Ever since the expected retirement of Bill Cowher, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been searching throughout the professional and college ranks for a possible replacement for only the second coach in the organization during the past 37 years.

There have been only two major considerations up to this point. One of those choices, Ken Whisenhunt, the Steelers offensive coordinator since 2004, recently accepted an offer to become the next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, thus leaving the Steelers without and offensive coordinator and head coach, but both of those positions could be filled relatively quickly according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Here I’ll take a look at the remaining major coaching candidate, his résumé, and why he will fit into the Steelers mold of what a coach should be.

The most likely choice at this point in the search is current assistant coach Russ Grimm. Grimm came up through football as a fullback but was converted to the offensive line during his sophomore season at the University of Pittsburgh. During that time he became one of the greatest centers in Pitt history. Upon being drafted by the Washington Redskins, he was moved to guard and became a member of the infamous Hogs line that helped the Redskins win three Super Bowls in the 1980s.

Following a successful career from which he may inducted as one of the next members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he began coaching in 1992 with the Redskins as a tight ends coach and moved to offensive line coach when Norv Turner took over as head coach. He later joined the Steelers as their offensive line coach in 2001 and received the title of assistant head coach in 2004.

At this point in time, Grimm makes the most sense due first and foremost to his familiarity with the organization and its players. He is respected in the locker room and his hard-nosed attitude would be a continuation of the mind-set that Cowher had for the past 15 years. He is a very demanding and cerebral coach who expects his players to be aware of every situation on the field in order to be in the best position to make a play. With his tough attitude, attention to detail, and competitive nature, Grimm stands the best chance to take over as the 16th head coach in Steelers history.

This scenario, however, leaves many gaping holes on the Steelers’ staff. Not only will they need an offensive coordinator, but now an offensive line coach as well. While it is expected that the offensive line coaching position would be filled internally, with a similar move from tight ends coach to offensive line coach a possibility for James Daniel, this still leaves a hole at offensive coordinator, where Whisenhunt was a master planner and executor of not only basic plays, but many trick plays as well.

His position may be the most difficult to fill. But the Steelers may only need to turn back the clock to a decade ago to find that answer, as former offensive coordinator Chan Gailey is being interviewed for the head coaching position of the Steelers as well. What makes Gailey the most interesting of the coaching candidates is that he is the only coach that Bill Cowher gave a recommendation to owner Dan Rooney about. This makes Gailey the dark-horse candidate, but if Grimm is hired, don’t be surprised if the Steelers make an offer to Gailey to rejoin the NFL ranks after coaching the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for the past five seasons.