The Pittsburgh Steelers hired Mike Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher in 2007. He made the Super Bowl in two of his first five seasons as the head coach for the Steelers and went 1-1 in the big game. He is a brilliant speaker and is undefeated at press conferences. Players love him as a coach, but it may be time to admit the obvious. Terry Bradshaw was right; he is not a good tactician.
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Bradshaw caught a monumental amount of flack in 2020 when he stated publicly his opinion on the Steelers head coach. Bradshaw spent his whole career under Chuck Noll and early in his career, he was booed mercilessly. He also endured quarterback rotations and being benched for Joe Gilliam. The Hall of Fame quarterback experienced just how brutal Steelers fans can be when they think something is wrong:
“I don’t think he’s a great coach,” Bradshaw said on Speak for Yourself. “He’s a nice coach, great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does, but I don’t think he’s a great coach at all.”
The Fox broadcaster was excoriated for the opinion. All the debate shows pointed out that Tomlin has never had a losing season. He was the founder of Tomlinism’s, “we need volunteers not hostages” and “the standard is the standard,” but exactly what standard are fans and the media holding him accountable for at this point?
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During his first five seasons, the Steelers head coach was 55-25 and he was 5-3 in the playoffs. Tomlin is 112-71 since losing in the first round to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in a stunning upset. He is 3-6 in the playoffs and the Steelers have been to one AFC Championship game during that period. What is even worse is that Tomlin has been significantly out-coached in virtually every big game the Steelers have played going on a decade.
Duck Hodges takes a snap in practice during the 2019 season. | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It seems like harsh criticism, but the impressive coaching job that people point to is losing Ben Roethlisberger during the 2019 season and getting the team to 8-8 with Devlin “Duck” Hodges and Mason Rudolph. However, late in that season, the Steelers had moved into position to make the playoffs and faced a miserable New York Jets team on the road. If they win that game, it is likely they make the playoffs. Against an inferior team, they lost, badly.
In 2020, the team started 11-0 and began to run out of gas late in the season. Roethlisberger started drawing plays in the dirt against the Indianapolis Colts late in the season and they came back and held on to win the division. They hosted the Cleveland Browns at home and suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in Steelers history to the Browns. Last season, it took seven last gasps from the alleged washed-up Hall of Fame quarterback to make the playoffs.
The standard has somehow changed for the black and gold. It was competing for championships, but now it is not having losing seasons and making clever remarks at the press conference. Tomlin should retain his position, but it is time for serious changes. Omar Khan needs to set the standard that his head coach needs to meet going forward.
Credit: Tribune-Review
When Chuck Noll got stagnant in the late 1980’s and set in his ways, the organization stepped in and required him to fire virtually every assistant and retool after the 1988 season. He did not like it, but he did it and the Steelers immediately returned to the playoffs. Noll came within a whisper of one last AFC Championship game appearance, after nearly upsetting the eventual AFC Champion Broncos in the divisional round.
Tomlin has earned the opportunity to retool and rebuild. The Rooney Family is very patient with head coaches, but it is time to admit that Bradshaw was right about Tomlin. He needs to bring in serious coordinators to manage the play calling. He is not the first long-time coach who was forced to make changes, and he will not be the last. But make no mistake, changes when you aren't competitive have to happen on the Pittsburgh coaching staff.
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What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is it time to for Tomlin to make changes? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
