ESPN’s Michael Smith lives by the phrase, “Numbers Never* Lie.” Well, the show may be a waste of time, but you can’t really argue with the title. And for Steelers and yinzers that aren’t psyched about the Todd Haley hire, maybe they should take a look at the new offensive coordinator through ESPN lenses (yea, we never thought we’d say that either).
Oh sure, Haley is certifiably insane – the best name in sports journalism, Dejan Kovacevic covered all that in his column last week – but when given the right tools, Haley’s offenses have been among the NFL’s best.
Haley’s definitely not a head coach kind of guy, but he seems to know a thing or two about offense. In a little less than three seasons as the big man on campus in Kansas City, Haley’s defenses have been pathetic but his offenses have been pretty respectable seeing as how he was coaching in Kansas City…where careers go to die (just ask Joe Montana…or Kendrel Bell HAHA).
Forget about this past season; not because Haley got fired but because he had more injuries to key skill players than his team had wins. It’s hard enough making a subpar offense look good with starters; it’s almost impossible to do with reserves.
In Haley’s first two years as head coach, with Matt Cassel as his quarterback, his offense’s 349.7 yards per game ranked 12th in 2010 (two places higher than the Steelers’). And with a third-tier starting QB and Dwayne Bowe as the team’s only legit wideout, the passing game was laughable, but the Chief’s running game was the best in the game, averaging 164.2 yards per game, nearly 10 yards better than second place and more than 40 yards better than Bruce Arians’ running attack. Jamaal Charles was second in the league in rushing that year and Thomas Jones finished the season ranked 20th in the league as a backup, making the Chiefs the only team to have two runners finish within the top 20.
The first year Haley was in Kansas City, his rushing offense was 11th in the NFL but it still averaged nearly nine yards more than the Steelers. Before Haley failed as a head coach, he spent two seasons as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, where instead of a joke of a quarterback and top-notch runningbacks, he had a game manager and a monster receiving corps.
In his first year in charge of an entire offense, Haley’s players put up impressive numbers, and the Cards offense finished better in every offensive category than the Steelers except in rushing. Kurt Warner completed 62.3% of his passes for 3,417 yards and 27 touchdowns (17 interceptions); Larry Fitzgerald caught most of those passes and finished with 100 receptions for 1,409 yards and 10 touchdowns while Anquan Boldin scored 9 times on 71 catches for 853 yards; and even an old Edgerrin James ran for 1,222 yards and 7 scores.
The only reason the Cards finished 8-8 while the Steelers went 10-6 in ’08 was because the Arizona defense finished outside the top 16 in yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed. The Steelers never seem to have a lasting problem on defense.
And Haley found that out the next year when his run and gun offense ranked fourth in total offense and third in scoring, and led the Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII, where they lost to the Steelers, who had the NFL’s best defense. In ’09, Arizona had the second best passing offense in the game and that’s what led them to the Super Bowl because with Edgerrin James’ career all but done and Tim Hightower in his rookie season, the Cards had the worst league’s worst run game.
But even if you start at the beginning of Haley’s coaching and football career, when he has legit talent to work with, his main pupils have found success.
When he became the Jets’ receivers coach in ’97, Keyshawn Johnson was 37 yards shy of a 1,000 yard season and averaged 13.8 yards per catch. The following year, Johnson and Wayne Chrebet both finished with over 1,000 yards and combined for 18 touchdowns. And in Haley’s final two years in New York, the team’s leading receiver never finished with fewer than 937 yards and 8 touchdowns.
From there he headed to Chicago to be the Bears wide outs coach. With Marty Booker as the go-to guy, in Haley’s three years there, Booker piled up 1,151 catches, 2,975 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Then he spent the next three seasons doing the same job for the Cowboys. In ’04, he got a 32-year-old Keyshawn to go over 900 yards with Vinny Testaverde as quarterback. In ’05, Terry Glenn had 1,136 yards and three Cowboys caught at least 6 touchdown passes. Haley’s last year in Big D brought him Terrell Owens, and 85 catches, 1,180 yards and 13 scores later, Haley was given the keys to the Cardinals’ offense.
Now that Haley is the OC in the Burgh, not a whole lot has changed regarding the Steelers’ defense since the last time Haley was an offensive play caller – they were ranked No. 1 again this year. But one thing has changed about Haley: he finally has weapons at every skill position – something he’s never had before.
Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback in the league and probably the toughest player Haley has ever coached (and I’m not just talking about at the position), and he’s flanked by two up-and-coming backs that have the potential to make Kansas City’s league leaders look average. Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman give the Steelers a great mix of speed, power and agility, and they each posses all three attributes; Charles was a pre runner and Jones was the bruiser. But most importantly, since Haley is a receiver kind of guy, Young Money could be the best young receiving unit in the league.
So Haley may have a bit of a temper, he also knows how to run an offense. When he’s had great receivers, his passing game has been the best, and when he’s had great running backs his rushing attack has been tops.
So imagine a guy with Haley’s offensive genius, with great receivers, great running backs, and an elite quarterback…exactly.
Original Story:
