This Shouldn't be Shocking News, but Mike Tomlin is a Great Coach

Honestly, I wouldn’t trade Tomlin for any other coach in the NFL, and he’s only going to improve in the years ahead. Initially, when Cowher stepped down, I was in the Whisenhunt or Grimm camp. Knew nothing about Tomlin, thought he wasn’t qualified for the job. But when I saw clips of Tomlin at work, and being interviewed by the media, he’s the candidate I was rooting for.

Like in business, groups of people tend to take on the personality of the leader, and the Steelers are no exception. The standard works, and I see this organization in Super Bowl contention for many years to come.

A lot of people expected a 35 year old first time head coach to come in and display the veteran decision making of a seasoned field general. That is a bit unrealistic IMO. If you want a young coach, get a young coach. If you want an older coach, get an older coach. There are advantages and disadvantages of either. Tomlin is gaining more and more experience with each passing year. He may never be a Bill Belicheat as far as strategy. But he is getting better.

Pretty sure most around here are aware of how I feel about Tomlin, so obviously this gets a rec.
Even as much as all my friends hate the Steelers, they all still wish Tomlin was their coach.

I will add something that may enhance our perspective.

I remember flying into Pittsburgh to visit my ailing father. I rode an airport limo into down that had a sports talk show on the radio. A few callers were making the case that the team should fire Chuck Noll. Now understand, this wasn’t in the early 70s while the team was being built or the 80s after the Steelers had fallen into mediocrity. This was in the midst of the championship run in the mid to late 70s. This is when I came to the sad realization that the storied sophistication of Steelers fans was, at least partially, false. There are people in our midst who would fire Tomlin, trade Ben and replace the Rooneys, all in the same day if they could. There is no nice way to say this, these people are idiots.

Each year that the Steelers went to the SB under Tomlin it occurred despite the fact that their most devout fans had written the team off before the season began. You could argue that the man hasn’t reached his prime as of yet. Any other fan base would love to have him, except some of ours because they think they know better.

I agree, you all know I wrote a rather critical post a while back. I still maintain he has a lot of work to do and has areas that need improvement, areas that I feel havent been completely addressed.

Really though, we probably have such a small idea of how hard it is to run a team and make them all perform at their highest level week in and week out. As the 55-25 record suggests, Tomlin’s better at that than the rest. I’ve never questioned his ability to lead and inspire players.

I just want him to work on the technical things, gameday rosters, clock management, planning etc.

I think he’s gonna be our coach for a long time, and he’s only bound to get better. Hopefully the team can retain the talent necessary for him to be successful.

Cowher never had a real great QB until Ben. We saw what happened once Ben+Cowher got together, hopefully Tomlin has a good team to work with year in and year out, and that rests on Colbert’s shoulders by and large. I’m excited for the future with MT and Co.

No doubt MT is right up there. As they say,“check the record”. As stated before though, there are a few areas that could stand inprovement. I believe one of them was brought to light during a BA interview where he said," Coach Tomlin had not changed a play, stopped a play, or put in a play in the entire time that BA had been OC, or words to that effect. I was stunned to hear that. Just think about what was said. To me that is unbelievable. I understand that you let youre coaches coach, but no input, especially what we saw at times, esp. in the red zone. No input?? Maybe I just don’t understand the big picture?

the following players have all become Steelers and/or emerged as stars AFTER the 2006 season (cowher’s last one)

James Harrison —first pro bowl, 10 sack year in 07
- Timmons and Woodley - Tomlin’s first two draft picks (not bad huh?)
- Ziggy and Cam Heyward — D-line’s future looking good (pending future NT)
- Pouncey — when healthy, the best C in the NFL, and (see below)
- Gilbert — not bad either (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7422968/considering-cap-hits-production-players-provided-best-value-nfl)
- Mike Wallace — already a star WR, 1,250 yds and 11 TDs not bad for a “one trick pony”
- Emmanuel Sanders — acc. to Hines he is the best route-runner on the team
- Antonio Brown — the 5th round pick was the 1st player in NFL history with 1,000 yards both receiving and returning last year, not to mention the clutch post-season catches last year
- Redman — tough RB, very impressive in Denver
- Mendenhall -almost forgot about this guy! despite an unimpressive 2011, he did have 2 very solid years prior
- Keenan Lewis - blossomed this year after spending the last 2 in MT’s doghouse
- C.Brown, C.Allen, Sylvester…—special teams aces

you get the point. yes: ben, hines, heath, hampton, keisel, farrior, ike, and troy, and clark, etc. are all vital pieces of the team’s core, but other very significant members have jumped aboard post-Cowher. MT deserves WAY MORE CREDIT for the current personnel than he gets

I am a young buck, became a Steelers fan in the early 90’s. I miss seeing the Chin, and seeing him fired up on the sidelines when things weren’t working, and seeing the spit fly out of his mouth as he screamed at coaches and players. I miss that intensity on the sidelines.
That being said, Coach Tomlin is a great coach and a great figurehead for the Steelers. I appreciate his no-nonsense approach and his lines (especially “the standard is the standard”), however I still miss the intensity on the sidelines. I wish that he would have stepped in and over ruled BA when he was calling some sh-t stupid play.

Tony, great as always.

And, finally, there is that sentiment held by a lot of Steelers fans that Tomlin has been winning with Cowher’s players. This is another no-win situation for any coach who takes over a successful franchise. If he succeeds, he only did it because he inherited great talent. If he loses, however, people wonder why he couldn’t win with such a loaded roster.

Others have already commented on how the roster has changed under Tomlin, so I won’t take up that thread.

But this idea that being handed the keys to a Championship Caliber team some how devalues a coach’s is really just short-sighted.

While some coaches have succeeded simply riding the momentum of their predecessor (think Barry Switzer), others have failed miserably (think Ray Handley).

Don’t forget, that Tomlin got the job with most of the locker room rooting for Wiz or Grimm to get the job, had to deal with losing Joey Porter, and had to deal with Alan Fananca. He dealt with all three with flying colors and of course won a Super Bowl a year later.

It’s really as simple as that. Cowher is from the Schottenheimer school of play it safe, always field a B+ team, and grind out more Ws than Ls. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, always a tier below the upper-echelon teams like the 90’s Cowboys, 49ers, Broncos, and Packers, and the early 00’s Patriots. Or, worse, upset by inferior teams like the ’94 Chargers and ’01 Patriots.

Tomlin, however, is championship-calibre. Like Chuck Noll, like Bellichick, like Parcells, like Walsh—even Jimmy Johnson (I’m loathe to admit). Guys who will occasionally do what’s not expected (which, ironically, was when Cowher was at his best—think the onside kick in SB XXX, or the gadget play in SB XV), who will take a team that’s not the most talented, or a frontrunner, and knife down the “better” teams with sneaky good play at the right times. That certain something, that feeling that the Steelers are going to pull through, that used to happen during the Noll years. Against the Ravens in ’08 and ’10, against the Jets in ’10, against so many other teams in ’08 (Dallas, New England, San Diego)—it was going to happen, and it did. Not second place, not a solid season with a solid defense who gets outplayed at the moment it needs to step up, but victory.

Yes, Cowher did it 2005, but only after heartbreaks in 2004, 2001, 1997, 1995, and 1994. Strong defense, strong running game, horrible passing game, and that stupid grin after losses.

I know I sound unfair, but I’d take Tomlin over Cowher any day of the week. And I know the Steelers had disappointing finishes these last two years, but with Tomlin there’s already a SB win, and I see more on the horizon.