Why Mike Munchak is priceless to the Steelers

Offensive line coaches don’t get a lot of love in the NFL. (Go on, I dare you to name five off the top of your head!) However, you don’t need to know every OL coach in the league to realize that Pittsburgh’s very own Mike Munchak is a cut above the rest.

As a player, Munchak was a phenomenal left guard for the Houston Oilers. He was drafted with the 8th overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft. Nine Pro Bowl and four first-team All-Pro selections later, it’s safe to say Munchak was a fantastic pick.

Yet, his dominance didn’t stop on the field. As good as Munchak was in pads, a case could be made that he may be even better with a clipboard. Whether playing or coaching, Munchak was part of the Oilers organization for over 30 years, starting in 1982 as a player and including the move from Houston to Tennessee to become the Titans in ’98 and ’99.

The franchise finally decided to part ways with their longtime employee in 2013. That departure was a blessing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2014, Mike Munchak signed on as the team’s new offensive line coach, and it didn’t take long to see major improvements in run and pass blocking. Even casual fans must have noticed the drastic difference in offensive line play when Munchak came on board.

Here is a chart I put together based on detailed rankings from Footballoutsiders.com:

Year Run Block Rank Pass Block Rank Sacks allowed
2009 13th 28th 50
2010 19th 29th 43
2011 3rd 20th 42
2012 27th 15th 37
2013 22nd 15th 43
2014 6th 14th 33
2015 8th 8th 33
2016 2nd 4th 21

Statistically, the Steelers offensive line has improved immensely. Since Munchak joined the Steelers in 2014, Pittsburgh’s offensive line averaged 5th in run blocking efficiency and 8th in pass blocking efficiency. They also allowed just 29 sacks per season with Munchak as opposed to 43 sacks allowed per year in the prior five seasons: a substantial improvement.

Some may argue that it was quality players reaching their prime (such as David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert) and not Munchak who made the difference in these improvements. However, many of these offensive linemen were struggling before Munchak came to town. Also, take into consideration the improvements came without Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey who was lost due to injury for the entire 2015 season.

Here are the rankings of some of Steelers current and former offensive lineman according to Pro FootballFocus.

Player Pos. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Kelvin Beachum LT 52.6 54.9 85.6 77.7 44.3
Ramon Foster LG 39.9 53.8 76.7 72.7 81.1 75.6 82.2 89.1
Maurkice Pouncey C 74.2 76.9 78.4 50.9 83.2 82.4
David DeCastro RG 47.9 80.7 78.1 83.5 86.6
Marcus Gilbert RT 77 69.9 66.6 81.4 78.8 87.2
Alejandro Villanueva LT 47.9 82.2
B.J. Finney C/G 77.3
Chris Hubbard OT 64.2 51.4 71.7

Notice the improvements when Coach Munchak took over in 2014. Kelvin Beachum’s rating jumped from a 54.9 in 2013 to an 85.6 the following year under Munchak. Marcus Gilbert saw a similar improvement; he was once close to being considered a 2nd round bust but improved drastically in just one season, from a 66.6 grade to 81.4.

Nonetheless, the changes didn’t stop here. After two full seasons under his belt, Munchak was so good, his worst starting offensive lineman in 2016 saw an 82.2 rating according to Pro Football Focus.

Let’s break this down even further using Pro Football Focus’ numbers. Here are the average ratings of five Steelers offensive lineman who had multiple seasons without Munchak as well as multiple seasons playing with him as their offensive line coach.

Player Drafted Avg. rating without Munchak Avg. rating with Munchak
Kelvin Beachum 7th 50.6 81.7
Ramon Foster UFA 64.8 82.3
Maurkice Pouncey 1st 70.1 82.8
David DeCastro 1st 64.3 82.7
Marcus Gilbert 2nd 71.1 82.5
Total Averages 64.2 82.4

If this doesn’t speak volumes to you, I don’t know what will. There are other factors to consider that may have helped influence offensive line play in some way, shape, or form. Perhaps the hiring of offensive coordinator Todd Haley in 2012 played a bigger role than we realize in shaping a successful offensive line. Maybe this group naturally improved as veterans playing together after a few years.

However, it would be naive to think Mike Munchak played a small role in this success. He has taken undrafted players like Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Chris Hubbard, and B.J. Finney, and has turned them into solid NFL offensive lineman. And let’s not forget about 7th round pick Kelvin Beachum. According to PFF, Beachum was one of the best pass-blocking tackles in the NFL during the 2014 season, the same year Munchak took over as the line coach:

Beachum was one of the best pass-blocking tackles in 2014, with a third-best 97.5 pass blocking efficiency. Unfortunately, an ACL injury cut his 2015 campaign short before he could continue to build on the previous year’s success. After a rocky opening weekend against the Patriots where Beachum allowed four pressures, he allowed just two pressures over the next five games before being injured this season.

Life after Munchak wasn’t kind to Beachum, who had a great tenure with the Steelers before getting hurt and leaving via free agency for the Jaguars last season. Beachum gave up 49 total quarterback pressures and was released after one year in Jacksonville.

You be the judge: could that success and lack thereof, be attributed to coaching?

After watching the growth and improvement of the offensive line over the past three years, I am convinced that Munchak is one of the single most important members of the Steelers organization: players and coaches included. Last year’s 4th round pick Jerald Hawkins has yet to play a snap for the Steelers, but my money is on him being a successful player because of the influence of Coach Munchak.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers have the top rated offensive line in the NFL next season. Munchak is that good.


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