In December 2016,
Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw called Steelers coach Mike Tomlin
a "great cheerleader guy," but not a great coach. This past January, Bradshaw
called out Tomlin for firing offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who left for Cleveland this offseason after
his contract in Pittsburgh expired. On Tuesday, less than a week before the Steelers' new season begins against the
Browns, Bradshaw continued his anti-Tomlin campaign by calling him "not my kind of coach," which means this has officially moved from a fluke to a coincidence to a trend.
During an interview with 97.3 The Fan,
Bradshaw ripped Tomlin because he doesn't think players fear him.
"I played for a tough sucker, and I was afraid of him, and we played our ass off for him because we feared him. I don't see that with this guy," Bradshaw said. "He's chest bumping and all that. I'm the head of the corporation, I'm the CEO, I'm the chairman of the board, I'm talking to the stockholders telling them here's how we're going to do at the end of the quarter. I'm selling this thing. And I'm not delivering the goods, which is championships. You've got to face the criticism. I'm sorry, but he's not my kind of coach. I've said it before, I'll say it again."
And because the Steelers haven't won a
Super Bowl since 2008.
"Mike Tomlin is winning football games, but at the same time, Super Bowls are disappearing, and that's my criticism," Bradshaw said. "My criticism is, how can you have this great offense and you being a defensive guy, and I think that football team should have been in another Super Bowl or two. How could they not be? And to lose at home to Jacksonville, I don't care how good of a run Jacksonville got on, I don't care how Jacksonville played New England in the championship game. You don't lose, what? 45-42. Are you kidding me? In a championship game?"
Bradshaw also, again, criticized Tomlin for getting rid of Haley -- it's worth noting that the decision to move on from Haley probably had
more to do with Haley's relationship with Ben Roethlisberger than anything else.
"He fires the offensive coordinator and keeps the defensive coordinator," Bradshaw said. "Now, I don't know the reason behind that, I've asked a few people and they're as puzzled as I am. I don't know why you fire the offensive coordinator, who gave you 42 points, and you kept the defense, unless you just thought you don't really need an offensive coordinator, anyone can run that offense. So I'll fire him, I'll make the change there, and everybody will look and, go, well he's made some hard changes. But on offense? ... I'd fire that defensive coordinator, pack his ass out the highway, and I'd go find me somebody else who can do the job. I just don't understand that at all."
Look, Tomlin isn't a perfect coach. Once a year,
as my colleague Ryan Wilson always points out, the Steelers always seem to blow a game they have no business losing. There was
that whole sideline interference thing from a few seasons ago. And Bradshaw is right: The Steelers haven't won a Super Bowl in a long time and they did let a Blake Bortles-led team drop 45 points on them, which is borderline insane.
But the thing is, in a league that features only a few great coaches, Tomlin is one of the best around. There's Bill Belichick alone in his own tier, there are relative newcomers like Doug Pederson and Sean McVay who have emerged as great coaches, there's the steady, always dependable veterans like Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Mike Zimmer, and Mike McCarthy, and then there's a whole bunch of coaches who get recycled. The Steelers could do way worse than Tomlin.
Since taking over for Bill Cowher in 2007, he's won 65.9 percent of his games. Belichick's career win percentage is .679. Tomlin's taken the Steelers to the playoffs in eight of his 11 seasons. He's been to two Super Bowls. To ask for more than that is probably getting greedy. Every season, the Steelers have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Most teams would kill to have a coach that does that every single season.
Are there nitpicks? Of course, but he's not the only one. Belichick can be criticized for benching his starting cornerback in the Super Bowl and
refusing to give a reason. Reid can't win in the playoffs or manage the clock. McCarthy has only won one Super Bowl with
Aaron Rodgers. And so on.
The odds are, if the Steelers fired Tomlin and hired someone else, that someone else would be worse than Tomlin. He's not perfect, but he's good. That might not be good enough for Bradshaw, but that's good enough in the
NFL.
