Billy Cowher fires Lewis, Jackson

Billy Cowher � aka The Teflon King -- moved swiftly to deflect blame and responsibility for the horrendous 2003 season, firing defensive coord. Tiny Tim Lewis and WR coach Kenny Jackson.�

This move is ever-so-typical of Little Billy Cowher.� Never one to accept responsibility � despite a mega-million dollar contract � Billy is now throwing the entire blame onto these two coaches for his embarrassingly inept coaching job in 2003.�

Not that Tiny Tim and Jackson weren�t worthy of being fired, of course.�

Of the two, Tiny Tim was far and away more deserving of being canned.� Tiny Tim established himself as one of the most passive, softee, vanilla DC�s in the game today.� For four years, his defenses were noteworthy for being as predictable as a Pop Warner defense, as soft as moldy cream cheese, and as passive and hard-hitting as a group of clarinet players.� Oh, sure, you�ll see loads of blather about the defense�s stats and rankings. Defensive football is all about punishing and out-hitting your opponent; instilling fear and tentativeness in your opponent; and holding/stopping your opponent in crunch time when the game is in the balance.� Tiny Tim�s defense did absolutely none of this on a regular basis, and, in fact, very seldom did this. �I routinely mentioned to readers here during the season in various Loose Slag articles, �Another game complete, another game in which no bone-jarring, tooth rattling hit was laid by a Stiller defender on an opposing player.� Not one.�� ��

Although not as glaring as Tiny Tim, Jackson had his share of woes.� He never instilled the ability and want for Plexico Burress to catch the ball with his hands, and because of that, the Stillers have been hampered by inconsistency from this dangerous weapon.� The inability to fully develop WR Antwaan Randle El and the failure to get much productivity out of the #4 WR spot also didn�t help Jackson.� Some fans don�t realize this, but Randle El actually caught 10 fewer passes in �03 than he did in his rookie season; his YPC went down a smidgen; and he caught just 1 TD pass all season.� �I'd harped all season long about the total lack of productivity from the #4 WR spot.� Finally, the Stillers got some in the name of Chris Doering, but not a whole lot, and they got virtually nothing from Lee Mays, despite the daily newsflashes during training camp about how incredible Mays was doing in running patterns and snagging passes.�

Of course, Billy won�t use these firings as any sort of �great shakeup�.� In all likelihood, Billy will simply promote DB coach Will Robinson to the rank of DC.� And, let�s face it � WR coach is hardly a show-stopper, so it matters little who will be hired, as that fellow won�t be in any position of power or influence.� Remember, all Billy wants is a parrot and a yes man for a coordinator.� If Robinson is merely promoted to DC, he will be little more than a subservient minion and puppet whose primary task will be to parrot and to pay homage to Billy Cowher.  And we're continually reminded by the coaching staff and local media propagandists that safety Burnt Alexander "is like having a coach back there at safety."� Maybe Burnt -- a safety who couldn�t cover a picnic table with a table cloth -- can find work as a Steeler defensive coach.� But, wait�.Billy Cowher�s far too in love with Burnt to remove �Coach Alex� from the gridiron.

But I digress.� The cancer that is eating away at this team remains.� The cancer�s name is, of course, none other than Billy Cowher.� As Cowher himself staunchly proclaimed in a Sports Illustrated article about 7 years ago, �There�s been a change in DC�s over the years, but one guy remains that�s been here all the time, and you�re looking at him.�� Indeed we are, and what we�re looking at is a bumbling, egotistical, vastly overrated, vastly underachieving head coach who has long outlived his usefulness in Pittsburgh.�

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Sadly enough, now that Billy has fired these two coaches -- and with OC Mike Mularkey possibly heading out the door for a head-coaching job -- Billy already has his excuse tailor made for next season:� �We have new coaches and they�re still trying to get a feel for our scheme and our players.��

(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3 Stiller playoff losses�.)