When Sean Kugler accepted the head coaching position at UTEP it meant that the Steelers would need to find a new offensive line coach this off-season. There was also speculation that Todd Haley could leave and join the Cardinals as their new head coach and talk of the Steelers parting ways with special teams coordinator Amos Jones.
Arizona decided not to hire Haley and instead hired former Steelers’ offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Today Arians announced the hiring of Jones as the Cardinals new special teams coordinator. That means one of two things – either the Steelers gave him permission to leave or they didn’t renew his contract at the end of the season making him a coaching free agent so to speak.
After a poor special teams performance in 2012, it’s not unlikely that the Steelers chose to part ways with Jones. The Steelers special teams struggled throughout the year in almost all aspects other than Shaun Suisham who had the most consistent year of his career. However, the field goal kicking team is partially to blame for the Steelers missing the playoffs because they botched a field goal opportunity in week 16 against the Bengals. Had the Steelers converted on that attempt, they may have won the game and would have made the playoffs as a wild card.
With Jones and Kugler now gone the Steelers are in need of a new offensive line coach and a new special teams coach. Both of those positions could be filled as early as this week. It is rumored that Juan Castillo may have been on the Steelers lists of replacements for Kugler. Castillo served as the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach for 13 seasons, but was recently hired onto the Baltimore Ravens coaching staff.
According to San Diego Chargers beat writer Michael Gehlken via twitter, the Chargers former offensive line coach Hal Hunter Jr. has a new coaching job. Gehlken posted via twitter that Hunter went to the senior bowl in Mobile, Alabama without a job and left with one. The position is expected to be announced this week and Dave Bryan of SteelersDepot.com believes that Hunter may be announced as the Steelers new offensive line coach.
The Steelers signing Hunter would make sense because he is the only really experienced candidate on the market. Hunter worked for the Chargers from 2006-2012 and was a part of multiple explosive running attacks. During the 2012 season the Chargers lost almost their entire offensive line to injury and have chosen to replace almost their entire offensive coaching staff.
As of now there are no other names floating around for either coaching position, but the Steelers will want to make decisions soon as the coaching ranks are pretty thin at this point in the off-season.
The new special teams coordinator will have some tough decision in front of him regarding who to name as the punter in 2013. Drew Butler, an undrafted rookie free agent in 2012, started every game as the punter and holder in 2012, but was underwhelming this season. As for kicker the Steelers will likely keep Suisham after he had the best year of his career in 2012. The biggest problem with the special teams in Pittsburgh is in punt coverage; a facet that will need to be fixed this off-season.
As far as the new offensive line coach is concerned, they will have a lot to work with in their first season with the team. The Steelers are expected to have two first round picks and two second round picks, all of whom have been drafted in the past three years, start on the line in 2013. As of now there are rumors that the line could be Marcus Gilbert, Kelvin Beachum, Marukice Pouncey, Daivd DeCastro, and Mike Adams from left to right. That’s a lot of youth on the line and they will need a good coach to prepare them for next season.
I said before that the Steelers new offensive line coach may be the most important decision they make during the 2013 off-season. If they can find a way to get the offensive line to play up to their potential and form a running game to compliment Ben Roethlisberger they could have a dangerous offense to pair with their number one ranked defense. However, if the offensive line continues to be plagued by injuries and inconsistent play it could be another lack luster season for the Steelers offense in 2013.
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