Colbert braces for Steelers shakeup

By Ron Musselman
Times Sports Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS — General manager Kevin Colbert realizes the urgency for the Steelers to shake things up.

If they don’t, they could remain pretenders in the AFC rather than contenders.

The Steelers were winless in the preseason and started the regular season 0-4 – their worst start in 45 years — before rebounding to go 6-2 the second half of the season.

But their 8-8 record this past season wasn’t good enough to earn them a playoff berth, and the Steelers missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since Colbert, a Pittsburgh native, took over as GM in 2000.

“When you go 8-8 in back-to-back years, it’s a huge disappointment, not only to our fans, but the organization,” Colbert said Thursday on the opening day of the NFL Scouting Combine. “We feel it every day. It’s not something we’re comfortable with.

“I’m sure organizations that are used to winning – anybody who’s not in the playoffs after you’ve been there – it can devastating. But we have to fight through it, and hopefully we’re not talking about that next year.”

Colbert acknowledged the Steelers have some work to do in order to get under the salary cap – they’re $8.67 million over according to overthecap.com — before the NFL’s free agency period starts March 11.

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/nfl-combine-report-colbert-braces-for-steelers-shakeup/article_a7cb1893-7060-5f90-94eb-1c1131d244f1.html