Hello all!
Before I get started on this, I just want to say that I am African American myself, so this has nothing to do with race. Tomlin has had some very good accomplishments to this organization. He has never had a losing season which is a great accomplishment as he enters his 12th season.
He took over an 8-8 Cowher team and led them to a 10-6 record in 2007 with a playoff appearance. He overworked that team, which caused injuries and an early playoff exit. He learned his lesson and made proper adjustments for a
12-4 2008 Superbowl Season.
However, those were mostly players Cowher drafted, and besides Ben, they are all long gone. For those that don’t like the “Cowher’s Players” mantra, there is a huge difference here. Cowher created a culture that always had his teams under the radar. Although there was no social media, the media and reporters were what got player’s comments out back then.
Cowher always had his teams tight lipped. He tolerated no “I” over the team. He created a culture of discipline, hard work, fundementally sound, smart football. He instilled it in his players, and they did not cross the line.
What Tomlin has created is atrocious. Has he brought in some very talented players in his tenure? Sure he has! Has he had some very good success in the regular season? Sure he has! Now although Cowher has his warts as well, his teams didn’t beat themselves. Most of Cowher’s issues were based on not having a QB for the majority of his career.
The truth is the team takes on the personality of the coach. We can take last year as an example. You had Tomlin publicly looking ahead to New England. How do you think that played out in the Locker room? Mike Mitchell was one that talked about them. You had Bell tweet about a rematch with them the day before the Jags playoff game.
It’s an elitist attitude that has been created. It’s based on arrogance with a me first attitude. It’s no longer about hard work, respect for your opponents, fundementals and attention to detail. It’s one of the reasons his teams struggle against sub 500 teams.
Social media and other outlets play a huge factor in what ails this team as well.
He runs a loose locker room. Ben flies off at the mouth at times on his radio show. You had the Harrison disaster created on social media last year. I already mentioned Bell before last year’s Jags playoff game. He also gets into arguements with fans and guys like Skip Bayless. His penchant for weed doesn’t help either. Not only is he holding out this year, but also did last year. This is also a guy that has been blasting the organization with his contract demands in his rap music.
Did I mention AB’s post game facebook live distraction in the 2017 playoffs? He calls a Pittsburgh reporter a clown on twitter, threatens an espn reporter for his article, and now responds with bad taste of being traded about a fan’s remarks. We witnessed a sideline blowup yesterday and also last year.
Martavis Bryant made comments about Coates on social media last year, then later made trade demands on social media. This was the only guy that received discipline. It was probably because Bryant is only a fringe player but not a star. Now you have guys that put out their dirty laundry from the locker room.
Players such as Dupree, Pouncey and DeCastro commented on things that happened with Harrison last season. Now they are speaking to the media about their displeasures with Bell’s holdout. These are things that would not have been tolerated under Cowher. This type of activity is a reflection of what you see on the field.
They are totally dysfunctional. They are more focused on themselves and social media activity than they are on the details of their jobs, and how to carry themselves as a professional. Tomlin doesn’t address it because he stated it’s the times we live in now.
What you see on the field is sloppiness. No fundementals. Incredibly stupid, highly penalized, indisciplined and total combustion. Many of you can say what you want, but this used to be an organization that you could be proud of win or lose.
Now what we see is what used to be the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers are this generation’s media circus. The Steelers have now become a weekly soap opera, and the laughingstock of the NFL.