Tyler Shough's future could be impacted as Steelers pursue Saints QB coach

Mickey Loomis doesn’t expect the New Orleans Saints will make any coaching changes this offseason, but that might not be up to him. The Pittsburgh Steelers are interviewing Saints quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien for their offensive coordinator position, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

The Saints can't block this move because it would be a promotion from a positional coach to a coordinator. There's questions of how much Tolzien will call plays with Mike McCarthy at head coach. Still, it would be an increase in other responsibilities and title that'll help Tolzien continue to climb the ladder.

In addition to Tolzien, SteelersNOW's Alan Saunders reported Steelers are also interviewing Jahri Evans. Evans is the current assistant offensive line coach, so the Steelers would probably give him the title of offensive line coach to entice Evans to leave New Orleans.

Losing Scott Tolzien could be brutal for Kellen Moore and Tyler Shough

The biggest question mark around Tyler Shough’s development going into his rookie year was why weren’t the Saints adding a veteran quarterback to the mix. The Saints capped off a room led by Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough with Jake Haener. 

Instead of adding an older quarterback at the position, Kellen Moore banked on a coaching staff of former quarterbacks to develop the Saints young quarterbacks. Fast forward to the end of the year and it worked. Rattler didn’t work out, but he was massively improved. Shough acclimated to the pro level quickly and had a much better rookie season than anyone expected. 

That’s the biggest reason Tolzien is in these conversations. For Pittsburgh, Tolzien makes a lot of sense for their next step. Aaron Rodgers should be retiring. The hire of McCarthy made that even more of a foregone conclusion. The Steelers will now have to develop a young quarterback, and Tolzien just got done doing that in New Orleans.

For the Saints, Shough’s development is far from over. He still hasn’t even played a full season worth of games. On top of that, Moore has stated before that the first offseason is critical for a young quarterback. We saw what the Saints were able to do with Rattler in that offseason. Moore and Doug Nussmeier are still on the staff as head coach and offensive coordinator to balance out potentially losing Tolzien. Shough’s best route to improvement would be consistent surroundings and that means holding on to Tolzien.