New Wide Receiver Coach Hired

**BlackGold4vr** · 01-29-2007, 01:01 PM

Randy Fichtner, 43, is Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin's choice to become the team's next wide receivers coach. He'll replace Bruce Arians, who was promoted to offensive coordinator.
The team averaged 16.1 points per game in 2000 but jumped to 26.7 ppg. under Fichtner's direction.

Sounds like a good hire! A 10.6 point per game jump over the course of a season is significant! Mike Holmgren started coaching at the high school level and quickly ascended to the Pro's! Of course he was a coordinator under Bill Walsh before he ever got his own gig in Green Bay. A coach is a coach. Football is not rocket science!

**BlackGold4vr** · 01-29-2007, 01:05 PM

Randy Fichtner, 43, is Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin's choice to become the team's next wide receivers coach. He'll replace Bruce Arians, who was promoted to offensive coordinator.
Fichtner will take his first NFL job after spending the last six seasons as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Memphis.

A Cleveland native, Fichtner is a 1985 Purdue graduate. He was a volunteer assistant coach at USC and Purdue before becoming the Memphis WR and QB coach under Chuck Stobart in 1990. Fichtner moved on to coach wide receivers at Purdue in 1994 and then became the Arkansas State offensive coordinator in 1997. At Arkansas State, Fichtner he coached on the same staff with Tomlin.

Fichtner remained at Arkansas State until 2000 and is credited with the development of QB Cleo Lemon, who played this past season for the Miami Dolphins.

In 2001, Fichtner was hired by Tommy West to become the Memphis OC and QB coach, and the Memphis offense took off. The team averaged 16.1 points per game in 2000 but jumped to 26.7 ppg. under Fichtner's direction.

The Memphis ppg. average improved every year until 2005, when Memphis' top two QBs were injured by the third week of the season. With RB DeAngelo Williams carrying the load, Memphis recorded its third consecutive winning season, even though a true freshman and a converted WR shared the QB duties.

Memphis slipped to 4-6 this past season and averaged 23.4 ppg, but Fichtner leaves a legacy of having developed the school's all-time passing

Sounds like a winner to me!

**Steelerlyn** · 01-29-2007, 01:10 PM

Now we need a 6'8" target for Ben!~

**Black@Gold Forever32** · 01-29-2007, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Steelerlyn

Now we need a 6'8" target for Ben!~

I don't know of many WR's that tall.lol A guy in the 6'4 range with some speed would be nice though.

**Steelerlyn** · 01-29-2007, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Black@Gold Forever32

I don't know of many WR's that tall.lol A guy in the 6'4 range with some speed would be nice though.

Plax was 6'5" Burress was considered to have been a good balance to the Steelers' other starting wide receiver, Hines Ward, who was more of a "possession receiver." Burress also quickly became one of Ben's favorite targets. He had some off the field problems, I guess. The Steelers or BC did not want him here. I would like to see him come back since he and Ben became close, I guess they even roomed together during training camps.

**Black@Gold Forever32** · 01-29-2007, 01:33 PM

Yea I know Plax is 6'5 but I don't know of to many in the 6'8 range. The Chiefs a few years ago had a guy around 6'7.

**SteelerNation** · 01-29-2007, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by BlackGold4vr

Sounds like a good hire! A 10.6 point per game jump over the course of a season is significant! Mike Holmgren started coaching at the high school level and quickly ascended to the Pro's! Of course he was a coordinator under Bill Walsh before he ever got his own gig in Green Bay. A coach is a coach. Football is not rocket science!

Sounds Like We Picked A Winner

**BlackGold4vr** · 01-29-2007, 01:48 PM

I believe there were a variety of reasons the Steelers let Plaxico take his skills elsewhere. One being he wanted a lot more money than the Rooney's were willing to part with for his skills set. Two being he was the type of player who whined constantly about the number of touches he got. And his whining wasn't limited to the locker room, he whined publicly. Rooney's don't like those types of players and I would agree with them on that. I would rather have more players like Hines Ward who is a complete player than 5 Plaxicos! Did you see the play this year where Plaxicos defender stepped in front of him and intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown? Plaxico didn't even attempt a tackle and didn't even chase the guy. Michael Strahan called him out publicly for giving up on that play and making no attempt to tackle or chase the guy! Good riddance in my opinion!

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 01-29-2007, 01:55 PM

Plax was an underachieving, whining, complaining, gotta have it my way, ball dropping, punk ! Im glad he left because he wasn't worth half of what he wanted.

The Giants found out exactly what Plax is, a guy with all the natural ability in the world but who doesn't put in the work or fight for the ball. I'll take a midget version of Hines Ward any day over Plax. The Steelers have lived without a super tall WR like Plax for a long time before he got here and they'll survive a long time after. We've got a perfectly good big target in Heath Miller to utilize in situations in the red zone where Plax was usually effective.

**Steelerlyn** · 01-29-2007, 02:07 PM

You are both right and in my heart I know that. I can still him playing at Michigan State, he was the total opposite, he was a nice guy, he worked hard and was a genuis on the college level football field. I have no idea what happened. In the college level he was phenominal, he fell apart when he got here. That first year (with the Steelers)he played with a broken hand because he didn't want anyone to know (which was the reason given for all the dropped passes). In the offseason he had the delicate hand surgery and the dropsy continued. He was just a completely different player than I watched at Michigan State.