When the Pittsburgh Steelers added Mike Munchak to the coaching staff as the offensive line coach, Munchak became the third assistant on the staff to have head coaching experience; joining now retired defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
That’s a luxury few teams have, and it became clear in year one of Munchak being a part of the coaching staff that the Steelers were better for it, as the offense finished second in the league in yards per game, along with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell having career years.
Much of this success can be attributed to the marked improvement of the offensive line under the tutelage of Munchak. For the first time in a number of seasons, the Steelers line played with season-long continuity and Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro had arguably the best seasons of their careers.
The question now becomes can this improvement and quality play of the Steelers offensive line continue to develop under Munchak?
Though Munchak was unable to have prolonged success as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, compiling a 22-26 record over three seasons, the job Munchak did as the offensive line coach over a 14-year span was among the leagues best. Munchak coached four different Titans lineman to the Pro-Bowl a total of 10 times, and the Titans rushing attack had 12 separate 1,000 rushers over those 14 seasons. This includes Chris Johnson’s 2,000-yard rushing season in 2009, which earned Johnson NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
After such a long, successful tenure in Tennessee, theres certainly reason to believe the Steelers offensive line can be even better in year two under Munchak.
Needless to say with Pouncey and DeCastro among the best at their positions in the NFL, the foundation is set for the offensive line to be a strength of the team. The bigger question is can Munchak develop players like tackles Mike Adams and Marcus Gilbert into more consistent contributors in his second season as line coach?
No player could use the help more than Adams. To say that this is a make or break season for Adams would be an understatement. After being drafted in the second round in 2012, Adams has largely been a disappointment as he heads into the final year of his contract. Unable to supplant Kelvin Beachum as the starting left tackle last year, Adams has been mostly a reserve or spot starter over the past three seasons.
With a cap hit approaching $1.2 million, Adams needs to prove he’s worthy of the cost and roster spot. No player could use the skillful teaching and development of Munchak more than Adams. If he can prove to be the player the Steelers hoped he would be when the drafted him, he might supplant the steady but limited Beachum, who also is a free agent after the season.
Gilbert heads into his fifth season with the Steelers firmly entrenched as the starting right tackle. However, injuries and inconsistent play have dogged Gilbert throughout his career. Despite all of this, the Steelers signed Gilbert to a five-year, $30.85 million dollar contract extension last summer, so the team is literally banking on Gilbert to get the job done at a high level.
Munchak will once again have to find a way to get more consistent play from another talented, but inconsistent tackle in Gilbert and with it, prove that his lucrative contract extension was not a mistake. If he can get better play from Adams and Gilbert, and continue to mold DeCastro into an All-Pro level guard, the offensive line could easily be the best it has been in the Mike Tomlin era.
