I’m a big Mike Tomlin fan — have been since he was hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach in 2007. But despite enjoying what Tomlin brings to the Steelers on a weekly basis, I realize there’s some criticism which is on-point. To be honest, all NFL coaches get criticism for one thing or another. Even the evil genius in New England, Bill Belichick, has been criticized and chastised for decisions made — Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl anyone?
As for Tomlin, the majority of criticism he faces typically is based on this thought of the team being unprepared. On our weekly podcast last night (which you can listen to by clicking HERE), I spoke about this and asked listeners to give concrete football evidence of how Tomlin should be blamed for something like Ben Roethlisberger’s five turnovers vs. Cleveland in Week 1 — or how they can point to a team that isn’t performing and pin this on the head coach in terms of “preparedness”.
I don’t know what goes on inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on a daily basis, but I highly doubt the Steelers had fewer meetings leading up to Week 1, than they will prior to their Week-2 game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. I doubt Mike Tomlin told Keith Butler, “Hey man, we’re playing Tyrod Taylor and the Browns this week, tell the guys to skip all defensive meetings today — we’re good.”
If the coaches coach similarly regardless of opponent, then how can they be blamed for unpreparedness?
I digress, but this all leads to my main point. While I don’t believe being unprepared is somehow a legitimate criticism of Mike Tomlin, I do believe the constant and incessant drama surrounding the Steelers is a very just criticism of the man calling the shots in Pittsburgh.
The one constant throughout Tomlin’s tenure has been drama. He’s had immense amounts of talent wearing the black-and-gold, but the drama has never gone away. In fact, it seems to have intensified during the past few seasons.
Off-field drama and other nonsense might seem a far cry from something that impacts the product on the field, but let’s take a look at the lead-up to last year’s AFC Divisional game vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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