What's the Hold Up with Steelers OL Coach?

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Jobe Morrison. Follow him on Twitter @JobeM127

If I haven’t said it enough, I will say it again: the Steelers vacant Offensive Line coaching job must be a HOME RUN hire. The recent hires haven’t necessarily worked out.

Shaun Sarrett’s promotion hoped to bring forth cohesion in the meeting room—aside from being able to identify blitzes better than some of his successor’s, the Steelers didn’t ultimately achieve any of their goals in 2020 under Sarrett with a much more talented line than they had last season. 

Speaking of last season, Adrian Klemm was expected to light a fire under this unit and bring the physicality back. However, after a rough start and little traction gained after four weeks—their best lineman, Kevin Dotson went down. It was obvious his presence was missing as things fell apart. Add in some sloppy technique and poor execution - and you get the end result. Total dysfunction.

Klemm ducked out of the Steelers Locker room in late December for Oregon, his alma mater, to take the same position, and avoid an exit meeting that assuredly wouldn’t have gone well for him. 

This unit has a lot of concerns for 2022. Kendrick Green showed flashes of athletic ability, but was also plagued by inconsistency. He mentioned right here on the Yinzer Crazy Podcast that he will likely stay at center. Whether that means as a starter or a backup, we can’t say just yet. Dan Moore Jr. and Kevin Dotson had rough starts, but were able to find footing as the season progressed. Some pieces need work most certainly. However, there is talent there to flourish. This doesn’t mean they can neglect to add multiple pieces to improve this line.

Then comes this factor that has been lacking: an offensive line coach. Seriously. Chris Morgan, who some expected to be a prime internal promotion candidate, is now in Chicago. So, your week 1 coach and his assistant are out the door. You’d at least expect some interviews, right? After all, there have been defensive coordinator interviews going on up until Teryl Austin’s promotion.

Alas, no reports of offensive line coaching interviews have surfaced. What on earth is the hang up? The weakest unit doesn’t have a single interview so far? Yes, the Senior Bowl just passed, but let’s not pretend that was the end all be all in timing. The last four Offensive Line coaches had the following time frames:

2013- Bicknell hired Late January.

2014- Munchak hired Early January.

2019- Sarrett hired Mid-January.

2021- Klemm promoted February 1st.

Here we are a month and a week into the new year and not one interview seems to have occurred? Is it a matter of priorities—lacking a defensive coordinator, a new General Manager is needed, and Ben Roethlisberger's retirement? Is it a matter of waiting on playoff teams’ seasons to end? But a majority of those teams have been done for at least two weeks.

I’m not sure what the hold-up is, but for a unit that is in dire need of attention, the perception of lack of urgency is… concerning.