What is your favorite Tomlinism?

“Make no bones about it.”

Although he didn’t come up with it I liked his use of “Iron sharpens iron.” It really captures that easy schedules do not make for a better team. It’s always best to play the best as your team knows it can rise to the occasion.

We practice the two minute drill probably more than any other team out there in teh league, because if you watch highlight shows, that’s the football game

“Your from a Cleveland paper.” Laughs then moves on the the next question without taking the reporters question.

How about “When the rubber meets the road…” OR “moving forward….”

A comprehensive list of Tomlinisms will undoubtedly be part of the first book written about him. Great quote about hunger and thirst being quenched. Lots of other good ones above. I liked his quote about Sweed coming back with some plays after dropping the bomb vs. Baltimore and then costing the team a timeout. “He wouldn’t have to respond (to a bad play) if he’d just catch the football.”

“One of the things that has bugged me the most since Saturday night are people with great intentions saying, `great start’ and `great year,’” said Tomlin. "I appreciate it, but I am not wired like that. Not that I’m a negative guy. Not that I’m a melancholy guy. I am just a football coach. I appreciate that, but there is something we are chasing here and we never will cease that chase. I’m not big into moral victories. We did some good things. We won 10 games. We won our division. It starts there, but it wasn’t as well as I would have liked. The goals I set for myself, I am not bashful about.

It is a challenging gig and I love it. I couldn’t have a nine-to-five. I am not wired that way. At the same time, what makes me tick is the same thing that makes a lot of these guys tick; the challenges, the urgency, the finality of it all and the fact that people care. Steelers Nation is a big source of energy and motivation for me," said Tomlin. “From the outside looking in you respect it. I talked about it when I got here. Being a part of it is different. It is. You want to deliver for Steelers Nation. It is a driving force. It is one of the reasons I am energized. It is awesome.”

In his 1st interview on Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN 1050 back in 2008 he said, “Football is an emotional sport, played by emotional men.” After hearing that quote, I knew he was OUR man!

“We’ve got a big windshield and a small rearview mirror.”
“He eats that by the pound.”
“He’s still got gas in the tank.”
“We’re under the screws.”
“Thoughtfully non-rhythmic.”

The final explanation was the officiating sucked.

I couldn’t find the original but it went something like this….“The more I understand Steeler Nation…the more I want to win.” Coach T is the man!

for picking Tomlin. What an eye for talented head coaches they have!!

Tomlin is the absolute man!!! Cowher obviously was good…but I really feel Tomlin is an upgrade on every level.

His quotes are sometimes funny but always meaningful and poignant:

My favorites…“everyday I come to work I walk past 5 lombardi’s not 5 rushing titles” and then he continued “to those who don’t know Willie, his comments make him appear selfish and immature…of which he is neither.” (I paraphrased a bit since I don’t remember exact words)

Regarding the retirement of Dick LeBeau…“I won’t be around when he wants to have that conversation.”

Classic.

On that one. Bottom line, It’s gonna take quite some time for the rest of the football world to discover what we at Steeler Nation have come to realize (with absolute delight). Tomlin is a great, original talent. They may be naming trophies after him before it is all said and done.

I told my fellow workers that I believe the Steelers will win 4 SB’s in 10 years under Tomlin. I am looking pretty good 2 years in.

I was around during many of the Coach Noll years and I see many similarities in him and Tomlin, plus a whole bunch of new age stuff mixed in. You can make a case that he is a Coach Noll pupil since Chuck Noll begat Tony Dungy and Tony Dungy begat Mike Tomlin. Thin… but still viable.

Its funny, every time my non-sports minded wife sees Tomlin on TV she says “there goes Mr. Cliche.” It cracks me up that she notices his “Tomlinisms.”

“We have a great deal of respect for them or We respect them”

Oh. How about this one. " We respect the process" Which to me means the team has to work hard in practice and studying film.

…before the Super Bowl. How many 21st Century football coaches could take the penultimate line from Robert Frost’s “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and make it the perfect motivator for a football team en route to the big game? Simply jaw dropping. And people wonder why we’re so ga-ga about this guy!

And I love how he tells his men to “honor the game.” He’s talking Steeler tradition and respect.

CT says more in one sentence – sometimes more in four words – than most folks can say in a while afternoon.

I’m also a fan of how he always refers to the players as ‘Men’. It’s never guys, players, boys, etc. It’s always ‘Men’.

Coach T used this phrase several times over the last few weeks of the regular season,

As in, “… there’s nothing mystical about it, it’s going to be a physical game (with Ravens) and the team that imposes its will … etc.”

Football is simple: play hard, play 60 min., play as a team … and hit the other team harder than they hit you. Simple.

“The standard of expectation hasn’t changed” — I think the players really adhere to this.

“Each day I come to work, I walk by 5 Lombardi trophies, not 5 rushing titles” — Have never seen a coach diffuse what could have been a dividing issue on the team between a star and the offensive coordinator with one sentence. Brilliant.

“We will defend every blad of grass” — Something you will hear a lot from our defense this year.

“He fails … he fails in stadiums sometimes” — Something I hope Limas Sweed will use as motivation every day of the offseason.

“People get too preoccupied with style points. That was a beautiful football game.’’

—after scoring 17 points in the last eight minutes to shock the Cowboys.

This quote made my day. It let you know that this guy was not the type to get emotional and drag the mood of the team down after or during a pressured situation.

His commencement speech, highly regarded by those who saw it, reveals as much about the man as the many great quotes cited above. Check it out at:

http://www.truveo.com/Uncut-Tomlin-Commencement-Address-At-St-Vincent/id/1267074209

boy, is it great to be riding a winner.

I can’t imagine the criticism if Tomlin lost to the underdog Cards, with the offense sucking for mostof the game and the #1 defense failing when it counted.

is from that very first press conference when he was introduced as the new HC. When his name was thrown into the mix seriously with grimm and whisenhunt, i looked into his background and liked how much he had improved minnesota’s run defense but was still quite skeptical because, come on, we were passing on two great in-house names for an unheard of defensive co-ordinator from the vikqueens! but of course his manner and poetry put me in awe and when asked what kind of football he would bring to the great city of pittsburgh his response was
“we will be a team of attrition”.
now tell me that doesnt sum up the ’08 super bowl champion steelers and steelernation as a whole!

This means that he’s not going to argue, that there is no disagreement on a certain issue.

Quotable
Talking about o-line potential:
“We’re back in the lab this time of year working trying to get better in those areas”

“We pride ourselves in not only evaluating talent, but developing it”

Tomlinisms
Speaking of Kraig Urbik’s potential to start:
“We think he’s capable. Of course, we like the clay.”

on regards to an x-ray or mri …“the results came back negative which is a positive”