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Loose Slag: Lewis Promoted + Free Agency Comments

February 08, 2000 by Still Mill

Loose Slag from the Still Mill - Feb

Loose Slag from the Still Mill - Feb. 9th

The big news yesterday was the naming of Tim Lewis, the DB coach, as DC.

I have nothing against Tim Lewis. He was a good player at Pitt, and had a fine NFL career cut short by a neck injury. He seems like a capable position coach.

Bu this hiring is SOS -- Same Old Stuff. The only thing that remains constant at Steelers headquarters, is their stubborn refusal to incorporate new blood into this sagging team. Rest assured that Field Goal Bill wanted NOTHING to do with an "outside" DC who might do things like scrap having Levon Kirkland trying to cover Darnay Scott.

Lewis might have been the right hiring if this team was where it was in FEb. '97, whn Haslet was promoted to DC. Not now. This sagging team is in dire need of a shakeup, not a nudge. Lewis' hiring assures us that no shakeup will occur on the defensive side of the ball. Lewis was interviewed for WTAE news and his very words were "I want to do what Bill Cowher tells me to do". Sure, everyone wants to, and must, please his boss, but he said nothing about bringing new ideas to the table or expanding upon things that they were doing in the past --- only "Yes, Boss! I will do what you say." For those of us that are fearing entering a dark period of Emperor (and Executioner) Cowher, this has to at least raise a red flag. What this team doesn't need is more people just bowing to Cowher and not allowing new ideas and schemes to be introduced.

On the free agent front, the TR had a great article yesterday.

Some classics:

1. "The NFL's free agency signing period begins Thursday night at midnight, and it's never a cause for celebration at Steeler headquarters."

NO SHOIT. Where SOME teams look at free agency as a chance to instantly improve, the dumbass and CHEAPass Stillers look at free agency as another chance to give away their good players for free. The BLATANT refusal to negotiate DURING the season is the MOST egregious undoing of the Stillers. This year, Roye should have been signed to a mega-year
contract the minute Holan "Hot Tub" Harrison got his FIRST vaginal cramp that sidelined him
for 6 games.

2. Carla Emmons' agent, Michael Bauer, on Emmons --- "...talking to the coaches, he is right where he's supposed to be on every play. He's a smart player."

Now THIS statement can be taken 2 ways, neither of which are good. Either Emmons' agent is a lying simpleton who thinks his man is actually "decent", or the Stiller coaches are EVEN WORSE than I originally thought. The third explanation is that BOTH of the above are true, and "being in the right position" in the vanilla defense means staring up at clouds while on one's back...

3. On Courtney Hawkins, the 8.5 YPC-man, the 1-TD in two season's-man --- "He is a tough guy. That is a Bill Cowher-type of player." Yeah, he sure is. He treats the end zone like a Bosnian minefield. Bill Cowher loves players like that.

Free agency begins Feb. 11th, and we STILL --- as I predicted --- have not hired a GM. This means that Field Goal Bill --- the whiz at evaluating personnel talent (Emmons, Conrad, Witmann, Hawkins, Andre Coleman, Dontay Jones, Eric Ravotti, et al.) --- will be the honcho of our free agency endeavors. God help us all...

The Still Mill

 

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