Why didn't the Steelers hire Whisenhunt?

[Muggum]

Seriously, do we know the answer to this?! As much sense as that would have seemed to make, it really spooks me that they *didn't* try to hire him to take over Cowher's job.

I would have preferred Chris Petersen. Mark my words, he'll have a Super Bowl ring as a HC some day.

M

 

[az1965]

I had the same question. It is kind of scary especially when you look at other candidates Steelers are interviewing.

 

[Redsz]

I'm not scared or aprehensive about the fact the Steelers didn't hire him. Not every hire is 100% guranteed to work out. Just because the Steelers didn't hire him doesn't mean he won't be sucessful.

 

[Goldfield]

To be fair, how long has it been since they had to hire a HC? Maybe they have been so good for so long they are kinda inexperienced with this part...

(grabbing at straws)

 

[Second Deck]

I don't think you can worry about why the Steelers did not hire Wiz. You just do your homework and hire who you think is the best possible. He seems to have the experience to me. I did not want a retread head coach and thought it would be between Wiz and Cameron.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Their hesitation could have cost them ... the Whiz might just be the hot ticket to turn things around ...

 

[az jam]

Perhaps they had been set on hiring Grimm but just went through the candidate seach to satisfy the Rooney Rule since the owner is Rooney. Since he established the rule on minority hiring how would it look if he didn't follow that process.

 

[Scott MS]

If they hire Grimm, more of this story may be clear. The idea that either guy would continue to work under the new hired coach in Pittsburgh sounded nice, but would it work?

 

[az jam]

I heard an interview last week on the MJ & Bickley show with a writer that covers the Steelers in Pittsburgh. He really liked both Whisenhunt and Grimm. However he said that Grimm is more in line with what the Steelers like in a coach while Whisenhunt would be the ideal candidate for the talent the Cards had.

 

[JeffGollin]

None of us can read minds, but one logical possibility is that the Steelers may have assumed that Whisenhunt, among others, really wanted to stay in the Steel City and that they could keep him on ice while they took their time to explore all avenues.

If you're Ken, you probably had to figure that - by allowing yourself to remain on ice - other opportunities (like the one in Arizona) could pass you by and, in the end, the Steelers would hire Grimm or another candidate anyway, leaving you high and dry.

Opportunity came knocking. The iron was still hot in the fire. The time was right to pull the trigger and accept the Cardinal position.

To me, that makes the most logical sense, but who really knows?

 

[Redrage]

What Jeff said.

Also, I understand that they interviewed Cowher multiple times before hiring him.

Word is that they want to speak to Ron Rivera before making a decision. Whisenhunt could look at the land scape and see his options drying up as he waited for the final word from the Steelers.

Lastly, remember that for all of heir acolades, the Rooneys have a reputaion for being as cheap if not cheaper the the Bidwills. They've let a ton of talent walk through the years. Their most positive trait has been their patience when dealing with their coaches.

 

[football karma]

Word out of Pitt -- (per a business associate) -- is that the Steelers gave the edge to Grimm --

Rooneys are sensitive to the picking one over the other -- so dragged their feet a bit to see how Wis played out in AZ--

now that Wis is out of the picture, Grimm will be named on Wed

A bit conspiracy theory -- but given that Rooney and Bidwill are tight, I wouldnt totally throw it out

 

[Scott MS]

Word out of Pitt -- (per a business associate) -- is that the Steelers gave the edge to Grimm --

Rooneys are sensitive to the picking one over the other -- so dragged their feet a bit to see how Wis played out in AZ--

now that Wis is out of the picture, Grimm will be named on Wed

A bit conspiracy theory -- but given that Rooney and Bidwill are tight, I wouldnt totally throw it out

As I said before, if Grimm is selected in Pittsburgh, it was probably a win-win for Whisenhunt and Pittsburgh that he left for Arizona.

 

[red desert]

Word out of Pitt -- (per a business associate) -- is that the Steelers gave the edge to Grimm --

Rooneys are sensitive to the picking one over the other -- so dragged their feet a bit to see how Wis played out in AZ--

now that Wis is out of the picture, Grimm will be named on Wed

A bit conspiracy theory -- but given that Rooney and Bidwill are tight, I wouldnt totally throw it out

And I think on heard on NFL Network that Whiz and Grimm share the same agent. If that indeed is the case, then I'm sure the agent communicated to Whiz that Grimm had the upper hand in Pitt and he (Whiz) should jump at the Cardinal offer. As long as he clears this sharing of info with Grimm, all is good.

 

[Russ Smith]

And I think on heard on NFL Network that Whiz and Grimm share the same agent. If that indeed is the case, then I'm sure the agent communicated to Whiz that Grimm had the upper hand in Pitt and he (Whiz) should jump at the Cardinal offer. As long as he clears this sharing of info with Grimm, all is good.

The story PFT ran said the Steelers thought the agent was using both coaches as leverage to drive up the steelers offer, and that is why the Steelers were interviewing other coaches. They said there was an unwritten agreement with Whiz and Grimm that whoever got the job, the other guy would be retained as assistant (if he wanted to be). So the Steelers felt they were unfairly negotiating and started looking at other candidates to put pressure on the agent.

 

[Renz]

I heard that Cowher didn't really endorse Grimm or Whiz for the job, but that he recommended Chan Gailey.

Apparently, Cowher thinks that promoting a current assistant is not a smart move because there is already too much familiarity there and the new HC wouldn't have the authority that an outsider would have.

That's something I heard, I have no idea if there is any truth to it.

 

[Totally_Red]

I think the Steelers are just being very deliberate and thorough in making their choice, just like the Cardinals, Dolphins, and Rayders. There is at least one story that Whisenhunt could have had the Atlanta job, but he wanted to wait on the Steeler job.

As he learned more about the Arizona opportunity, and as the Steelers took even more time, he jumped at the chance to coach all our young talent. If his agent was pushing him this way, that probably says Russ Grimm lands the Steelers job, and he (the agent) gets two guys hired.