Note: Rules of Steeler Nation is a semi-whenever series that profiles some unofficial “rules” that all Steeler fans seem to follow. Like it or not, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the New York Yankees of football and have become the standard bearers for fans in the NFL. Sadly, we don’t feel like Steeler Nation always does a very good job. With great success comes great amounts of bandwagon fans who make a bad name for the rest of the fanbase. By taking a look at some of the “rules” most of our brother and sisters in black and gold tend to follow, hopefully we can become better. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility and with a sixth notch now our championship belt, we’ve got a lot of work to do.
Rule 2: Blame the offensive coordinator.
Rule 1 is always blame the QB, but if that fails there’s an easy second target: the OC.
You aren’t alone if some of your earliest memories are probably of your dad or uncles cursing out Mike Mularkey.
Aside from a turnover, the easiest way to draw the ire of a Steeler fan is to call a HB draw on 3rd and 18 or run 2 WR screens on back to back plays.
After the jump, we get into the Steelers’ recent offensive coordinators and why they are enemy number two for Steeler Nation.
We’ll start with the 2001 season cause once I get into the 20th century, my accuracy and memory drop off significantly.
Mike Mularkey(2001-2003)
Mularkey may be one of the most polarizing coordinators in recent Steelers history. His playcalling was inconsistent and some of his plays were straight from the playground. You can’t even get your XBOX to run the plays Mularkey had Kordell Stewart quarterbacking.
Naturally, this style of play gave many fans gray hairs. The power running attack was still as potent as ever, but Mularkey’s new-school approach frustrated Steeler fans.
Considering the name “Mularkey” has became a verb among a lot of Steeler fans for calling a stupid play, you’d think the offense imploded during his three seasons in charge.
But that’s not the case at all.
The Steelers ranked 3rd and 5th in total offensive yards during 2001 and 2002, respectively. 2003 was a rough year for Mularkey as the team fell to 22nd overall. Common knowledge will say that the Steelers over committed to the pass in 2003 but the numbers again say otherwise.
The team attempted 551 passes in 2002 compared to 532 in 2003. I’d argue that the 2003 downfall was more related to Tommy Maddox making poor decisions with the ball than Mularkey’s play calling. The same system had worked well with Maddox the year before.
I’ve always been told and assumed Mularkey was a terrible coordinator and that his downfall was over committing to the passing game. Now I’m not sure that either is true.
The fact is Mularkey led the Steelers to to their two most successful offensive seasons in terms of yardage since 1979 during his three-year stint as OC.
Keep in mind he did this with Tommy Maddox, another hated figure, at the helm. Even after the team’s disastrous 2003 season, Mularkey was still thought highly enough by the rest of the league to land a head coaching gig.
Just something to think about.
Ken Whisenhunt (2004-2006)
With Mularkey out of the picture, Ken Whisenhunt became OC in 2004. Mularkey’s influence on Whis was apparent, as trick plays remained a big part of the Steelers playbook.
The team ranked 16th, 15th, and 7th in Whisenhunts three years. Bolstered by a consistently great defense, the team had some of most successful seasons ever in 2004 and 2005.
Whisenhunt earned his keep in the 2005 playoff run. If there was a stretch where an offensive coordinator was beloved by Steeler fans, that was it. His pass-first attack against the Colts still causes some Indianapolis residents to lose sleep. And who could forget the legendary Randle-El TD pass in Super Bowl XL. (Though that was as much Bill Cowher’s call as Whis’.)
Yet again, the rest of the NFL thought so much of the Steelers’ offensive coordinator to call his name for a head coaching job.
Whisenhunt’s era wasn’t as flashy as Mularkey, but in the end, it was more effective at winning big games.
Bruce Arians (2007-present)
If fans had their way, Arians probably wouldn’t be on the current coaching staff. I’ve been over how stupid fans are about personnel decisions enough so I won’t elaborate too much on that. All I’ll say is these are probably the same people who were upset when the Steelers drafted a QB from Miami (Oh.) and thought Mike Tomlin would make a bad head coach.
But they at least have some reason for concern. Arians’ offenses have ranked 17th and 22nd during his first two years as OC. Interestingly enough, the 2008 Steelers had the worst ranked offense in terms of yardage of any Steeler team in the 2000s. But like Whisenhunt’s group, they typically played well in the biggest games.
Arians’ run/pass ratio has been very similar to Whisenhunts, which is also curious since there is a different head coach.
Two years really isn’t enough of of a period to evaluate a offensive coordinator if you ask me. Tomlin and Arians are both new at what they are doing so waiting another year or so before making any true judgments would probably be smart.
So what does all this mean?
I won’t spend the time linking to the countless message board postings or blog posts calling for the head of Mularkey, Whisenhunt, or Arians. But I think it’s a safe assumption that all three still pay for their drinks within the city limits of Pittsburgh.
Mularkey, the most hated of the three, was actually a near-offensive genius given what he had to work with and the high-powered offenses he produced. The fact that he’s stuck around as an offensive guru in the league would seem to further proof that he’s pretty darn good.
If you average out the 9 NFL seasons played since 2000, the Steelers’ offense ranks in at 14th in terms of total offensive yards. Not elite, but, as the 2 new Lombardi trophies added during that span prove, not terrible either.
I understand that the offense, as good as it may get, will never live up to the defense. Pittsburgh football is all about defense…which is what makes it all the more frustrating to here a Steelers fan blaming Arians after a 38-31 loss for a 3rd down call that didn’t work. Far too often the defense gets let off the hook and it’s the OC or the QBs fault.
Like it or not, the Steelers recent formula for winning is world-class defense plus an average, possession-based offense. And it works. That’s why the “safe” plays like screens and draws have been so common in the team’s schemes.
Certainly the offenses haven’t been outstanding and Arians definitely has a lot to learn, but playing high school football or winning your local turkey bowl doesn’t mean you would do a better job calling plays.
And next time you hear a Mike Mularkey joke, don’t laugh.
What do you think about the relationship between Steeler Nation and the team’s offensive coordinators? Have the recent OCs done a good job? Speak up in the comments.
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