Enough of this One Person's Fault Stuff

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The last decade of this salary cap era NFL has taught us that a team that functions well in all aspects is far more important than one superstar player, be it the most important position player - QB. Those who think replace one player can get us to the superbowl now is living in dreams.

Those who know me from the other boards may remember the day when I was vocal when Donahoe came to the Bills that I have maintained that the Steelers made the right choice to stay with Cowher instead of TD. Look where are the Steelers now. It's hard to argue.

But my point is that Steelers did not get to where they are overnight. When Donahoe was fired, The Steelers were at their lowest point in Cowher's tenure. Since then they got someone who share Cowher's vision as GM and it took them 5 drafts to set the foundation of this 15-1 team. Mind you almost no 1st 2nd round busts in these 5 years and only a handful of FA like Hartings, Farrior, and Duce. A lucky find of big Ben this year provides a steady - not super - steering at QB and they took off, not even injury can slow them down. This is a young team and has a great future.

Over the year, good or bad, Cowher has lost coaches. If there is one thing that is constant, it is himself. And that is precisely Bills' problem in my opinion. Donahoe got the wrong coach in GW to begin with, and Mularkey just started his first year, and we all expected him to win right away, even superbowl, all just by replace Bledsoe with Losman or whoever out there no other team wants?

It takes a good coach several years to build a team that fit his philosophy. And it requires a cooperating GM. We see it in NE, we see it in Pitt. I fully expect Mularkey to put more of his stamp on this team next year. Donahoe, humbled by the firing from Pittsburgh, and humbled again by Cowher last sunday, just might realise this and work with Mularkey instead of calling shots signing FA left and right, or trading out valuable picks in the draft, hoping for a quick turn around. I don't know about you guys but I see more problems on the Bills O-Line, D-line, and Linebackers and secondary where few of our own draft picks can beat out the aging FAs we signed.

[Ebenezer]

The last decade of this salary cap era NFL has taught us that a team that functions well in all aspects is far more important than one superstar player, be it the most important position player - QB. Those who think replace one player can get us to the superbowl now is living in dreams.

Those who know me from the other boards may remember the day when I was vocal when Donahoe came to the Bills that I have maintained that the Steelers made the right choice to stay with Cowher instead of TD. Look where are the Steelers now. It's hard to argue.

But my point is that Steelers did not get to where they are overnight. When Donahoe was fired, The Steelers were at their lowest point in Cowher's tenure. Since then they got someone who share Cowher's vision as GM and it took them 5 drafts to set the foundation of this 15-1 team. Mind you almost no 1st 2nd round busts in these 5 years and only a handful of FA like Hartings, Farrior, and Duce. A lucky find of big Ben this year provides a steady - not super - steering at QB and they took off, not even injury can slow them down. This is a young team and has a great future.

Over the year, good or bad, Cowher has lost coaches. If there is one thing that is constant, it is himself. And that is precisely Bills' problem in my opinion. Donahoe got the wrong coach in GW to begin with, and Mularkey just started his first year, and we all expected him to win right away, even superbowl, all just by replace Bledsoe with Losman or whoever out there no other team wants?

It takes a good coach several years to build a team that fit his philosophy. And it requires a cooperating GM. We see it in NE, we see it in Pitt. I fully expect Mularkey to put more of his stamp on this team next year. Donahoe, humbled by the firing from Pittsburgh, and humbled again by Cowher last sunday, just might realise this and work with Mularkey instead of calling shots signing FA left and right, or trading out valuable picks in the draft, hoping for a quick turn around. I don't know about you guys but I see more problems on the Bills O-Line, D-line, and Linebackers and secondary where few of our own draft picks can beat out the aging FAs we signed.
how many of the final 53 in Pittsburgh were drafted by TD (serious question, I don't have the answer)?

[LtBillsFan66]

:bf1:

Great post!

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Off the top of my head, Alan Fenaca, Hines Ward, Porter, Townsend, Tuman, Scott, Kirschke, Logan (on IR), and Willie Williams (who went to Seattle and returned this year). I guess you can add Bettis to the list. TD dealt for him. Fenaca, Ward, Porter, Townsend are starters. Scott would be a starter but hurt most of the season.

[Ebenezer]

Off the top of my head, Alan Fenaca, Hines Ward, Porter, Townsend, Tuman, Scott, Kirschke, Logan (on IR), and Willie Williams (who went to Seattle and returned this year). I guess you can add Bettis to the list. TD dealt for him. Fenaca, Ward, Porter, Townsend are starters. Scott would be a starter but hurt most of the season.
so at least 1/5 of that team was brought in by TD...considering it has been 5 years (and the normal rate of player turnover in the NFL) that isn't a bad reflection on TD.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Come on now. Each draft you expect the frist 4 rounds to produce players to stay with the team long term. Round 5 to 7 is really long shot. So for 5 years, that's 20 players, throwing the fact that you may keep the late rounds of the last two drafts, which brings a total of 26 players. Having only 9 or 10 players from 5 years ago on a team is not a good indication. Or you would rather say that the more recent drafts were much better.

[Ebenezer]

Come on now. Each draft you expect the frist 4 rounds to produce players to stay with the team long term. Round 5 to 7 is really long shot. So for 5 years, that's 20 players, throwing the fact that you may keep the late rounds of the last two drafts, which brings a total of 26 players. Having only 9 or 10 players from 5 years ago on a team is not a good indication. Or you would rather say that the more recent drafts were much better.
I'd like to see a cross section of the league and see how many players have at least 10 guys on their 2004 roster that were on their 1999 roster. The Bills have 1 - Eric Moulds.

I'm not nominating TD for GM of all time...to better grade him you need to see how many of his choices are still in the league...the Rooney's don't exactly throw money around to keep guys.

[justasportsfan]

I'm not nominating TD for GM of all time...to better grade him you need to see how many of his choices are still in the league...the Rooney's don't exactly throw money around to keep guys.Like I siad he's got an eye for good talent. Whether he can build a COMPLETE Team from the water boy up to the HC that is competitive is now in question.

[Mr. Cynical]

Here's a site/article that talks about TD's impact in Pitt while he was there. Yes it is biased so take it with a grain of salt.




<CENTER></CENTER>I don't know exactly how it happened, but obviously, Bill Cowher has ruffled some feathers among the upper echelon of the Pittsburgh press and they've decided to "get him." Screw the media in Pittsburgh... they belong in Philly.


First of all, Cowher and Donohoe both came in in '92. Anybody wanna explain to me exactly what Donahoe did to turn that mediocre team into a contender during that first year? Zip. Nadda. It was Cowher who picked up the pieces of the '80s and coached 'em into one of the winningest teams of the '90s. Granted, Donahoe pulled off the only good draft of his tenure in '92, but none of those players were major contibutors during that surprising turnaround year. Noll and his staff deserve a much bigger pat on the back than Donahoe for already having an outstanding core of players in place (Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, Carnell Lake, Hardy Nickerson, Dermontti Dawson, Barry Foster, John Jackson, Eric Green, Ernie Mills, Neil O'Donnell, Gary Anderson, et al).

Critics seem quite content to knock Cowher's performance over the last two seasons... justifiably so. But the plain facts point to the glaring overall lack of talent as the source of the Steelers demise. So why is it that Tom Donahoe, who had FAR more control over personel decisions than Cowher, has somehow not only remained unmolested by the Pittsburgh press, but is almost being hailed as a savior? I mean, the guy is not exactly Art Rooney, Sr., folks...

I have yet to hear even ONE player say he left because of Cowher. The players LOVE Cowher. Yet... Cowher is being cast as the one with the "ego." Cowher is the one the local writers are ripping for "chasing away" Dick LeBeau and Bobby April.

Interesting.

What about Donahoe's public ripping of Woodson, needlessly costing the team it's best player of the last 15 years (and an important team leader)? Woodson (a Pro-Bowler yet again in '99) expressed interest in returning to Pittsburgh before the '98 season, and Donahoe's response was, "We're not the Salvation Army." So he chased Woodson off not once, but twice, and now Rod is a Pro-Bowler for the AFC Central rival Ravens. Hey, great move, Tom. Just one example of a wealth of horrible free-agent moves. Yet, Tom's a God to those in the media. Does ANYONE think we've EVER done well in free agency? And while we're at it, where are the bogus rumors of Donahoe's affair with Kordell's sister? After all, baseless innuendo and insults seem to be the modus operandi of the Pittsburgh press when it comes to Cowher, but the catcalls are mysteriously absent when it comes to Donahoe.

Why is that? You figure it out.

Fact: Historically, Cowher's teams have overachieved, and I'll tell you one thing about Bill Cowher that is irrefutable: Give him a little bit of talent and he WILL win football games. In the span of 2 short years, the Steelers have gone from being one of the most talented, winningest teams in the league to a veritable laughing stock. Why? I've said it before, I'll say it again: An avalanche of free agent losses & draft blunders. The blame for Pittsburgh's downfall, folks, lays squarely on the shoulders of Tommy "Two-Face" Donahoe, not Bill Cowher, who remains one of the absolute best coaches in the league.

The Pittsburgh Media, on the other hand, who seems to be marching in a locked goose-step on this issue, is a disgrace to their profession. The Press may be aligned against Cowher, but the FANS are behind him all the way.

What do YOU think?

Tim McMillen
Webmaster, McMillen & Wife

http://www.mcmillenandwife.com/Index2.html

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I don't think TD knows nothing about talents. I just think he needs to work with a coach better. A coach molds a team, like we heard so often, a team reflects the personality of a coach. The GM's job is to provide a coach what he wants. If the two shares the same (winning) philosophy, you have a happy marriage.

Mularkey has something to start here. He has his kind of horse (McGahee) and he has a sharp spear (Evans). And I have no doubt after watching him in Pittsburgh for so many years that he has the kind of QB he wants - Losman. In fact, I would not be surprised that it's Mularkey who pushed to pay for the high price for Losman. While we know Losman can get off the horse and fight on his feet, he does need to learn how to ride his horse and throw his spear, and we don't know if Losman can sense danger or direct attacks to the weakest point of an enemy. What I don't think Mularkey has is the right combination of bodyguards for his horse and rider.

[justasportsfan]

Bring in stud OL . Doesn't matter if Drew or JP is starting next year. This Ol is average at best.

[Iehoshua]

I don't think TD knows nothing about talents.
Double deuuuuuuuuuce!
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~swilde/hsw/stinkoman.PNG

[cordog]

Pittsburgh still has from TDs drafts Joey Porter, Aaron Smith, Jerame Tuman, Hines Ward, Deshea Townsend, Chad Scott, and Willie Williams. In his years in Pitt he also drafted guys like Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland, Joel Steed, Mike Vrabel, Earl Holmes, Orpheus Roy, Mark Bruener, Brenden Stai, Brentson Buckner, Jason Gildon, Bam Morris, and AVP.
Since people like to use TDs record here , his record in pitt was 77-51. With a Super Bowl trip and 4 division championships.
Since Cynical's article talks so highly of Cowher, TD was also the one to hire him.

Also was TD involved with the 2000 draft?

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The most important thing he ever did in Pittsburgh was the hiring of Cowher. Noone can deny that. I just hope Mularkey is our Cowher for the next 10 years.

No Donahoe was not involved in the 2000 draft. He was working with ESPN then.

[DaBills]

Pitt in the 90's through now reminds me of the Vikes under Dennis Green. They will always be there in the hunt, but they just don't get over the hump. With Pitt's talent this year, they may not get a better shot, so we'll see.

Don't discount the behind-the-scenes player selection factor of Ralphie boy either. MM may have the QB he wants in JP, but Drew's still Ralph's and TD's choice. I don't see a rookie coach going to the mat for JP or any other player if TD and Ralph are against it.

Ralph and TD were the ones that greenlighted the Drew deal, and before that Ralph went after RJ, who followed his pick of Kelly, Thurman and Bruce, by his own admission. (Although RJ and Drew are sure balancing out that equation.)

Ought to be interesting to see what MM and Wysche can do with JP though.

[cordog]

Pitt in the 90's through now reminds me of the Vikes under Dennis Green. They will always be there in the hunt, but they just don't get over the hump. With Pitt's talent this year, they may not get a better shot, so we'll see.

Don't discount the behind-the-scenes player selection factor of Ralphie boy either. MM may have the QB he wants in JP, but Drew's still Ralph's and TD's choice. I don't see a rookie coach going to the mat for JP or any other player if TD and Ralph are against it.

Ralph and TD were the ones that greenlighted the Drew deal, and before that Ralph went after RJ, who followed his pick of Kelly, Thurman and Bruce, by his own admission. (Although RJ and Drew are sure balancing out that equation.)

Ought to be interesting to see what MM and Wysche can do with JP though.

The difference between the Vikes of the 90s and the steelers of the 90s is they were 2 Neil O'Donnell crappy passes away from being world champs.

I dont think Ralph is as involved with picks as he once was. Hes taken a step back, thats why he gave TD the title of President.

[The_Philster]

The difference between the Vikes of the 90s and the steelers of the 90s is they were 2 Neil O'Donnell crappy passes away from being world champs. make that one...the other pick he threw to Larry Brown was a case where the WR broke the wrong way at the last moment

[DaBills]

The difference between the Vikes of the 90s and the steelers of the 90s is they were 2 Neil O'Donnell crappy passes away from being world champs.

End result is the same. It's like they'll settle for the drama instead of a SB ring.




I dont think Ralph is as involved with picks as he once was. Hes taken a step back, thats why he gave TD the title of President.

Hope so, but I think he's very much active in everything and very much like Jerry Jones, just more wrinkly. He's an old AFL guy like Al Davis who built their teams from the ground up. I don't see him giving control to anyone just yet.