Mark Madden has been one of Pittsburgh’s most despicable media personalities for decades. His hot takes are right up there with Andrew Filliponi’s.
But every once in a while, Madden writes something that Steelers Nation can agree with. This is one of those times.
The Steelers made mostly minor changes to the coaching staff in the 2024 offseason, but they retained defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and offensive line coach Pat Meyer. Both of their units continued to underperform for the talent it has.
Team owner/president Art Rooney II won’t ditch them because both have one year remaining on two-year contracts signed last year.
“It’s a cheapskate move worthy of Bob Nutting,” Madden wrote in his Jan. 18 column for TribLive.
Hey, the truth hurts.
With every season that the Steelers underachieve, fans grow more tired of what seems to be “the standard”: Keep Mike Tomlin’s streak of non-losing seasons alive. And if you make the playoffs, you have a chance. That chance seems to be just good enough to appease Tomlin and Rooney.
Like most owners, all Rooney cares about is revenue. Not only money spent — evident in not firing poor-performing coaches with time left on their contracts — but in profit. The Steelers brand is solid and always will be.
Tickets have been sold and will continue despite the team’s state. Until the brand is tarnished and fans stop spending money on going to Acrisure Stadium, nothing will change as long as Rooney is in his current role. Whatever Rooney is next in line has been groomed by Art II, so it’s likely that he won’t fix Pittsburgh at its highest level even after Art steps down.
