As you can tell I am glad Tomlin is our coach.  I just want to talk a little more in my usually bulleted format.  Every time I read about him it impresses me more.  So I’m just going to throw some random things together to paint a picture.

1.       Imagine what he faced when he was hired as coach.  He took over a team that wanted it’s popular assistant coaches to take over.  Not only that he comes in very young and coaching a team full of players with rings.  He comes in a traditional 4-3 coach taking over a 3-4 team.  He is the boss of a coaching legend in Dick LeBeau.  He has very strong D personality leaders (let me know if you need an explanation) on both sides of the ball (Porter and Faneca).  Conventional wisdom would say you have to come in and bring whole sale change right away.  This would be the time to because the team was not very focused the previous year and learning something new should increase focus.  Instead Tomlin realizes that he can establish his authority and learn at the same time while keeping what has worked in place.  He makes all the right moves and says the right things.  It’s like he’s a master chess player.  He knows the next move before he has to make it.  I imagine if he would have released LeBeau, he just may have been coaching the Cardinals defense in the Super Bowl and we may have been watching.

2.       Every time Tomlin is asked a question he gives answers that most people wouldn’t even think about saying.   

Some examples: 

A.      When asked  what he thought of his players saying “He’s a better coach this year than last.”  He didn’t confirm or deny anything.  His answer in a nutshell was “I’m their boss they aren’t mine.”

B.      He helped Willie Parker get his focus back when Willie was agonizing over the lack of a running game.  Tomlin said “Every morning I come to work, I walk past five Lombardis, not five rushing titles”.  Now it’s six.

C.      Trust me Tomlin is celebrating this Super Bowl with the team, but he sent a message when he said “We are 30 days behind the rest of the league.”  Some say “dang can’t you just enjoy the win? “ No, you can’t JUST enjoy the win.  You CAN enjoy it and still remember there is still next year.  That’s his way of saying enjoy it fellas and get some rest, but remember we still have a job to do.  That is classic.  It keeps you on an even keel.  If you take this win as an end then it will be hard to get you back up.  It keeps you grounded.  It might even make you ride your motorcycle with a helmet (think about how this relates). 

3.       Realize what happened here.  A second year head coach that is 36 years old took a team  and made it his.  He did this with a coaching legend under his leadership, an offensive coordinator (and O-line coach) that had some success in the past but was not greatly admired by some.   Let the record show that I like Arians.  He handled criticism of his team and controversies  throughout the year very well.  He didn’t let that affect his game planning.  He knew his personnel and got the most out of them.  Not only that he made changes where needed from last year.  From practicing without pads late in the year to letting the veterans take Wednesdays off. 

4.       Not only can Tomlin relate to his players and ownership, he can relate to us (the fans).    That’s no small feat.  He’s from Hampton VA.  All my kids were born there.  That area does not have even close to the mentality of Pittsburgh.  Tomlin does his homework.  Not only that, he aces most of his tests.  The ones he doesn’t ace, he asks for retakes and gets it right the next time.  

5.       I know,  “everybody loves a winner” and “the coaches get too much credit for wins” and “add your cliché here”, but I, as many of you have like Tomlin from day one.   He wins games with strong defense.  He establishes that identity.  On offense he takes what you give him.  If you let him run he’s running.  If you stop the run you have to deal with Ben.  It’s funny how people used to say we were so predictable.  Now we have an offense that is not predictable and people say we can’t establish the run.  You can establish an identity on offense without being one dimensional.  It’s like this; my plan to beat you is to either punch you in the face or kick you in the face.  I can do both.  You have to figure out which I’m going to do.  Tomlin did a good job of Knowing what his offense was capable of and exploiting the other team’s weaknesses.  I know you know what I’m saying.

6.       I said it before but you know the affect a coach has on its team when they start to sound like their coach.  You can hear Tomlin when they speak sometimes and you don’t even have to hear “Coach Tomlin said” before it.  Some call them Tomlinisms.

7.       Ok this is off topic, but I didn’t want to make a post on it because it’s brief.   James Harrison was not only hilarious in media week with his sound bytes,  he put a big fat exclamation mark on an awesome season.  This Super Bowl took on the persona of Super Bowl 14.  Harrison’s pick 6 kind of reminded me of Lambert’s pick in SB XIV.  It was a momentum swinger at a crucial time.  Lambert’s indirectly attributed to 6, but it was crucial none the less.  The ending was different but it had a similar feel.  It was much easier to the heart at 13 years old than 42 though.