Morning Papers: Everyone Knows It's Tomlin Now

After a weekend where it was hard to know who was right, by this morning everyone knows that Mike Tomlin will be introduced as the Steelers next coach today. And I'll be as excited as anyone, partly because I was hoping Tomlin would get the job, and partly because the wire has this one photo of Tomlin, so we keep having to use it over and over--after the press conference there will be more photos of the new coach.

The Post-Gazette ended up coming out of the weekend looking OK. They didn't break the story on Tomlin going to the Steelers, that honor went to SI.com, but they also didn't go the wrong direction and announce that Russ Grimm was going to get the job. In a lengthy story this morning, Ed Bouchette speculates that most of the current Steelers assistants will be heading on after the Tomlin hire, although Bruce Arians may stick around as the offensive coordinator and linebackers coach Keith Butler could stick around because he has coached with Tomlin in the past at Memphis University.
The biggest loss will clearly be Dick LeBeau who is unlikely to remain with a new coach who has a different defensive philsophy.

The Tribune-Review came out much worse this weekend. Mike Prisuta reported on Saturday night that Grimm was the pick. Scott Brown's story today tries to offer a plausible explanation for Prisuta's gaffe--Brown writes that it's not known if Grimm was offered the job and then had the offer rescinded--but considering that no one else ever reported that Grimm had the job that seems very unlikely. In other news, it's not known if the Steelers offered Chan Gailey, Ron Rivera, Ken Whisenhunt or Chuck Noll lthe job and then rescinded the offer.

As Brown's story also points out Ron Rivera's head coaching hopes were once again dismantled by the Bears success--the Steelers clearly decided it wasn't worth another two weeks of waiting for a second interview.

"I know they've got to make a decision," Rivera said after the Bears beat the Saints, 39-14. "I know it's a great opportunity, but I've got a chance to go to the Super Bowl right now and whatever happens, happens."

The Associated Press points out that the Tomlin hire is proof of how the Rooney Rule works. Tomlin started to get interviews in part because he was on a list of a dozen qualified African American head coaching candidates. That helped him land interviews with the Dolphins and Steelers. Once he had the interview, he impressed everyone with his drive and organization. The Beaver County Times Mike Bires writes a very similar story about the Rooney Rule and how it adds to Dan Rooney's legacy.

And the Associated Press has its own story on the hiring. But one fact in it seems wrong. It's true the Steelers are built around a 3-4 defense with players that seem unsuited to the 4-3, but citing Casey Hampton is not the best choice of an example of a 4-3 misfit. Hampton would slide over into the Pat Williams double-team eating role with few problems. The biggest problems with a 4-3 switch would be at linebacker where the Steelers don't have a middle linebacker for the Tampa-2 and the outside linebackers seem to be poor fits as well.