Danny Smith Expected to Join Steelers

[jamf]

Steelers to hire Redskins Danny Smith as special teams coach | ProFootballTalk

I am happy about this. his coverage teams have been solid but I expect more from our return teams.

[Schneed10]

I thought he was a good ST coach but to me the speed at the bottom of your roster, and depth in general, drives ST performance much more than the coach does. It's not like there's some big schematic secret on special teams that it takes a great mind to design.

[mbedner3420]

See you later, Brandon Banks.

[DynamiteRave]

This pleases me.

[Mechanix544]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

This pleases me.

This.

[12thMan]

Yeah, no great loss in my opinion. He's definitely NFL caliber though. But there were times I wanted kick him in the nuts.

[ethat001]

Anything that reminds me of the swinging gate needs to go. Good coach would've walked off the field when Zorn called it.. TWICE.

Me: "Sir, I just have one question for you -- did you or Zorn call the Swinging Gate play?"
Smith: "Well, we just wanted [the Giants] to call a timeout...which they did."
Me: "Yes."
Smith: "If you remember Suisham had just gone to the Cowboys, and we were playing them next week. He knew the play, and we knew we couldn't run it against the Cowboys."
Me: "Yes, makes sense."
Smith: "So, I told Zorn, 'Don't do it [after the timeout].' But, he called it b/c he wanted to use it and knew he couldn't against the Cowboys."
Me: "Yes, unfortunately, the thing that people remember is the one time you screwed up. You guys had a lot of success with the Special Teams on trick plays that year."
Smith: "Yes, that's exactly right."

Burgundy and Gold Banquet: My Conversations with Danny Smith, Shanahan, and Darryl Grant

[GMScud]

Well, I know a lot of it has to do with personnel- you can only cook with the ingredients the chef gives you, so to speak. His coverage units were always good, but we've never had an explosive return threat and our kicking situation has never had any consistency either.

I just kind of shrug my shoulders at this move.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Well, I know a lot of it has to do with personnel- you can only cook with the ingredients the chef gives you, so to speak. His coverage units were always good, but we've never had an explosive return threat and our kicking situation has never had any consistency either.

I just kind of shrug my shoulders at this move.

At the same time, Smith has aggressively pushed for some of that personnel-Gano and Banks specifically.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

At the same time, Smith has aggressively pushed for some of that personnel-Gano and Banks specifically.

Very true. I can see how he could have made the argument for Gano... But once the kickoff rules changed... well, to me it was a no-brainer to show Banks the door at that point.

[Daseal]

I'm glad to see him go. He's not a bad coach, but I've seen too many blocked kicks and returns from 8 yards deep in the endzone for my liking. I don't understand WHY he's so well respected around the league. I'm most surprised that he survived multiple regime changes. I wish him well going forward, but I'll be glad to see some new blood come in at ST.

[WaldSkins]

Uh where's the Rooney rule candidate? In all seriousness, if there's one nfl job I could probably do it's special teams coach.

[hooskins]

Originally Posted by WaldSkins

Uh where's the Rooney rule candidate? In all seriousness, if there's one nfl job I could probably do it's special teams coach.

Lol. I think the rule is for HC vacancies only.

[KI Skins Fan]

If you believe in ST rankings, we just lost the coach of either the 27th ranked or the 32nd ranked (according to two sources) ST's in the league.

[MTK]

Alexander doesn't sound too happy to see Smith go. Said he was very detailed regarding technique. There's a reason why he's respected around the league. I'm sure we can find a good replacement though.