A potential reason the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t hire Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula as their next head coach emerged to begin this week. But it didn’t take long for that reason to face significant pushback.
Rams president Kevin Demoff refuted a report from 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi that stated Shula “bombed” his Steelers virtual interview.
“In talking to the Steelers, there is no truth to this,” Demoff posted on X as a quote tweet to Fillipponi’s report. “But maybe rather than trying to build up your name by tearing someone else down, you should examine a process that has coaches having the biggest job interviews of their life crammed into an hour the day before a playoff game.”
Shula was largely seen as the preferred choice for the Steelers head coach opening in the team’s fan base after Mike Tomlin stepped down on January 13. The team, though, hired Mike McCarthy on January 24.
While Shula virtually interviewed for the opening, the Steelers didn’t meet with him a second time. NFL rules required the Rams be out of the playoffs before Shula could interview with the Steelers in person.
Shula could have also met with the Steelers during the Super Bowl bye week had Los Angeles won the NFC championship game.
The Steelers hired McCarthy two days before the organization could have interviewed Shula again.
Did Rams’ Chris Shula ‘Bomb’ Steelers Interview?
Fillipponi isn’t the only pundit who suggested Shula didn’t perform well in his Steelers interview. According to Chat Sports, Tone Digz of The Pat McAfee Show also mentioned Shula’s poor interview, adding that fellow Rams assistant, pass game coordinator, Nate Scheelhaase also didn’t interview well with the Steelers.
Like Shula, Scheelhaase virtually interviewed for the Steelers head coach opening. Scheelhaase met with the Cleveland Browns about their head coach opportunity Monday.
These hot-named assistants not doing well in their interviews would explain why the Steelers didn’t meet with them a second time. Besides McCarthy, the Steelers only interviewed Brian Flores and Anthony Weaver in person.
Still, Fillipponi’s report completely differed from what pundits had previously said and written about Shula’s candidacy with the Steelers.
NFL insider Albert Breer said during a January 19 appearance on FS1’s The Herd that the Steelers “really like” Shula. Breer even suggested the Steelers were keeping tabs on Shula in case Tomlin decided to leave.
Steelers beat writers didn’t name Shula the favorite to be the team’s next head coach. However, insiders such as Mark Kaboly argued he would be their choice to hire.
Before McCarthy’s hire, Steelers fans generally viewed Shula as their top choice to replace Tomlin. Prior to Monday, there were no indications anywhere that Shula hadn’t interviewed well for the job.
Analyzing Report Shula Interviewed Poorly With Steelers
There’s a couple other things of note when it comes to the new narrative that Shula “bombed” his Steelers interview.
The timing is obviously suspect. Shula not interviewing well with the Steelers only surfaced days after the organization received significant criticism for hiring McCarthy.
Fillipponi also muddy the waters on whether Shula bombing the interview was actually a report. According to Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora, Fillipponi “referred to the Shula story as something he had been told.”
In his tweet about it, though, he called it a report.
Fillipponi doesn’t have the best reputation for accuracy. Interestingly, Kozora wrote Steelers Depot doesn’t use him as a primary source and covered the new Shula topic only because of Demoff’s response.
Digz also saying Shula performed poorly in his Steelers interview adds validity to Fillipponi’s semi-report. However, neither pundit is a Steelers beat writer.
McCarthy has been a regular guest on the show Digz is a part of on ESPN. It’s possible Digz is putting down Shula to help slow the criticism of the McCarthy hire.
There isn’t really a way to know the full truth. Steelers fans will have to decide for themselves who to believe with the latest on Shula.
Rams Clap Back at Report Chris Shula ‘Bombed’ Steelers Interview