Why new head coaches in Miami, Arizona, Pittsburgh will face an uphill battle

Andrew Siciliano, Charles Robinson & Frank Schwab discuss a trio of teams with new head coaches this season. They argue why Jeff Hafley with the Miami Dolphins, Mike McCarthy with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike LaFleur with the Arizona Cardinals are in for an uphill battle bringing their teams back to relevancy and winning ways.

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Video Transcript

C-rob, let’s, let’s phrase it challenging situation.

Which of these 10 head coaches is in the most challenging situation?

look, Frank kind of stole it from me because he ranted about the Steelers as it is.

But I, I don’t like the situation Mike McCarthy is in, you know?

And we, we could argue whether or not it’s the worst or not, but I, I think you sit there and you go, “Okay, with McCarthy’s age, it’s definitely he’s a win now, you know, coaching hire.”

we’ve talked about the fact that the roster’s aging.

we’ve talked about the fact that you’re following Mike Tomlin, which look, fans can- Not easy complain about Mike Tomlin all they want, but the second you fall on really hard times, I’m sure there are gonna be some fans who are really upset, you know, that, that Tomlin departs and, and now Mike McCarthy is left kind of trying to stitch it all back together.

And then beyond all that, you’re still sitting there staring at this quarterback problem.

And I think if Th- that, that’s the number one thing.

As soon as we started having this conversation, I’m like, “Okay, well, who’s staring at a quarterback problem right now, and expectations on top of it?”

Well, it’s the Steelers.

And, and so for that reason, I just think they’re, they’re expected to win games.

They’re expected to continue to get what they can, whatever gas they can get out of this aging roster.

They’re expected to somehow make the quarterback situation work with Aaron Rodgers doing nothing but getting older, and he hasn’t even committed at this point that we know of.

It’s all bad, I think, for, for Mike McCarthy.

And, and you know what?

That means that the Steelers will probably go 13 and 4.

They’ll be the number one seed in the AFC, and- Aaron Rodgers wins MVP.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Someone will be throwing this in my face in, in, next January.

I, I’m gonna go with Jeff Hafley.

I mean- it’s pretty obvious.

Like, you’re going into a Dolphins situation where this is a total tear-down, and going 2 and 15 isn’t off the table, right?

Like we all could see it going badly like that for the Dolphins.

And your hope is And look, I love the Malik Willis signing.

I really did.

I thought they got him at a good price.

I thought it’s a, a good contract for them to get out of.

If he’s not good, it’s great for them.

If he’s great, all that.

But we could all see how this goes sour.

He’s got six NFL starts.

We could all see how this is Scott Mitchell 2.0.

Like, a- and you’re just like, “Well, we have nothing anymore.

We have an unhappy- Good reference Devon Achane.

Thank you.

we have an unhappy Devon Achane as our, really our only player, of note anymore.

And how do you sell your locker room?

You’re a first-time head coach, NFL head coach, and everybody knows, like everybody knows you traded this guy, you traded that guy, you traded Jalen Wadde.

And now you gotta go in there and say, “Hey, guys, let’s win some games.”

Like it’s, it’s hard.

And if he can pull it off, I’ll be really impressed.

I, I mean, like, Kellen Moore in a really tough situation last year did it.

I was impressed by him.

And we’ve seen other coaches kind of get the most out of their rosters that are expected to be bad.

I just think this is tough for a first-time NFL head coach to go into a roster that is clearly just saying, “2027 draft, bring it on.

We’re ready.”

nobody wants to eat a one, two, three-win season as, like Jeff Hafley might this year.

So I’m gonna go with Mike LaFleur, not LaFlor.

LaFleur, as I pointed out yesterday, because he does not have a quarterback.

And while it is very early, and strength of schedule as of right now, the Browns have the easiest strength of schedule, the Saints, then the Bengals, then the Colts, right?

As of right now, strength of schedule does not take into account the draft or free agency.

It’s only built on last year’s final records.

But as we sit here, the Cardinals have the third most difficult schedule in the National Football League.

You’re in a division with the 49ers, the Rams, and the Seahawks.

Good luck with that.

Yeah.

Established head coaches.

All three legitimate Super Bowl contenders in your division.

And the schedule is just brutal.

You get your teams in the division.

You also get the NFC East, the Eagles, and the Commanders at home.

You get the AFC West, the Broncos, and the Raiders on the road.

And then one of your one-off I’m sorry.

Th- those are at home.

one of your one-offs is the Lions.

On the road, you go to the Cowboys, the Chiefs, the Chargers, the Rams, the Niners, the Seahawks, and then the Giants and the Saints.

Good Lord.

Oh my goodness.

I know that’s a lot of gobbledygook.

Wow.

Good Lord.

It is the third most difficult schedule in the NFL right now, and you don’t have a quarterback.

How’s it third?

I thought that was the first two.

It’s the first two.

Hold on one second.

‘Cause that’s a gauntlet you just talked about.

The first two- Wow reading now from Yahoo’s NFL page.

the Bears and, oh- Ooh the Dolphins.

Oh.

Why new head coaches in Miami, Arizona, Pittsburgh will face an uphill battle

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