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Let’s think back for a moment to January, 2007. The Pittsburgh Steelers had come off a mundane 8-8 season, which would eventually be Bill Cowher’s final season as an NFL head coach. After Cowher stepped down on January 5, 2007, this opened the doors to the next Steelers’ head coaching job, which would be only the third since 1969. With the Rooney’s hoping it to be a smooth ‘transfer of power’ within the organization, it was anything but smooth. In a world before Twitter, TikTok, and smartphones, the Steelers’ hunt for a head coach was one of the most followed searches across the NFL; and for good reason. In seeing the events that followed, the Rooney’s single-handily changed the NFL landscape for the years following the announcement of the Steelers’ 16th head coach in franchise history, Mike Tomlin.
Before he resigned, Cowher built one of the best coaching staffs in all of the NFL. This included the likes of Bruce Arians, Mark Whipple, Dick LeBeau, Ken Whisenhunt, and Russ Grimm. This staff had helped the Steelers to multiple playoff wins and a Super Bowl XL championship title. So when the NFL had seven head coaching vacancies going into the 2007 season, a lot of organizations were looking to poach members of Cowher’s staff. However, two names were assumed heavy favorites of Rooney to take over as head coach, those being Whisenhunt and Grimm. This is where things get interesting in the Steelers’ search.
There were multiple rumors around the NFL that the job was Grimm’s. Grimm had played at the University of Pittsburgh, grew up right outside of Pittsburgh in Scottdale, and had coached under Cowher starting in 2000. Everything made perfect sense for Grimm to coach the team. But in addition to Grimm, there was also a young offensive-innovator in Whisenhunt who was believed to be the next great NFL head coach. Needless to say, the Steelers were not the only ones conducting interviews with Grimm and Whisenhunt, as the Arizona Cardinals were also searching for their next head coach. But Grimm was ready to take the Steelers’ job and seemed to have assumed it was already his. After his interview in 2007, Grimm talked with Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
I find it important to note at this point that as Grimm was talking with the media at this juncture, a young Tomlin was sitting with the Rooney’s as a part of his interview process.
After listening to Grimm’s comments to the media and listening to their ‘sources’ within the organization, members of the Pittsburgh media thought Grimm had secured the job. In fact, they were so confident, that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published on the front page of their Sunday paper that Grimm was expected to be named head coach that following Monday. But on the contrary, ESPN had announced it was Tomlin who was going to be named. So when Dan Rooney announced Tomlin as the next Steelers’ head coach, rumors continued to swirl to the tune of, ‘the Steelers offered Grimm the job, pulled it, and gave it to Tomlin’. This is where Rooney stepped in:
After the dust settled at the conclusion of the coaching search, it was revealed that Tomlin, Grimm and then- Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera were the three finalists for the job. This begs the question, how were the Rooney’s setting the expectations of the process with the other candidates? For Grimm to have been surprised he wasn’t promoted and seemed to think he was a shoe-in, this is where the media was questioning the Rooney’s process. But it seemed Tomlin knew exactly where things were going during his interview procedures:
What about Whisenhunt? For being one of the best offensive minds in the NFL at the time, why wasn’t he one of the finalists for the Steelers’ job? As it turns out, although Grimm and Whisenhunt had each interviewed for the Cardinals’ job, the offer was extended to Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt then accepted the job without even knowing if was being considered for the Steelers’ job or not. After Grimm left the Steelers after this debacle, Whisenhunt brought him onto his staff in Arizona, where he would stay until 2012.
For there being so much drama throughout this story, this has one of the best culminating endings in history. On February 1st, 2009, the Whisenhunt/Grimm coaching staff would find themselves pinned against the Tomlin-led Steelers in Super Bowl XLII. As the Rooney’s looked on, they saw that they made the smart decision in Tomlin, as the Steelers secured their sixth Lombardi Trophy that night. For the casual football fans, that game was just another Super Bowl. But to SteelerNation and the Rooney’s, this was the ultimate contest to put minds at ease and not leaving us with the lingering ‘what-if’ thoughts. Looking back at the last 15 years, I think it is safe to say that the decision of Tomlin over Grimm was one of the best the Rooney’s have ever made.
Do you remember this crazy coaching story? Who would you have rather seen named head coach in 2007? Let us know in the comment section below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Before he resigned, Cowher built one of the best coaching staffs in all of the NFL. This included the likes of Bruce Arians, Mark Whipple, Dick LeBeau, Ken Whisenhunt, and Russ Grimm. This staff had helped the Steelers to multiple playoff wins and a Super Bowl XL championship title. So when the NFL had seven head coaching vacancies going into the 2007 season, a lot of organizations were looking to poach members of Cowher’s staff. However, two names were assumed heavy favorites of Rooney to take over as head coach, those being Whisenhunt and Grimm. This is where things get interesting in the Steelers’ search.
There were multiple rumors around the NFL that the job was Grimm’s. Grimm had played at the University of Pittsburgh, grew up right outside of Pittsburgh in Scottdale, and had coached under Cowher starting in 2000. Everything made perfect sense for Grimm to coach the team. But in addition to Grimm, there was also a young offensive-innovator in Whisenhunt who was believed to be the next great NFL head coach. Needless to say, the Steelers were not the only ones conducting interviews with Grimm and Whisenhunt, as the Arizona Cardinals were also searching for their next head coach. But Grimm was ready to take the Steelers’ job and seemed to have assumed it was already his. After his interview in 2007, Grimm talked with Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
I find it important to note at this point that as Grimm was talking with the media at this juncture, a young Tomlin was sitting with the Rooney’s as a part of his interview process.
After listening to Grimm’s comments to the media and listening to their ‘sources’ within the organization, members of the Pittsburgh media thought Grimm had secured the job. In fact, they were so confident, that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published on the front page of their Sunday paper that Grimm was expected to be named head coach that following Monday. But on the contrary, ESPN had announced it was Tomlin who was going to be named. So when Dan Rooney announced Tomlin as the next Steelers’ head coach, rumors continued to swirl to the tune of, ‘the Steelers offered Grimm the job, pulled it, and gave it to Tomlin’. This is where Rooney stepped in:
After the dust settled at the conclusion of the coaching search, it was revealed that Tomlin, Grimm and then- Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera were the three finalists for the job. This begs the question, how were the Rooney’s setting the expectations of the process with the other candidates? For Grimm to have been surprised he wasn’t promoted and seemed to think he was a shoe-in, this is where the media was questioning the Rooney’s process. But it seemed Tomlin knew exactly where things were going during his interview procedures:
What about Whisenhunt? For being one of the best offensive minds in the NFL at the time, why wasn’t he one of the finalists for the Steelers’ job? As it turns out, although Grimm and Whisenhunt had each interviewed for the Cardinals’ job, the offer was extended to Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt then accepted the job without even knowing if was being considered for the Steelers’ job or not. After Grimm left the Steelers after this debacle, Whisenhunt brought him onto his staff in Arizona, where he would stay until 2012.
For there being so much drama throughout this story, this has one of the best culminating endings in history. On February 1st, 2009, the Whisenhunt/Grimm coaching staff would find themselves pinned against the Tomlin-led Steelers in Super Bowl XLII. As the Rooney’s looked on, they saw that they made the smart decision in Tomlin, as the Steelers secured their sixth Lombardi Trophy that night. For the casual football fans, that game was just another Super Bowl. But to SteelerNation and the Rooney’s, this was the ultimate contest to put minds at ease and not leaving us with the lingering ‘what-if’ thoughts. Looking back at the last 15 years, I think it is safe to say that the decision of Tomlin over Grimm was one of the best the Rooney’s have ever made.
Do you remember this crazy coaching story? Who would you have rather seen named head coach in 2007? Let us know in the comment section below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
