Analysis: Is Steelers' Mike Tomlin as bad at timeout management as we think?

[polamalubeast]

Stop me if you’ve heard this before …

“Mike Tomlin has to be the WORST coach in the NFL when it comes to wasting his timeouts!”

You’ve probably listened to a Pittsburgh talk-show caller or two vent that opinion.

But according to one set of numbers, that’s not true. The data says Tomlin is not great, but he’s average.

Via ProFootballTalk.com , I found this post on a Packers-related site. It breaks down how all NFL coaches manage the clock and use their timeouts. I’ll let you click on the link to get the specific formula of how this is figured out, but here are the basics.

The author, Paul Noonan, went through every team’s timeout usage. He eliminated any timeouts burned by failed challenges or timeouts used in the last two minutes of the first half. Also, he discarded any timeouts cashed in during the last five minutes of the second half.

read more

https://triblive.com/sports/columnists/timbenz/breakfastwithbenz/14192517-74/analysis-is-steelers-mike-tomlin-as-bad-at-timeout-management-as-we

[Fire Goodell]

He's bad at challenges. If he wants to offer me 250k/yr I'll be his advisor on when and when not to challenge :chuckle:

[cubanstogie]

Ive never had issues with the timeouts, I actually think Ben is one of the best at time management to end half or game and would put time outs more on QB than the coach. I could be wrong though. I agree with Fire Goodell, his challenges and lack of is really bad, although it could be more to do with coaches in booth. Ultimately Tomlin is responsible IMO though. Even though they ended up scoring I was pissed at Tomlin for going for FG on 4th and one to go up by six. Bungles down by six were in 4 down territory , no way the D was going to stop them. Even had Steelers failed fourth down, Bungles had ball at 15 yard line and would not have been in 4 down territory. If and its a big if Steelers held them they would have gone for FG to tie. I would have bet my house Bengals would score TD, I just didn't know it would be that fast and give Ben time to score again. I thought they had a better chances of winning with Ben and Offense as opposed to D making a stop with 4 downs.

[Mojouw]

Raw stats say Tomlin wins challenges on par with any coach in the league. As others have said, the question is when he doesn’t challenge.

[Craic]

The comments on that are hilarious. The basically boil down to "Don't tell me what I don't want to hear. He suck! I know, because I see it."

LMBO. That's why statistics are used, and how they are used properly. They tell you if you're seeing the whole picture.

[vader29]

Raw stats say Tomlin wins challenges on par with any coach in the league. As others have said, the question is when he doesn’t challenge.
Worst challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: 3-12 (25.0%)
2. Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals: 6-20 (30.0%)
3. Mularkey: 4-13 (30.8%)
4. Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts: 7-21 (33.3%)
5. Fox: 5-14 (35.7%)

Best challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Marrone: 8-11 (72.7%)
2. McCarthy: 10-15 (66.7%)
3. Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers: 15-24 (62.5%)

https://thecomeback.com/nfl/which-nfl-head-coaches-best-worst-challengers.html

[Steeldude]

It's hard to say how he is compared to other coaches. Tomlin's clock management is poor.

[Craic]

That's a bit of cherry-picking, however. If you read just a little lower, you'd read that before this latest streak, Tomlin was above 50 percent, which is pretty good, to be honest. Something's changed of late. Perhaps, it's who is in the booth or the information he gets. I won't defend his decision making the last couple of years, but its not like he fundamentally doesn't know how to challenge or know when to challenge.

[DesertSteel]

That's a bit of cherry-picking, however. If you read just a little lower, you'd read that before this latest streak, Tomlin was above 50 percent, which is pretty good, to be honest. Something's changed of late. Perhaps, it's who is in the booth or the information he gets. I won't defend his decision making the last couple of years, but its not like he fundamentally doesn't know how to challenge or know when to challenge.
The past 3 years is a pretty good sample size.

[Mojouw]

That's a bit of cherry-picking, however. If you read just a little lower, you'd read that before this latest streak, Tomlin was above 50 percent, which is pretty good, to be honest. Something's changed of late. Perhaps, it's who is in the booth or the information he gets. I won't defend his decision making the last couple of years, but its not like he fundamentally doesn't know how to challenge or know when to challenge.


The past 3 years is a pretty good sample size.


Worst challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: 3-12 (25.0%)
2. Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals: 6-20 (30.0%)
3. Mularkey: 4-13 (30.8%)
4. Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts: 7-21 (33.3%)
5. Fox: 5-14 (35.7%)

Best challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Marrone: 8-11 (72.7%)
2. McCarthy: 10-15 (66.7%)
3. Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers: 15-24 (62.5%)

https://thecomeback.com/nfl/which-nfl-head-coaches-best-worst-challengers.html

And I posted somewhere else that most coaches run between 40-50% over their careers. Tomlin is right in that window. So where does that leave us? Who knows. I'm certainly not going to go back and attempt to "grade" each challenge. But that would be the next step. Three more challenges "won" would put Tomlin back on the good side of the ledger.

So the Jesse James catch challenge. That takes him over 1/3 won.
One of his various attempts to re-spot the ball and say another unclear sideline catch.

That's all it takes to get Tomlin on the good list. Does this mean that Tomlin is the best at any of this? No. But to just select a series of #'s and not understand what they are telling us doesn't really accomplish anything. There has been a solid cold streak, but Steelers have also been involved in several super unclear calls...

[DesertSteel]

The law of recency says he sucks! :)

[Fire Goodell]

Worst challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: 3-12 (25.0%)
2. Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals: 6-20 (30.0%)
3. Mularkey: 4-13 (30.8%)
4. Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts: 7-21 (33.3%)
5. Fox: 5-14 (35.7%)

Best challenge success rates among active head coaches, 2015-2017

1. Marrone: 8-11 (72.7%)
2. McCarthy: 10-15 (66.7%)
3. Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers: 15-24 (62.5%)

https://thecomeback.com/nfl/which-nfl-head-coaches-best-worst-challengers.html

3 worst are all coaches with ties to the steelers :/

[tube517]

3 worst are all coaches with ties to the steelers :/

Actually, 4 out of 5. John Fox was a Steeler assistant back during the discovery of fire. :chuckle: