The Sports Monitor

The Pittsburgh Steelers put on a solid front in their introduction of new offensive coordinator Todd Haley on Thursday. Mike Tomlin introduced Haley and made it a point to say that he was the one doing the interviews to find a replacement for Bruce Arians. Tomlin was trying to show he still was the one in charge, although if you read some accounts, it makes it look like he's going along for the ride. Tomlin said the right things and hit on the right topics. Haley, too, said all the right things. He made it a point to say he'll do anything to win, run or pass. So far, so good, in smoothing the transition. Then the media found Ben Roethlisberger. You can tell he's still miffed at losing Arians. It's understandable, but he shouldn't go public about it. "I've gotten a lot of calls and texts and emails from people around the league, both good and bad about him," Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette. "Everybody has an opinion, as we al...

Call me indifferent on the hiring of Todd Haley as the Pittsburgh Steelers' new offensive coordinator. I don't fall into the camp where Haley has lost his mind and is worried about people bugging his office. And I don't fall into the camp where anyone will be an improvement over former coordinator Bruce Arians. Now, I was happy that Arians was relieved of his duties. I did not like how he called games and I thought his relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was too chummy for a coach-player relationship. It might seem wishy-washy to be indifferent on Haley, the former Chiefs head coach and Cardinals offensive coordinator, but let me explain. For all of Arians' shortcomings, the Steelers did win the Super Bowl with him and made another. I think only the truly excellent offensive coordinators can elevate a team and the truly poor ones can sink a team. For most coordinators, I think they are as good as the players they have. So while I believe Arian...