I wonder when Ben does "form his opinion" whether he will share with the press..
guess what...
who cares what your opinion is...
Haley is your boss!!! you don't sign his paycheck

Looks like Ben may have some reservations about Haley. Instead of simply saying, like he should have, " I have heard some good things about him". He has to include hearing "bad things" as well.

Ben already putting it out there that Haley may be a bad guy. Typical. Selfish.

This was Tomlin's hire, Ben answered each and every question honestly. I am sure Ben's opinion of Haley will never be revealed. It's really nobody's business and I fro one am glad.

@Ben -

"I've gotten a lot of calls and texts and emails from people around the league, both good and bad about him''

Yeah, Ben - I wouldn't be too surprised if Haley could say the same about you. However, I'm all for a happy, joyous and productive co-existence.

But, if screaming and yelling and benching your star quarterback to teach him a lesson is what it takes to put Lombardi #7 in that trophy case, I'm all for that too. It worked just fine for the first 4 trophies.

What would people be saying if Haley had said, "I've heard a lot of bad things about Ben, but I'm waiting to form my opinion?"

I don't want Ben gone, I just want him to act like a responsible adult professional leader, and stop saying things that are obviously divisive. We only have a couple years, at most, left in the current window, so no need to spend them squabbling internally.

He said coach Mike Tomlin has since kept him in the "loop" about his search for Arians' replacement, although he had no input into who that would be.

"That was my biggest talking point to Mike and those guys -- I would hate to just throw everything out and start over because I feel it would set us back two or three years because these guys are just starting to get it.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/120...1lvP3oDum

So while Ben was not part of the interview process, he was kept up to date and consulted. This is how it works in today's NFL, especially with a star qb.

I find nothing wrong with what Ben said. Pretty much the same info that is out there on Haley. He could have said nothing, and some of you would rip him for that.

Deja Vu all over again...to offer a redundancy.

Remember when Tomlin was hired over Whisenhunt and then Grimm and the disappointment over with many of the Stelers players that as assistant wasn't hired from a team that had won a Super Bowl only about 12 months before.

That's worked out okay.

There was that dinner on Mt. Washington where Tomlin and Ben were reported to hash it out. And Ben was only coming off his third year then!

Inmates should not run the asylum.

Without giving up too much I have personal knowledge and many contacts in Kansas City and I have talked several people in New England who say the Scott Pioli run Chiefs are very toxic. One even said Lamar Hunt is turning over in his grave about what life is like over there. I'll give Haley the benefit of the doubt right now.

@Swaggin

Responsible adult? Where have you been the last few years? (not Vegas or Georgia I bet)

I am sure Ben and Todd will get along most of the time.
they both are hard headed competitors.

I am sure their disagreements will be fun to watch and the media will eat it up.

I work with a lot of people who don't always get along but we persevere and get the deals done.

Remember they both have "baggage" and they will learn to cope with each other.

This is just getting crazy. They got a new offensive coordinator. Teams change assistant coaches like pairs of socks:

If you get a real nice pair, you keep them on the top of the pile and they give you a nice run-

Some feel good but get thin too quick and need to be replaced sooner.

Some just never feel right and get sent to those who would be more appreciative of them, despite their flaws.

The Steelers simply need to get better at finishing drives, not learn how to move the ball. Very important mind you, but not splitting atoms either.

They got a new assistant coach. They needed one. All this hand wringing over Ben's psychological reaction to dealing with something new is a lot of misplaced energy.

What is happening with the Steelers happens all the time and even when the steelers would have perferred otherwise (coach getting a chance with another team).

Haley says he's gonna play the cards he's dealt. He's not gonna try to bluff his way to success. That for now, is good enough for me.

Haley, Tomlin, and Ben will work together to form the best system they can. Their existance depends on it.

I couldn't even listen to ten minutes of sports talk today before turning it off. Hosts were speculating as far as possibly Haley 'one day maybe becoming the Steelers Head Coach'.

The Steelers deserve criticism for their botching of letting Arians go, but the drama stirring since then rivals any Housewives reality show by talk shows needing something to do post football/poor Pitt basketball season, especially now that the Sidney Crosby stone has been squeezed every ounce of blood from.

*t will be interesting to see what Ben's "Handlers" have him do..."going forward." "We will embrace that."

This may, in the end, unfortunately still have to be addressed. Just saw the guys on 'Pardon the Interruption' taking issue with the fact that Tomlin wanted to keep Arians (did not want Haley) and Rooney stepped in and said Haley's the guy.

Wilbon saying that Rooney needs to take a cue from his father and not go against his coach who has been very successful from the start.

I refuse to believe Tomlin was not concerned over how poorly the offense has done scoring in comparison to those with similar talent.

Maybe Tomlin needs to step forward and make his position clear, so all this conjecture gets put to rest. If he really just loved how things have gone under Arians offense, then say it. If he felt watching teams with half the offensive talent and not as good of a defense, stay with them week after week, then say it. If he did not, step up and speak the truth: he was buying time to decide collectively with his brain trust about if making a change after some well thought out exchanges and reviews, that a change was needed.

Saying Tomlin did not want Haley is unfair. Arians was already gone before the decision to hire Haley was made, therefore, it makes no sense whatsoever for Tomlin to hold anything against Haley.

Ben's agent should go out and get a PR guy to sit down with him and go over the Bouchette article.

I think he would have been best served to simply say, "Guys, I haven't met him yet. I'm looking forward to that and am looking forward to working with Todd."

This is just getting crazy. They got a new offensive coordinator. Teams change assistant coaches like pairs of socks:

Seriously. It's a COORDINATOR. An ASSISTANT FREAKING COACH. I guess when you live in a place where the football team changes head coaches less often than the Catholic Church changes Popes and the City defines itself by that football team, you have to find something to write about.

If Haley is worth a damn, he'll figure out a way to use the considerable talent he's been handed to score touchdowns.

And Ben. He has a new manager that replaces the prior one that he liked. Jeez. That must be a first in the history of mankind. Ben can deal with it. Or not. If he can't, he's a freakin' baby and really hasn't grown up.

In either event, you won't know whether it works until September.

@123

I'm not interested in your discretion. We want juicy morsels of gossip!!!

@swaggin You want Ben to act like a "responsible adult??" What planet have you been living on? The guy is the dimmest bulb in a room full of dim bulbs. He has never shown that he has any socially redeeming values or qualities. Don't expect him to start now.

Since 1969:

Popes

Paul VI
John Paul I
John Paul II
Benedict XVI

Steeler Coaches

Noll (hired 1969)
Cowher
Tomlin

I'll admit the Queen of England (coronated 1952) has more job security than a Steelers Head Coach.

That's the only reason why anyone gives a flipping hoot about who the freakin' coordinator is.

I'm dissapointed Eddie Bou did not ask some follow up questions of Ben Roethlisberger. Like
how his sit down with Mr. Rooney went after returning from the Pro Bowl?

As this story has transpired it has been a combination of speculation and very few facts. It was reported that the Haley interview was only a courtesy. It has been implied that ARII wanted to hire someone that would get in Big Ben's face and not be his best friend although there is no record of that being said. Now some of Big Ben's comments are being perceived in a negative way. It sounded to me like he was going to ignore what he heard about Haley, form his own opinion, and do whatever it takes to succeed.

Here's what I think will actually happen. Big Ben is the one that will make Todd Haley look successful. The same way he made Arians and Whisenhunt look succesful. He is a world class NFL quarterback that has the ability and willpower that enables those around him to succeed. I think he is the reason that the Steelers always have a good receiving crew even though they seem to lose top notch players at that position for a variety of reasons. Enjoy him while he's here...these type of players are hard to find.

If Rothlisberger is not happy - and Arians also - they have themselves partly to blame.

Roethlisberger sacked too many times - too many hits - too many fumbles - too many turnovers - not enough points.

Too much money invested in Roethlisberger to allow him to play the way he currently plays. And his 'style' does not exactly project well to his successor - for a game / games / season / future / whatever.

.

oneppurp:
I tried this with Pitt football coaches but had to take my shoes off to count all of them.

Until Ben realizes that the reason his best friend was fired was because Ben played poorly, he will continue to have be a poor leader, play with bad habits, and have a bad attitude. If he wasn't terrible in the red zone and two minute drills, the Steelers would have done much better. He says it will set them back 2-3 years? They were only 21st in scoring, is he predicting they will be last next year? If the Steelers defense didn't give up the fewest points in the league, the Steelers would have had a losing record this season. James Harrison was right, I'm sure the whole defense is tired of bailing him out.

written by oneppurp, February 09, 2012 - 06:19 PM
Since 1969:

Popes

Paul VI
John Paul I
John Paul II
Benedict XVI

Steeler Coaches

Noll (hired 1969)
Cowher
Tomlin

oneppurp, FTW!!!

Poor leader? he's captain, bailing out the offense?

Like Ben bailed out the defense in SB43

How many trolls are on here? Go back to the Bengals sites or Browns.

This is Pittsburgh, we aren't asses like they have those places Take dat

The same can be said for the defense in superbowl XL.

I hope the number one change with this OC is protect the QB, then take it from there.

Roethlisberger should have had input into the hiring of the new offensive coordinator. He is infinitely more important to the success of the Steelers than Todd Haley.

If he had significant impact in the hiring/firing, Bruce Arians would still be the coordinator. So what would be the point?

The Steelers pay Ben to play football. They decide who his superiors will be. His opinion is irrelevant. When is the last time you had any input into who your boss would be?

This from a guy approaching 30 who still wears his hat backwards.

Ben doesn't seem to think before he talks. Still a dummy, and almost 30 years old.

After reading Ben's interview, I feel he handled himself well. I agree they should not bring in a new offense but need to make some adjustments as we saw in a couple games from last year. The Tennesee and new England games. I thought that he is willing to be open for change if necessary. That is all you can ask for as of this time. Let's hope this is a marriage that will lead us to #7.

I'm still not sure Art II wanted Tomlin.

...
Lot of naive stuff said here:

Haley is your boss!!! you don't sign his paycheck

No, but Ben could run him out of town, I bet.

This was Tomlin's hire,

Don't see the evidence for that. Tomlin's quote that he did a lot of research on Haley before the interview, implies a couple things: A) Tomlin didn't know enough about him, (so Tomlin didn't know him well enough to want to hire him?) B) It kinda/sorta sounds like the research was done after the interview was scheduled, (again, not Tomlin's choice) C) and Tomlin felt some need to research Haley after he learned he would be interviewing him. (hmmm, maybe heard something wacky? maybe read DK's column?)

Of course, we'll never know how happy Tomlin is about this hire. BUT (htere's that word, see how it works?) there is precious little evidence that this was Tomlin's choice.

Ben already putting it out there that Haley may be a bad guy.

Like that is news to anybody. Would sound like a worse falsehood if Ben said he had heard nothing bad about the guy.

It has been implied that ARII wanted to hire someone that would get in Big Ben's face and not be his best friend although there is no record of that being said.

Watch what they do! They hired Haley.

I am sure their disagreements will be fun to watch and the media will eat it up.

Now that's the smartest thing said here (before Max chimed in )

If my employer and his business competitors thought my performance was worth $100 million, he would get my input regardless of whether he asked for it. If he didn't like that, his competiton would be happy to have me.

...

When is the last time you had any input into who your boss would be?

When is the last time your contract was 20 or 30 times your boss' contract?

...

written by Darkhorses, February 09, 2012 - 07:41 PM
I'm still not sure Art II wanted Tomlin.

It was reported that Grimm was told he had the job, and it was likely that Art II was the one who told him. Max is too lazy to try to find the story on the PG, but that is where I recall learning that juicy story.

Max also recalls it was Dan who unhired Grimm and hired Tomlin.

This is Max's big day for security images. Earlier one was a common gay slur (forwarded to my lawyer ), and now is see "poof" in the image. That's what happens to some of Max's comments.

bipolar
Impressed by your consistency-despite the Bucs losing for 19 straight years (many while the Nuttings were in direct control) you continue to criticize/attack everybody else in town involved in sports ownership/ management and act like Bob, Frank and Neal are the only guys who get it. When Dan and Art II have lost 19 years in a row, I'll listen to your criticism (if I'm not already dead).
In the mean time, enjoy the corn dogs, fireworks and rock bands at PNC this year. I've decided not to go barring that Cespedes signing you promised...

I have to amend my last comment.

Although I never earned $100 million, I did always give my employers my input regardless of whether they asked for it.

I don't understand what so many of you are complaining about concerning his answer. Seemed pretty obvious. There has been a ton of negative press toward Haley - it would have been somewhat disengenuous if you had just said he has heard a lot of good things about him. So he acknowledged what so many people have been discussing - so what.

I'm betting that Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley will hit it off like best buddies? Life is a mystery.

If you don't have anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all. Unless, of course, you make $10 million a year and have diarrhea of the mouth like Ben.

I guess that wasn't a nice thing to say, and I don't make $10 million a year. Sorry, Ben.

written by Bill,
"oneppurp:
I tried this with Pitt football coaches but had to take my shoes off to count all of them."



I tried the same with Penn State Coaches and ended realizing the room needed painted!

How about this. I know its crazy but we'll give it a shot:

After the firing/retirement/non contract renewal... of Arians, Tomlin, Colbert, and Rooney get together and talk about possible candidates. They put out names.

Tomlin includes Caldwell.

Colbert and Rooney both nod in approval.

Rooney mentions Haley.

Colbert looks intrigued.

Tomlin says I don't know a lot about his backround.

Rooney says well lets put him on the list.

Colbert nods and Tomlin says O.K. I'll get to seeing if he might fit.

Tomlin at some point later says he was impressed with what he found.

Rooney or Colbert asks if he would want to interview him. Tomlin says absolutely.
-----------------------
Crazy huh. Does the world always have to be a bad place or do people actually work together once in a while?

Amen Jopa-n, Amen

I continue to say this entire story is a whole lot about nothing.

There is one story here, Bruce Arians was fired and Todd Haley was chosen to replace him. Everything else is a side show during a brief sports dead period in the Burgh.

Maybe Tomlin was forced to make this change. Big deal. Every coach in the NFL has a boss, be it a GM or owner. I assure you at one point or another most of them were forced to hire or fire somebody by their boss. That's the nature of the sport, and of the business world.

Almost all these head coaches contnue with their jobs and are judged on merit (read wins and losses). They are not "emasculated" and they rarely turn tale and run.

As for Ben, I found his comments fairly run of the mill. Nothing worth picking apart in my mind. Those doing so would find a way to pick him apart if he said nothing (maybe call him QB cliche).

AHab35 - exactly. The firing of an offensive coordinator and the hiring of a new one is always going to be a big story, but this one blew up because of the way the firing was announced as a retirement only to have Arians make it clear that he didn't retire then take a job with the Colts to underscore the point. Much of the drama could have been avoided by just announcing that his contract was not being renewed rather than going with the retirement story (and while we'd all love to ask Tomlin and Rooney why they announced it that way I'm guessing there will be no answers forthcoming. So it's over now - time to move on. Next big Steelers story will involve free agent signings, veteran releases, and draft picks. Looking forward to it.

Actually, there's precedent for something like the Arians story with the Steelers. In the mud-sixties, Buddy Patker was the teperamental head coach, and he'd threaten to quit after every loss or every time Dan (who was the team's general manager at the time) overruled him. Finally, he wanted to make a trade, Dan said no, Patker threatened to resign again, and Dan accepted it and wouldn't reconsider, ecen though the Chief wanted him to (if I have the story right).

The parallel is that maybe Arians hemmed and hawed about retiring once too often for Art, who was known not to be all that thrilled with him anyway. He's talked about retirement for the last couple of years, just as there have been rumors about him being replaced. When he started the same routine again, it's more than possible that Art had had enough and announced that he'd retired. After a few days to think it over, Arians decided that he didn't want ro retire after all, but since he couldn't go back to the Steelers, he went to Indy. Clean, simple, and eminently plausible (though not as juicy as some on this blog would like, particularly since it doesn;t involve Art running roughshod over Tomlin, Ben, his father, the Chief's ghost, Mayor Ravenstahl, and heaven knows who else).

Read this quote from Ben in Ed's column today, and you'll know all you need to know about the deeper (most true) concerns of BR:

"You should, as a quarterback (have a good relationship), with the guy you work with every day, you should have a relationship with him even outside of football because if we just talked every day about football, you'd go nuts and kill each other.

"To have a relationship is good because he is your buffer to the head coach and to work so closely with someone is how you develop a relationship."-Ben Roethlisberger


Haley should read that and see this is no big deal. Just try to atleast be openminded to working with Ben, not have blinders on. You give and you get a lot more back. You pull, and the rope can get real tight and hard to pull.

I blame the Steelers....the moment Haley walked in the building, Ben should have been setup to meet with him. The Steelers downplaying Big Ben's importance to this team is shocking. I wonder if Tom Brady was asked his opinion on the new OC hire for the Patriots?

Bobbyg, I feel very similarly. It almost seemed like they wanted to put Ben in his place merely for liking Bruce Arians.

The other problem is, Ben liked Bruce Arians! And they humiliated themselves trying to tell the media he "retired."

I give Ben a little bit of credit, not a lot, for not saying "Look, I've won 2 Superbowls here and nobody wants to tell me they're getting rid of my friend, no one wants to tell me who they might hire, and now nobody wants to set up a meeting between me and the new OC...I'm being disrespected."

Far as I'm concerned, Ben gave his honest answer. I commend that. Maybe it would be been better PR wise to say nothing at all because of the jackals in the media (and apparently amongst the fans as well) but I'm sick of all these people talking in platitudes.

I mean, why do people think he should have just said, "I've heard good things"? Why do people want to pretend like we don't know what we know? Everyone else is talking about it, why isn't he allowed to acknowledge all of that as well?

Yes, Haley is his boss, but they're two parts of a system that needs to work together. Ben has some rights here too.

This whole drama could have been avoided. Blame Rooney for screwing up the firing. Blame Tomlin for being silent. Blame the PR people for not getting Ben and Haley together.

This looks like something the Bengals would be doing.
It makes the Steelers look unprofessional.

"Everybody has an opinion, as we all know, and they're letting me know what their interaction with him was -- good, bad and indifferent. I've heard a lot of things and I'm looking forward to meeting him and forming my own opinion."- BR

Therefore no need for BR to speak with Kurt Warner or Matt Cassels, etc.
Get together with Haley and start forming your opinion- all that's needed. Case closed.

After thoroughly botching the Arians "retirement", Haley and Ben are both in the facility when Haley is presented to the media and no one bothered to set up a meeting of the two??? Wouldn't you think Haley would have? Or Rooney or Tomlin or even Fichtner? What's going on over there?

When is the last time your contract was 20 or 30 times your boss' contract? ..Max

Your point is irrelevant. They still pay him to play football and they call the shots. It doesn't matter if they hire Popeye to be OC.

Don't see the evidence for that. Tomlin's quote that he did a lot of research on Haley before the interview, implies a couple things: A) Tomlin didn't know enough about him, (so Tomlin didn't know him well enough to want to hire him?) B) It kinda/sorta sounds like the research was done after the interview was scheduled, (again, not Tomlin's choice) C) and Tomlin felt some need to research Haley after he learned he would be interviewing him. (hmmm, maybe heard something wacky? maybe read DK's column?)

before I interview someone, I try to find out as much about them as possible. it makes the interview more effective. nothing to see here, folks, move on.

Ben was honest, Haley was honest, let things come together organically.

there are way too many conspiracy theorists here & folks who wildly speculate w/o some or all of the facts.

*t seems to me that I remember (maybe 'oldtimers disease Coach Noll being told by the Top Brass to get some new coaches. Any one else remember that? Ben wants to be known as the Steelers' best
QB. He has said that. So if it takes some 'Tweaking' as ARII says, I would expect Ben would embrace that. If not, obviously he has been trying to 'pull the wool over' everyone eyes. Again, we will have to wait. As for Tomlin, what other job is as good as this? If he thinks he will do better at the Redskins or Raiders go , baby go. This all reeks as to 'making a mountain out of a mole hill'. !2 - 4 and out is reason enough for changes, and that includes Dick LeBeau (Sp?). To quote a rival of yester year, "Win baby, just Win"!!!!!!!!!!

What very few people seem to have the wits to point out is that in his time in the NFL, Roethlisberger has put together a record that almost no one else can match. He's been the qb that took the Steelers to 4 AFC championships, won 3. He's taken the Steelers to 4 SBs, won 2. In his time in the league, what other qb has taken a team to 3 SBs? Tom Brady, and he's 1-2. The win was in the "spygate" years. Peyton has taken the Colts to 2 SBs, won 1. Eli has taken the Giants to 2 SBs, won both. No other quarterback has gotten his team there more than once. Not even (gasp!) Aaron Rodgers, who quarterbacks what Bill Cowher called the best team in NFL history. So, if the Steelers want to do more winning, they probably have to deal carefully with Roethlisberger. That doesn't mean never running, but it might mean actually investing in the O-line.

The same can be said, actually, of Bruce Arians. He was OC for 5 years. In those years, the Steelers went to SB 2 times, with one win. Only the Pats and Giants went to the SB 2 times in that span, the Pats did not do it with the same OC. (Don't know whether Gilbride was OC for the Giants first SB against Pats). If, as Tomlin likes to say and the Rooneys support, the goal is going to and winning the SB, it's hard to argue that you didn't have the right guy. And SPARE US ALL the stupid clamor that with another OC, the Steelers would have gone to 5 SBs - that's an argument from speculation. Look at the facts, and realize that Ben and Bruce were pretty good.

It may be that the Steelers wanted to go in a different direction. They could have traded Ben after the night in Georgia, for instance. But the assumption that there were a number of really great options that all would bring more glory and SB rings home to Pittsburgh is laughable.

Sorry - 3 SBs, won 2

| Sit back and enjoy the show, Steelers fans. The Steelers' clumsy coordinator shuffle clearly was aimed at making one man a lot less comfortable. The quarterback. That is what makes this drama so compelling. How does Ben Roethlisberger respond to getting slapped around a little? The organization that granted him nearly unlimited power to play as he saw fit -- heck, to play when he saw fit after his ankle injury -- is trying to reclaim a portion of said power. And there is no delicate way to do that. So get your popcorn ready. It's either going to work to spectacular results or blow up in their faces. Applaud the high-risk, high-reward philosophy that has often served the Steelers well. Question their methods. Enjoy the cabaret.

Bob: I saw these comments on the electronic version of SI. It gave a local paper, not P-G as attribution. Anyway to know who made these comments?