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Tom Bradley Hired as DB Coach

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The Steelers have concluded their search for a new Defensive Backs coach today by hiring UCLA Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley. Bradley spent 2000-2011 at Penn State as the Defensive Coordinator before coming the interm head coach in 2011. He was out of coaching until 2014 when he spent one year coaching defensive line at West […]
The post Tom Bradley Hired as DB Coach appeared first on SteelerNation.com.


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I read the article and still don't know who he is. Brother to the team doctor. their has to be other coaches out their that could do a good job other than former Teammates and family members.... oh well go Tom Bradley!!( that is way to closein typing to that little ***** in New England)
 
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I read up on him. Lot of vast positional experience. A lot. And the fact he will only be coaching DBs. I feel good that they will get a good experienced coach to guide them.
 
per Wiki

He is best known, however, for his four-decade association with Penn State Nittany Lions football as a player and coach. Bradley served as the interim head coach of Penn State following Joe Paterno's dismissal nine games into his 46th season as head coach and left the Penn State program in 2012.

Bradley has been recognized for his defense’s outstanding performances. He was named the Associated Press Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2005[3] and was named Rivals.Com Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2008.[4] Additionally Rivals.com had Bradley ranked as the 2nd best Defensive Coordinator in the nation before he was named interim head coach in 2011.

From 2004 to 2011 Penn State’s defense ranked 3rd in the nation in Scoring Defense (16.4 ppf) and was 5th in Total Defense (298.7ypg). In 2009, the Nittany Lions ranked in the Top 15 nationally in the six primary defensive categories. Additionally, from 2004 to 2009 Penn State finished in the Top 15 in Total and Scoring Defense. From 2004 through most of the 2011 season, Penn State held 53 of its 88 opponents to 17 points or fewer. 10 of those 53 came in Penn State’s illustrious 2009 campaign.

Bradley was inducted into the Cambria County Hall of Fame in 1998,[5] and served as the honorary chair of the Special Olympics in 2006. He was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in May 2014. Inducted classmates included longtime Steeler Charlie Batch and former Nike employee Sonny Vaccaro.[6] He was also inducted into the Pittsburgh Athletic Association Hall of Fame in January 2015 and one of only four collegiate football coaches to receive this honor
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Tom Bradley is a heck of a defensive coach... he was unfortunate enough to be the heir apparent when Paterno and Penn State melted down with the Sandusky Scandel.... the Steelers always liked him... if he wasn't a penn state guy or if Pitt wasn't so anti penn state, I believe he would have been the head coach at Pitt a while back
 
madinsomniac said:
Tom Bradley is a heck of a defensive coach... he was unfortunate enough to be the heir apparent when Paterno and Penn State melted down with the Sandusky Scandel.... the Steelers always liked him... if he wasn't a penn state guy or if Pitt wasn't so anti penn state, I believe he would have been the head coach at Pitt a while back
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Yep, this is about it. Bradley knows his stuff and had Penn State's defense as one of the best every year.
 
I'm okay with this. Dude was a top-shelf D1 college DC for a long time.
 
Wow, unbelievably great hire. He has so much experience and will also be a big help in gameplanning. Penn State’s defenses under Bradley tended to be bend don’t break style. But they were usually one of the best in the nation with points allowed. Even in years when they did not have great talent.

PSU was all about the front 7 and the secondary was usually a bunch of smart, zone cover guys. Makes sense because in the recruiting region there are good DL and LB prospects but not as many elite coverage guys.

that mean PSU was always about perfect fundamentals and being in the right place.

Bradley was always a Pittsburgh guy. In fact, he even lived in pittsburgh even while coaching for decades at Penn State. During the season, he had an apartment in State College, but offseason he lived in Pittsburgh. He’s also good friends with Tunch and Wolf.
 
College ...Pros ....College.... Pros ..... uhhh, I don't know what ta think about this one.
 
stillerfaninfl said:
College ...Pros ....College.... Pros ..... uhhh, I don't know what ta think about this one.
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When it comes to strategy, playcalling, scheming, and talent acquisition there is a big difference between college and pros... technique training though is still mostly the same...
 
stillerfaninfl said:
College ...Pros ....College.... Pros ..... uhhh, I don't know what ta think about this one.
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College coaches only get 20 hours total per week with the players. That includes meetings, practices and the game itself. That means to be a good college coach you must be able keep it simple and get kids on the same page quickly.

That is exactly what the secondary needs. The secondary problems are the constant blown assignments. I expect Bradley will be a better teacher than Lake. He is already prepared to break it down into easy to digest bites that can be learned quickly.

Penn State’s program was basic in terms of scheme. It is amazing how hard a defense is to beat when guys are simply in the right place on every play. The Pats are proof of that. They don’t have much talent on defense but they are a good scoring defense because they don’t give up cheap scores. That has been the steelers problem.

If a team puts together a 12 play TD drive then so be it. How many of those can most teams put together in 1 game? It’s those 5 play TD drives with that 1 big play that is killing the steelers. I think Bradley will help tremendously in this area.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
College coaches only get 20 hours total per week with the players. That includes meetings, practices and the game itself. That means to be a good college coach you must be able keep it simple and get kids on the same page quickly.

That is exactly what the secondary needs. The secondary problems are the constant blown assignments. I expect Bradley will be a better teacher than Lake. He is already prepared to break it down into easy to digest bites that can be learned quickly.

Penn State’s program was basic in terms of scheme. It is amazing how hard a defense is to beat when guys are simply in the right place on every play. The Pats are proof of that. They don’t have much talent on defense but they are a good scoring defense because they don’t give up cheap scores. That has been the steelers problem.

If a team puts together a 12 play TD drive then so be it. How many of those can most teams put together in 1 game? It’s those 5 play TD drives with that 1 big play that is killing the steelers. I think Bradley will help tremendously in this area.
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From everything I've read over the years, it seemed like LeBeau's defense (which the Steelers are essentially still running) was unnecessarily complicated.
 
Yeah he did radio for the Steelers a few years back. He was on with Tunch and Wolf and did post game for a season. Seemed like a pretty smart dude.
 
Bradley will get the secondary fundamentally better. They will be better tacklers
 
This seems like it came out of nowhere, with Woodson and Perry available for the position. Even Dick Lebeau being available. I didn't see this coming, but I love it. I really wanted Pitt to hire him as HC, but the PSU ties probably did kill any chance of that happening. He is a great football mind and his knowledge and experience will be an asset. He's a good guy and nice, to boot. I really hope this works out like I think it should.
 
I remember when Penn State washed its hands of everything JoePa and Pitt was bungling head coaching hire after head coaching hire, Pittsburgh sports radio was all “Why in the hell don’t they hire Tom Bradley !?!?!?”
 
Troglodyte said:
I remember when Penn State washed its hands of everything JoePa and Pitt was bungling head coaching hire after head coaching hire, Pittsburgh sports radio was all “Why in the hell don’t they hire Tom Bradley !?!?!?”
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That's what I thought too. Apparently too many people who write checks to Pitt still hate Penn State.
 
Ron Burgundy said:
From everything I've read over the years, it seemed like LeBeau's defense (which the Steelers are essentially still running) was unnecessarily complicated.
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Sometimes I wondered if that actually was true or used as an excuse for not playing young talent. I do think DL "D" was to complicated for the player to play off instinct and had to think to much. Part of why I wanted outside organization successor when DL "retired". I'm glad for our new DB coach and he will make a difference and outside the organization hire as well. NEW brain, new ideas.



Salute the nnation
 
Bradley was a crappy mayor in LA for years , maybe a career change is what was needed.
 
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Ron Burgundy said:
From everything I've read over the years, it seemed like LeBeau's defense (which the Steelers are essentially still running) was unnecessarily complicated.
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No way are we running Lebeau's defense or anything close to it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Steeler Nation mobile app
 
As long as he teaches our secondary to watch the receivers, and only look for the ball once it's in the air, we'll be a much improved secondary.

This flat footed watching the backfield ****, just doesn't work...
 
His UCLA defense ranked 122nd last year giving up an average of 484 yards per game. He should fit right in.
 
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slashsteel said:
I read up on him. Lot of vast positional experience. A lot. And the fact he will only be coaching DBs. I feel good that they will get a good experienced coach to guide them.
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I hope so
 
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