If Tina Fey keeps the 3-4, the job is hers to lose!

What's the big deal with the 3-4? If you have the right personnel, it works. If you have the right personnel for the 4-3, it works too. And let me venture to say that if you have the right personnel for the 3-5-3, it would probably work also (unless you are THE Ohio State Buckeyes)

The Steelers are very interested in Mike Tomlin, the Minnesota Defensive Coordinator, who is a Tony Dungy protege and runs the "Tampa 2" 4-3 defense. Of course, the real origin of the Tampa 2, as Dungy is fond of saying, is the Steel Curtain defense of yore.

However, across Stiller land message boards crackle with fears that the Steelers will no longer run the 3-4 with the new Steeler coach. You want to know why they are scared? Because Bill Cowher refused to play rookies and made a point of "developing" players for 2-3 years before making them full-time starters. In their minds, therefore, transitioning to the 4-3 will take at least 3 years of growing pains. Better to stick with what works, or seems to at least.

But maybe a new coach won't be afraid to play rookies, maybe if the Steelers run a 4-3 they can draft players already familiar with the system who won't have to learn and memorize a 4-inch wide playbook, who can learn on the go. Playing rookies is risky, sure, but so is keeping a guy around for years and then finding he's not cut out for the job. Alonzo Jackson anyone? Jeremy Staat? Jamain Stephens? Amos Zeroue?