Haley won't coddle Ben

http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-steelers-roethlisberger-haley-20120817,0,3530900.column?track=rss

By Sam Farmer

August 17, 2012
LATROBE, Pa. — There's usually an obvious reason for an NFL team firing a coach, and it relates directly to production on the field.

That's not the case with the Pittsburgh Steelers' dumping offensive coordinator Bruce Arians after last season.

Yes, the Steelers could have fared better in a number of categories. They could have scored more points. They could have been more effective in the red zone. They could have run more efficiently.

But this is also a franchise that went to two Super Bowls — and won one — with Arians as coordinator, and won another when he coached the receivers.

And there was no personality clash between Arians and Ben Roethlisberger. On the contrary, the two are golfing buddies, have vacation homes in the same development, and will surely greet each other warmly when Indianapolis — where Arians is now offensive coordinator — plays at Pittsburgh in an exhibition game Sunday night.

"Football is about change," Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin said. "He served us well, and he's a really good football coach. I thought it was time for a change." Haley has the credentials for the job. He's from the Bill Parcells coaching tree (New York Jets and Dallas assistant) and had success in Arizona as the offensive coordinator, helping the Cardinals shock the NFL world with their Super Bowl run before losing to Pittsburgh in the final seconds.

His Chiefs won the AFC West in his second season as head coach in Kansas City, but he didn't make it through his third year because the Chiefs never recovered from several pivotal early-season injuries.

Now, Haley is back in Pittsburgh, where he was a ball boy in the 1970s and '80s and his father, Dick, was the personnel mastermind behind those championship teams.

It's so far, so good with Roethlisberger, although many observers are holding their breath to see what happens the first time Haley flashes that volcanic temper and screams at the quarterback on national TV. For several years, Roethlisberger has had the luxury of doing his job his way, using his strength and never-say-quit persistence to shake off tacklers and keep plays alive. Read more.....

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For several years, Roethlisberger has had the luxury of doing his job his way, using his strength and never-say-quit persistence to shake off tacklers and keep plays alive.

"You rely on that in emergency situations," Haley said. "When you make a bad call, or there's a breakdown up front or with the back, or something doesn't go the way it's supposed to, you have a guy that can get you out of trouble better than anybody else.

"You don't just drop him back and say, 'Hey, work the field.' If you do that, you're going to be watching him dive and keep plays alive all the time. But those are also situations where he's put in harm's way."

I think Ben has been a victim of his own image. The image of the tough SOB who can shake off linebackers and play through injuries that would sideline almost any other quarterback. Yeah, it's a great image, especially in a city like Pittsburgh. The fans love that image, and even Ben loves the image. But just because he CAN play that style of football doesn't mean that he HAS to play that way.

Rooney said Ben needs to tweak his style of play. But Ben says he won't do it, and most fans don't want him to do it. This is an insane way of thinking. Here's a newsflash: IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOUR QUARTERBACK TO TAKE HITS. Even if your quarterback is Ben Roethlisberger, the toughest SOB QB in the league.

I understand why fans don't want him to change the way he plays. They love the tough-guy image, and he's been one of the most successful QBs of the past decade. But there's a lot more to Ben than his ability to shed tacklers and play through pain ... he's a damn good quarterback. He'll never be as good of a pure pocket passer as Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, but he's plenty good enough. Probably top 5 or 6 in the NFL. But when he gets hurt, obviously, he's not as effective. We've seen that over the years, and we saw it in the second half of last season (it's not a coincidence that Wallace's drop off in production happened at the same time as Ben's injuries).

There's nothing wrong with being a great drop-back passer like Manning, Brees, Rodgers, or Brady. Success is measured by touchdowns and wins, not toughness and injuries. We all know that Ben is a tough SOB. He doesn't need to prove it every game. Hopefully Haley can teach Ben to get rid of the ball faster and take what the defense gives him. Live to play another down.

I know what the counter argument is ... Ben has gotten the Steelers to three Super Bowls and has won two. Why change something that's working? The answer is simple ... Ben didn't do it all by himself. There's 52 other players and coaches who played a role in those Super Bowls. Perhaps Ben's injuries kept us from winning a couple more. Maybe we could be working on number 8 or 9 right now if Ben had been healthy during a few of the runs they came up short on. And as we try for number 7, we need a healthy Big Ben.

I don't think anyone can argue that our odds of winning the Super Bowl are greater if Ben is healthy. And I don't think anyone can argue that Ben's not a good pocket passer and can be effective even if he isn't scrambling around and taking hits. I can understand Ben playing that way if that's all he's got. But he's so much more than that. Hopefully, Haley makes him prove it.

I didn't know Ben needed coddling at this age.

Airhead was fired because his offensive philosophy SUCKED. He had no red zone ingenuity and seemed to have a super slimmed down playbook because we saw the same plays over again ad nauseum. The fact that we made it to two Super Bowls while he was there had absolutely nothing to do with him and his stupid, idiotic playcalling.

lvsteelersfan wrote:

Airhead was fired because his offensive philosophy SUCKED. He had no red zone ingenuity and seemed to have a super slimmed down playbook because we saw the same plays over again ad nauseum. The fact that we made it to two Super Bowls while he was there had absolutely nothing to do with him and his stupid, idiotic playcalling.

You're gonna fit in real well around here, LV.

I'm going to miss those bubble screens

effyou515 wrote:

I'm going to miss those bubble screens

No you're not, Haley will be running them too.

Dodens Grav wrote:

No you're not, Haley will be running them too.

Only difference 1.5 billion people won't know it's coming before it even happens