The Steelers' assistant coaches returned to work today after having last week off. Among those at the practice facility today are defensive backs coach Ray Horton.
He'll long Horton will be in Pittsburgh remains to be seen.
Horton, who has been with the Steelers since 2004, interviewed for the defensive coordinator job at the University of Houston last Friday.
It is looking increasingly likely that Horton will get an offer from Houston. It is not a given that Horton will take the job if it is indeed offered.
For anyone wondering why Horton, who has 25 years of NFL experience as a coach and player, is interested in making what would appear to be a lateral move he has aspirations of becoming a head coach one day.
There could be an opportunity for him to do that in Houston if he goes there as the defensive coordinator.
For now, Horton is still waiting to hear from Houston before he makes any decisions about his future.
January 18th, 2010 - 4:51 pm
Why did we let Darren Perry go??? Tomlin is a DB guy and Lebeau certainly should know about coaching DB's...but something didn't click between Perry and Tomlin and I still can't figure it out. He was a Steeler for crying out loud and a good one!
January 18th, 2010 - 6:43 pm
We didn't let Perry go, he resigned because he didn't want to work with Tomlin. I still wish we had him back though. Maybe Townsend wants to coach?
January 19th, 2010 - 1:24 am
the steelers are looking to take a new look into the 2010 season with the defense in mind. i myself would like to see how all this will pan out in the near future, because we all know that new coaches will bring in new schemes, and philosophies. how that translate on the field of play as far as wins are concern, is what concerns me. to tweek is one thing, to change for that sake of shaking things up is another.
January 19th, 2010 - 3:08 am
Perry now coachs Green Bay DB'S I would say Donnie you are right these two guys just did not hit it off in the interview and Perry left. It is to bad because Perry was a good coach.
January 19th, 2010 - 3:48 am
I was honestly hoping he would be fired anyway. I mean they fired the special teams and o-line coaches due to poor performance by their respective groups, so why not him too? As everyone knows they were awful. Gay needs to go!
January 19th, 2010 - 8:25 am
What we really need are defensive backs!!
January 19th, 2010 - 10:53 am
I'm sure we can find a good DB Coach if we lose Horton.
January 19th, 2010 - 11:55 am
This could be a case of addition by subtraction. Our DB play over the past few years has been average, and less than that this year. I think some of it is the talent level, and the other part, coaching (to a greater degree). Our corners do not play man coverage very well, and they tend to panic on deep balls, which lead to penalties. They excel in zone coverage, however. Either they don't have the skills for man, or they are not coached well enough to be able to make plays on the ball. That's why we had so few INTs from the corners this year. We need a major infusion of talent in the DB position, and an aggressive coach that can take advantage of guys with coverage skills. Let Horton get on with his life's work, and hopefully we can get a DB coach who is more concerned with teaching man coverage instead of playing the run and zone coverage.
January 19th, 2010 - 3:02 pm
agree
January 19th, 2010 - 5:07 pm
I say good riddance. Based on the "development" of Willie Gay, and the slide by Ike Taylor, this guy should be shown the door regardless
January 19th, 2010 - 6:27 pm
Good Question D probably big Mike wanted to cut all ties with coach C, but I still can't figure out the 10-15 yard cusions our DBs give the opposing recievers. I still think the biggest news this offseason is Rooney saying how we have to get back to the running game and to Steeler football, so are we to believe that the whole orginization is now like Dallas or maybe even Oakland where the management makes the decisions over the coaches head. Well I hope not because if they think they have to Cowher is still availlable and it wouldn't take him 3 years to figure out his position coaches are terrible.
January 20th, 2010 - 11:55 am
I didn't read management made the decision to get back to power football. I read management and the coach agreed we need to get back to it. Power football is something Tomlin promised when he took over. Unfortunately, our best talent on offense has been our QB and WRs. It's a no brainier why we threw more than we ran the ball. The o-line underachieve and did not develop (new line coach) and we have some young runners not counting Willie Parker. We will run the ball once the o-line situation gets fixed and steps have been made to do so.
Changes have not been made to the staff until now because of Steelers loyalty. Just like we knew changes had to be made in 05 when Cowher won the SB its the same thing today. Cowher returned everyone he could and so did Tomlin. G. L. are you serious? Tomlin is 31 - 17 regular season with two division titles and SB. Why would we want Cowher back when Tomlin took his 8 - 8 team and won a superbowl with it when It took Cowher 15 years. Give MT a break. He's young with only three years experience. His resume looks awesome right now.
January 20th, 2010 - 2:14 pm
I agree with Ed. We need new, good defensive backs who will make a good defensive team without relying on Troy. Lebeau's scheme is outsanding. However, from a players standpoint, we seem to rely on Troy who is injury prone (only because of the all-out way he plays), to round out the defense. Adding a good DB and a new DB coach may be the answer.
January 20th, 2010 - 2:17 pm
Horton has to go!!! What has he taught these CB"s? Sure hasnt been how to cover or int a dam ball! It is bad that a player that didnt play most of the year had more ints than the stating two. And we are suppose to bounce back next year with the same two starting corners? Give me a dam break! Hopefully we can find a coach that can teach Dumb and Dummer how to play the position of corner in the NFL. Tomlin needs to take action now and stop waiting for someone to tell him so. And if he dont we will all be here next year reading the same thing we are reading now. Time is ticking Tomlin so make the call!!!!
January 20th, 2010 - 6:27 pm
yeay i agree with the lot of you. too many times we were burned deep, and i feel our dbs played scared which is why the low int rate to the high penaltiy rate. we need confidence back there but still we are talking about the same defense that finished #1 last year so, explain that lucy!
January 21st, 2010 - 12:48 pm
I think Tomlin should take a look at Tim Lewis who had been apart of the Cowher staff for years as a secondary coach and defensive coordinator.He is available since Pete Carroll did not retain him on the new Seattle Seahawk staff.
January 27th, 2010 - 11:20 am
Tim Lewis? No way!!! Dont anyone remember how bad of a defensive coordinator he was? Am glad that some team already made the mistake of hiring him to coach there DBs. WE need to go foward not back. Horton didnt get the job in Houston so what happens next? HE HAS TO GO TOMLIN!!!!
January 28th, 2010 - 2:54 pm
The Steelers had three problems this year. Offensive line, special teams and DB's. All three must be addressed before next year. Whether the DB coach or personnel has to be changed or both is MT's call, but everyone agrees that SOMETHING must be done. You cannot depend on the offense to always outscore its opponent. The NFL offense has become a pass oriented game and must be defended if you want to win. How many games have we lost in the last minutes because of poor coverage in the secondary? I for one am glad we didn't make it to the playoffs this year because the team and the fans would have been extremely embarrassed.