary Mac Bakehouse, @MaryMaxMixes: What are the implications, for example the health of the Steelers organization, of Munchak leaving for a parallel position?
Starkey: My God, you’d think the Steelers were losing Vince Lombardi.
Mike Munchak is a good man and a very good line coach. He was not the foundation upon which the Steelers franchise rested. He was not the last beacon of stability in a sea of chaos. And in case you didn’t notice, he did not land a head coaching gig, despite eight openings (he reportedly turned down an interview with the Dolphins).
The idea that Munchak should have been elevated to Steelers coach in place of Mike Tomlin is absurd. The idea that all is lost without him is equally absurd. The notions that he was the best line coach who ever set foot in this city and certainly the best in the NFL at the moment are debatable.
Munchak was very good at his job. So was Russ Grimm, when he was here. I believe Grimm coached the line that won Super Bowl 40, yes? And didn’t he go to Arizona after that and nearly help that sickly franchise win one? Didn’t his guys pave the way for a late-stage Edgerrin James to rack up a couple of thousand-yard seasons?
If Munchak deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, as some would have you believe, then Larry Zierlein should have been sainted for winning a Super Bowl here with a line that went like this from left to right: Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, Justin Hartwig, Darnell Stapelton, Willie Colon.
Other teams have really good line coaches, too.
Did you see the Los Angeles Rams, without a Pro Bowl player, decimate a good Dallas Cowboys defense up front the other day? Veteran coach Aaron Kromer runs their line. He served in the same capacity in New Orleans when they won the Super Bowl. His lines have included reclamation projects such as Rams right guard Austin Blythe, claimed off waivers last year.
Marc Colombo did a miraculous job in Dallas this season, taking over in October and directing a unit that had sustained injuries to perennial Pro Bowlers Tyron Smith and Zack Martin and had lost Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick for the season. Andy Heck’s pretty good in Kansas City, where they lost their star running back and haven’t missed a beat.
Oh, and then there’s a 70-year-old coach in New England named Dante Scarnecchia who helped his team win three Super Bowls, retired in 2013 and returned in 2016 to add Super Bowl win No. 4. Last year, the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl despite a musical-chairs situation at right tackle. They’re doing OK this season, last I checked.
Sure, Tom Brady helps. Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown have helped the Steelers offense in recent years, too.
Munchak worked wonders with Al Villanueva, Chris Hubbard and others. He worked well with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. He generally makes his players better — including Ramon Foster, whose free-agent decision will come down to money, I would imagine (don’t most?). Munchak wasn’t perfect, and neither was the Steelers line, which periodically sagged in the run game and had a terrible performance in the worst loss of the season, at Oakland.
The question that still hasn’t been answered is whether the Steelers went after Munchak aggressively on an extension before this season, and if not, why not? But even if they had, I’m guessing they might have let him go to Denver to be with family.
I’m guessing they’ll survive, too.
Ron, @spartan_ron: Mark Whipple Pitt OC. Your opinion.
JMax, @TheJ_Max: What are your thoughts on Kenny Pickett and the Pitt quarterback situation?
Starkey: I’ll take those questions as one, and I’ll start with this: Matt Canada wanted the job very badly, and Pat Narduzzi should have given it to him.
Canada ran the highest-scoring offense in Pitt history a few years back. Having said that, Whipple is a good football man. But can he work a miracle with Pickett? I tend to think a quarterbacks coach is as good as his quarterback.
Whipple did a wonderful job with Ben Roethlisberger during Roethlisberger’s first three seasons in the NFL. Things didn’t go quite as well working with Colt McCoy, Brandon Weeden, Thaddeus Lewis and Josh Johnson as QB coach with the Browns a few years later (although Whipple helped produce the best year of McCoy’s career).
Maybe Narduzzi should do a better job finding high-impact players on offense.
Ricky, @Sgt_Savage37: Can i wash my clothes in the dish washer?
Starkey: You can do whatever you like, Sgt. Savage.
Angry Fans, @AngryNHLFansPgh: How about that Ice Age, eh?
Starkey: Missed it (barely). I heard it was cold.
Thank you, kiddies. Be sure to insult Sean Gentille this week. Also, send me questions (tweet @JoeStarkey1 or email at jstarkey@post-gazette.com).
First Published: January 15, 2019, 3:19 p.m.
