The Steelers agreed to terms with Sean Kugler to become their offensive line coach, according to a league source. Kugler was part of a Bills staff that has been allowed to interview for other jobs while the team searches for a new head coach. Pittsburgh, which had issues protecting the quarterback in recent years, fired offensive line coach Larry Zierlein after the season.

DrGeorge
January 15, 2010 at 11:37 am
This is certainly a curious choice. Jonathan Cyprowski (Bleacher Report.com) claims Anthony Munoz and Bruce Matthews were both available instead of Kugler. Both would better fit the Steelers tradition of physical line play. To get the attention of an underachieving line, both would seem far better choices than Kugler, the ex-line coach of the Bills with a very thin resume. Perhaps we couldn’t afford a big name. Or maybe Arians’ ego wouldn’t permit it. Can you imagine Arians going eye to eye in meetings with Munoz?
I hope Kugler is wildly successful, of course; but if Tomlin truly hopes to jump start the running game, as he said publicly and Rooney demanded, a light-weight line coach seems a strange way to begin. If Kugler is not a clear improvement over Zierlein, what was the point? Was Zierlein merely a sacrificial offering — a scapegoat for saving Arians’ hide? This choice does not inspire confidence in Arians’ decision-making or in our future running game.